Roger Federer ( born 8 August 1981) is a
Swiss professional tennis player who held ATP No. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks from 2 February 2004 to 18 August 2008. Federer has occupied the No. 1 ranking for 285 overall weeks, one week short of the record held by
Pete Sampras. As of 7 July 2012, he is officially ranked World No. 3, although guaranteed to jump to No. 2. Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles. He is one of seven male players to capture the career
Grand Slam and one of three (with
Andre Agassi and
Rafael Nadal) to do so on three different surfaces (clay, grass, and hard courts). He is the only male player in tennis history to have reached the title match of each Grand Slam tournament at least five times. He is also the only male tennis player to have reached the
Wimbledon final eight times. He has also been in the final at each of the nine
ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, a record amongst male tennis players as well. Many
sports analysts, tennis critics, and former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time.
Federer has appeared in an unprecedented 24 career Grand Slam tournament finals, including a men's record ten in a row, and appeared in 18 of 19 finals from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships through to the 2010 Australian Open, the lone exception being the 2008 Australian Open. He holds the record of reaching the semifinals or better of 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments over five and a half years, from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010
Australian Open. At the 2012 Wimbledon, he reached a record 32nd Grand Slam semifinal and a record 33rd consecutive
Grand Slam quarterfinal. He also holds the record for most match wins in
Grand Slam tournaments (243).
Federer has won a record six ATP World Tour Finals and 20 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. He also won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot
Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. He spent eight years (2003–2010) continuously in the top 2 in the year-end rankings and nine (2003–2011) in the Top 3, also a record among male players. His rivalries with Rafael Nadal and
Novak Djokovic are considered some of the greatest of all time in the sport and are even considered to be a "Trivalry" between the three. Federer is greatly respected by fans and by fellow players alike as shown by the fact that he has won the ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favorite Award a record nine consecutive times (2003–2011) and the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award (which is voted for by the players themselves) a record seven times (2004–2009, 2011). Federer also won
the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2006. In 2011, he was voted the second most trusted and respected person in the world, second only to
Nelson Mandela.
As a result of Federer's successes in tennis, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record four consecutive years (2005–2008)and in 2012 he topped a list of the "100 greatest tennis players of all time" (male or female) by Tennis Channel. He is often referred to as the Federer Express or abbreviated to Fed Express, or FedEx, the Swiss Maestro, or simply Maestro.
Grand Slam tournament performance timeline
Information in these tables is updated only once the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.
- Finals: 24 (16 titles, 7 runners-up)
Score |
Winner |
2003 |
Wimbledon (1) |
Grass |
Mark Philippoussis |
7–6(7–5), 6–2, 7–6(7–3) |
Winner |
2004 |
Australian Open (1) |
Hard |
Marat Safin |
7–6(7–3), 6–4, 6–2 |
Winner |
2004 |
Wimbledon (2) |
Grass |
Andy Roddick |
4–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–3), 6–4 |
Winner |
2004 |
US Open (1) |
Hard |
Lleyton Hewitt |
6–0, 7–6(7–3), 6–0 |
Winner |
2005 |
Wimbledon (3) |
Grass |
Andy Roddick |
6–2, 7–6(7–2), 6–4 |
Winner |
2005 |
US Open (2) |
Hard |
Andre Agassi |
6–3, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–1 |
Winner |
2006 |
Australian Open (2) |
Hard |
Marcos Baghdatis |
5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–2 |
Runner-up |
2006 |
French Open (1) |
Clay |
Rafael Nadal |
6–1, 1–6, 4–6, 6–7(4–7) |
Winner |
2006 |
Wimbledon (4) |
Grass |
Rafael Nadal |
6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3 |
Winner |
2006 |
US Open (3) |
Hard |
Andy Roddick |
6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 |
Winner |
2007 |
Australian Open (3) |
Hard |
Fernando González |
7–6(7–2), 6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-up |
2007 |
French Open (2) |
Clay |
Rafael Nadal |
3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6 |
Winner |
2007 |
Wimbledon (5) |
Grass |
Rafael Nadal |
7–6(9–7), 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 2–6, 6–2 |
Winner |
2007 |
US Open (4) |
Hard |
Novak Djokovic |
7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–2), 6–4 |
Runner-up |
2008 |
French Open (3) |
Clay |
Rafael Nadal |
1–6, 3–6, 0–6 |
Runner-up |
2008 |
Wimbledon (1) |
Grass |
Rafael Nadal |
4–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 7–6(10–8), 7–9 |
Winner |
2008 |
US Open (5) |
Hard |
Andy Murray |
6–2, 7–5, 6–2 |
Runner-up |
2009 |
Australian Open (1) |
Hard |
Rafael Nadal |
5–7, 6–3, 6–7(3–7), 6–3, 2–6 |
Winner |
2009 |
French Open (1) |
Clay |
Robin Söderling |
6–1, 7–6(7–1), 6–4 |
Winner |
2009 |
Wimbledon (6) |
Grass |
Andy Roddick |
5–7, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 16–14 |
Runner-up |
2009 |
US Open (1) |
Hard |
Juan Martín del Potro |
6–3, 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 2–6 |
Winner |
2010 |
Australian Open (4) |
Hard |
Andy Murray |
6–3, 6–4, 7–6(13–11) |
Runner-up |
2011 |
French Open (4) |
Clay |
Rafael Nadal |
5–7, 6–7(3–7), 7–5, 1–6 |
TBC |
2012 |
Wimbledon |
Grass |
Andy Murray |
|
Year-End Championship performance timeline
- Finals: 7 (6 titles, 1 runner-up)
Score |
Winner |
2003 |
Houston |
Hard |
Andre Agassi |
6–3, 6–0, 6–4 |
Winner |
2004 |
Houston |
Hard |
Lleyton Hewitt |
6–3, 6–2 |
Runner-up |
2005 |
Shanghai |
Carpet (i) |
David Nalbandian |
7–6(7–4), 7–6(13–11), 2–6, 1–6, 6–7(3–7) |
Winner |
2006 |
Shanghai |
Hard (i) |
James Blake |
6–0, 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner |
2007 |
Shanghai |
Hard (i) |
David Ferrer |
6–2, 6–3, 6–2 |
Winner |
2010 |
London |
Hard (i) |
Rafael Nadal |
6–3, 3–6, 6–1 |
Winner |
2011 |
London |
Hard (i) |
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga |
6–3, 6–7(6–8), 6–3 |
Olympic games
- Finals: 1 (1 gold medal)
Records
- These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis.
- Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.
- Records in italics are currently active streaks.