Roger Federer

Former Tennis Player

• Born: August 8, 1981
• Birthplace: Basel, Switzerland

Sport: Tennis

Early Life

Roger Federer was born on August 8, 1981, in Basel, Switzerland, to Robert Federer and Lynette Durand Federer. His parents worked for Ciba-Geigy, a pharmaceutical company. They met in South Africa while Robert Federer was there on a business trip. Federer has an older sister, Diana, who was born in 1979. He and Diana spent their childhood years in Münchenstein, a suburban community near Basel. The family enjoyed playing tennis whenever possible. While Federer also enjoyed playing soccer, he showed a definite aptitude for tennis. When he had reached eight years old, he was good enough to join Basel’s junior tennis program. The young Federer admired the German tennis star Boris Becker. As a child, Federer had difficulty controlling his emotions. He became upset if his hero Boris did not win, and he lost his temper if he himself hit a bad shot. His parents became concerned with their son’s inappropriate behavior. To help solve this problem, he was introduced to a coach who changed his whole approach to tennis.

The Road to Excellence

At the age of ten, Federer came under the tutelage of Peter Carter, a former tennis player from Australia. For the next few years, he spent more time with his new coach than he did with his own family. In addition to focusing on improving Federer’s ground strokes and serve, Carter introduced him to a more positive mental approach to the game. Federer was taught the importance of controlling his temper and of not wasting so much emotional energy during matches. By the time he was a teenager, he had matured dramatically and seemed prepared for new challenges.

In 1994, Federer accepted an invitation to train at the Swiss National Tennis Center located in Ecublens, Switzerland. While he returned home on weekends, during the week, he was at the center. Since Federer spoke German, and French was spoken at the center, he felt out of place. After three years at Ecublens, he was ready to leave and find a new facility more suited to his needs. He chose a training center in Biel, Switzerland, where he could once again work with Carter. By 1998, he had established himself as one of the top junior players in the world. During the year, he won the junior Wimbledon titles in both singles and doubles and the coveted Orange Bowl. For his accomplishments on the junior circuit, he was named the International Tennis Federation (ITF) world junior tennis champion of 1998.

The Emerging Champion

Before the end of 1998, Federer played in some Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour events. He was a quality player but needed to play many more ATP matches before he could become a true champion. In 1999 and 2000, he continued to move up in the rankings even though he had yet to win an ATP title. At the end of 2000, he was ranked twenty-ninth in the world. In early 2001, he finally broke through by capturing the title in Milan. He also competed on the Swiss Davis Cup team against the United States in February 2001. He was instrumental in Switzerland’s 3–2 Davis Cup victory over the United States. By the end of 2001, he was ranked number thirteen in the world.

Federer was poised to become a top-ten player. In 2002, he rose to number six by winning three titles. His brilliant shotmaking, his focus, and his total control of the moment, were all elements that helped him become number one in the world and to win several Grand Slam tournaments. In 2003, he broke through with his victory over Mark Philippoussis in the final at Wimbledon. In addition to his straight-set victory at Wimbledon, Federer won several other titles during 2003. In February 2004, he became ranked number one in the world. He held onto this ranking until August 17, 2008. While he had established himself as a tough competitor, he proved just how spectacular a champion he could be with the remarkable year he had in 2004.

In 2004, Federer won three Grand Slam titles. He defeated Marat Safin to capture the Australian Open, beat Andy Roddick to capture his second Wimbledon, and defeated Lleyton Hewitt to capture the US Open. The only Grand Slam title to elude him was the French Open. With these victories, he was beginning to flirt with tennis history. Even with all his success, he still worked hard to become a more complete player. Critics and fans alike spoke of him as an artist, not merely as a champion tennis player.

Continuing the Story

In 2005, Federer won his third Wimbledon title and his second US Open. However, he still could not find success on the red clay of Roland Garros. At the French Open, he did not even make it to the finals. A young Spaniard by the name of Rafael Nadal had burst onto the tennis scene. Nadal won the 2005 French Open in dramatic fashion and looked to be the player who could compete against Federer for supremacy on the court. Federer was the all-court specialist, while Nadal was the clay-court specialist. In 2006, Federer once again won three Grand Slam titles. He also made the finals of the French Open, only to lose to Nadal in four sets. He returned the favor by beating Nadal in the finals at Wimbledon. A rivalry was building.

In 2007, Federer had another extraordinary year. He won three more Grand Slam titles and again made the finals of the French Open only to lose to Nadal. In a dramatic finals at Wimbledon, he beat Nadal in five hard-fought sets. By the end of 2007, he had twelve Grand Slam singles titles. This left him only two behind Pete Sampras, who finished his illustrious career as the all-time leader with fourteen. Many believed that within a short period of time, he would break Sampras’s record and become the holder of the most Grand Slam singles titles for a man. However, in 2008, not everything went as planned. He only advanced to the semifinals at the Australian Open. With this loss, his string of ten consecutive Grand Slam finals was broken. By March, he revealed that he was suffering from mononucleosis. Whether a loss of energy was hindering his play or not, he was not winning with the same frequency as he had in the past. At the 2008 French Open, he was badly beaten by Nadal in the finals.

With only two Grand Slams tournaments left in 2008, Federer hoped to reclaim his competitive edge at Wimbledon. He also hoped to capture his sixth consecutive Wimbledon title. In what has been called one of the greatest tennis matches in modern tennis history, Nadal defeated him in five sets. For the tennis world, the event was an extraordinary advertisement for all that was good about the sport. Many hoped that both of these fierce competitors would duel once again in the finals of the US Open. However, Nadal was beaten in his quarterfinal match. Federer prevailed, though, by defeating Novak Djokovic in the finals. While 2008 did not turn out exactly as he had hoped, he was pleased to win his fifth US Open in a row. Furthermore, he and his partner, Stanislas Wawrinka, won the gold medal in men’s doubles at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

During the following year, 2009, Federer made another impressive run in the Grand Slam events. After losing to Nadal in five hard-fought sets in the finals of the Australian Open, he finally captured his first French Open title by defeating Robin Söderling in straight sets. This victory tied him with Pete Sampras for the most Grand Slam singles titles (fourteen) for a man. In July, he set a new record for men by reaching his twentieth Grand Slam final at Wimbledon. In a match even more dramatic than his 2008 loss to Nadal, he beat Andy Roddick in five grueling sets that lasted well over four hours. The record-breaking fifth set alone stretched to thirty games and lasted ninety-five minutes, with Federer finally prevailing by a score of 16–14. The win gave him his fifteenth Grand Slam singles title and sole possession of the all-time men’s record.

In early 2010, Federer continued his dominance, advancing to his eighteenth out of nineteenth Grand Slam finals since 2005 and winning the Australian Open. However, by the end of the summer, he had fallen from the number-one ranking, to third, after his quarterfinal loss at the French Open. However, he regained his number-one ranking in 2012 as he won Wimbledon for the seventh time. He also won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, losing in the final match to Andy Murray. In 2013, Federer struggled with a back injury that affected his ability to compete. However, by 2014, he was back on his game, returning to the Wimbledon finals, losing to Novak Djokovic. In 2015, he notched career win number one thousand, becoming only the third player in history to do so.

In January 2018, Federer achieved his twentieth Grand Slam singles title after defeating Marin Cilic at the Australian Open. He secured this milestone despite having had to take breaks from official tournaments due to a knee injury; he had overcome this obstacle to win both the Australian Open (once again playing against Nadal) and Wimbledon in 2017.

Federer advanced to the semifinals of the 2019 French Open, where he met (and was ultimately defeated by) Rafael Nadal. Following his defeat at the French Open, Federer met Nadal in the Wimbledon semifinals, this time emerging victorious against his longtime competitor. However, Federer then lost to Novak Djokovic in the finals in what became the longest men's final in the history of the tournament. Federer's 2020 season was halted when he had surgery performed on his right knee. Although he planned to return to play during the 2020 season, a second knee surgery sidelined any plans of a return for that year.

Lingering knee issues prevailed into the 2021 season, forcing Federer to miss the Australian Open. He eventually returned to competitive play in March of that year. Despite his return, Federer was forced to withdraw from the French Open due to underlying knee issues. Federer, at thirty-nine, became the oldest player in the history of Wimbledon to advance to the quarterfinal in the Open Era (which began in 1968 upon the introduction of Grand Slam tournaments). However, he was eliminated from the tournament following a uncharacteristic straight-set loss. Then, in August of that year, Federer announced his withdrawal from the remainder of the 2021 season due to the reinjuring of his knee earlier in the year.

After initially planning a return to tennis in 2022, Federer announced on September 15, 2022, that he was retiring from the sport and that the upcoming Laver Cup tournament would be his final professional appearance. For his final match, Federer competed with longtime adversary, Rafael Nadal (their rivalry by this point had long since evolved into mutual respect) in a doubles match against Americans Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe. Following the match, which ended in defeat for Federer and Nadal, an emotional Federer bid farewell to the fans in attendance.

Summary

Throughout a career that lasted twenty-four years, Roger Federer established himself as one of the all-time great tennis players in the history of the sport. His style of play was considered by many to be pure artistry. His ground strokes, both forehand and backhand, were so precise that opponents were often forced into defensive positions. Blessed with a excellent serve and fine touch at the net, Roger proved himself a dangerous adversary on all court surfaces. More importantly, however, he became a true tennis great because of his keen mental acumen on the court. In addition to his unparalleled achievements on the tennis court, Roger has also involved himself with charities, including the Roger Federer Foundation that he founded in 2003. In 2006, he became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Federer has had several memorable rivalries over the course of his career. Although he had a lengthy history with Novak Djokovic, Federer's most notable rivalry was his competitive relationship with Rafael Nadal. The two met forty times, and they were the number one and two players for six consecutive years. By the time of Federer's retirement, they had met fourteen times in Grand Slam majors, with Nadal holding a winning record of 14–10. Following their final match together in the 2022 Laver Cup, a tearful Nadal both mourned and commemorated the end of the pair's iconic rivalry.

Bibliography

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Clarey, Christopher. "Roger Federer Wins the Australian Open for His 20th Grand Slam Title." The New York Times, 28 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/01/28/sports/tennis/australian-open-roger-federer-marin-cilic.html. Accessed 6 Mar. 2018.

Fest, Sebastian. Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal: The Life and Career of Two Tennis Legends. Norton, 2016.

Jackson, Wilton. "Rafael Nadal Emotionally Reacts to Roger Federer's Final Farewell." Sports Illustrated, 23 Sept. 2022, www.si.com/tennis/2022/09/24/rafael-nadal-emotionally-reacts-to-roger-federers-final-farewell. Accessed 25 Oct. 2022.

Labrecque, Ellen. Roger Federer. Child’s World, 2008.

Savage, Jeff. Roger Federer. Lerner, 2009.

Stauffer, René. The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection. New Chapter Press, 2007.