Roger Federer Bio

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Roger Federer Pictures

Roger Federer (pronounced /ˈrɒdʒə ˈfɛdərər/; born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked World No. 2. He was the World No. 1 ranked player for a record 237 consecutive weeks, from February 2, 2004, to August 17, 2008. Federer is widely considered to be one of the greatest male singles tennis players of all time.

Federer has won 13 Grand Slam singles titles (3 Australian Open, 5 Wimbledon, 5 US Open), currently just one shy of all-time leader Pete Sampras. He also has won 4 ATP World Tour Finals titles, 14 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles, and 26 standard ATP tour titles. He holds numerous records in the sport, including having appeared in 10 consecutive Grand Slam men's singles finals (2005 Wimbledon Championships through the 2007 US Open) and 19 consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals (2004 Wimbledon-present). He also holds the open era records for most consecutive wins on both grass courts (65) and hard courts (56). He also has a storied rivalry with Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who succeeded Federer as the World No. 1 player in 2008.

As a result of Federer's successes in the sport, he has been named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for 4 consecutive years (2005-08).

Roger Federer: Personal life

Federer was born in Basel, to Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer (née Durand). He grew up in suburban Mí¼nchenstein, ten minutes from Basel and close to the borders of France and Germany. Federer considers Swiss German his first language. He also speaks German, French and English fluently, and conducts press conferences in all four. He is Roman Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL d'Italia tournament in Rome.

In addition to tennis, he also played football as a boy and considered becoming a professional footballer before deciding to pursue a career in tennis. He is a fervent supporter of his hometown club FC Basel. As a youngster, he enjoyed watching former world #1 Chilean player Marcelo Rí­os in action. In addition to Rios, he especially liked Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, and has cited the three as his idols.

Federer is also highly involved in various charities. He established the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003 to help disadvantaged people and to promote sports to youth. He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF in 2006. Since then, he has visited South Africa and Tamil Nadu, one of the worst tsunami-affected areas in India. He has also appeared in UNICEF public messages to raise public awareness of AIDS.

Federer is married to former Women's Tennis Association player Miroslava "Mirka" Vavrinec. They met while competing for Switzerland in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Vavrinec retired from the tour in 2002 because of a persistent foot injury and has since been working as Federer's public relations manager. They were married in Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family at Wenkenhof Villa (municipality of Riehen), and are expecting their first child, reportedly a boy.

In 2007, Federer was photographed by Annie Leibowitz as King Arthur. This was part of a series of photographs of celebrities for Disney's Year of a Million Dreams project.

He maintains a close relationship with musician Gavin Rossdale, pro golfer Tiger Woods and pro footballer Thierry Henry. He was recently in an ad for men's razors with Woods, Henry and New York Yankees baseball player for the US market,Derek Jeter.

Roger Federer: Junior tennis

Federer started playing tennis at the age of six. He began participating in group lessons at the age of nine and began weekly private coaching when he was ten. He also played football until the age of twelve when he decided to focus solely on tennis. At fourteen, he became the national champion of all groups in Switzerland and was chosen to train at the Swiss National Tennis Center in Ecublens. He joined the ITF junior tennis circuit in July 1996. In 1998, his final year as a junior, Federer won the junior Wimbledon title and the prestigious year-ending Orange Bowl. He was recognized as the ITF World Junior Tennis champion of the year.

Roger Federer: Career on the ATP

In July 1998, Federer joined the ATP tour at Gstaad. The following year he debuted for the Swiss Davis Cup team against Italy and finished the year ranked as the youngest player in the top 100. In 2000, Federer reached the semifinals at the Sydney Olympics and lost the bronze medal match to Arnaud di Pasquale of France. Federer reached his first final in Marseille losing to Marc Rosset and was also the runner-up in Basel. He failed to make an impression at Grand Slams and Masters Series tournaments, and ended the year ranked 29th.
(All results and ranking history from ATP).

Roger Federer - 2001

Federer's first ATP tournament victory came in February defeating Julien Boutter in the final of the Milan Indoor, where his tennis idol Stefan Edberg had won his first career title in 1984. During the same month, he won three matches for his country in its 3-2 Davis Cup victory over the United States. He later reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, defeating four-time defending champion and seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round in a closely fought five set match 7-6(7), 5-7, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5, a victory that many consider to be the turning point of his career. This defeat ended Sampras's 31-match winning streak in the tournament. He then finished the year ranked 13th. He joined with Martina Hingis to win the Hopman Cup.
(All results in 2001)

Roger Federer - 2002

Federer reached his first Masters Series final at the Miami Masters, where he lost to Andre Agassi. He won his next Masters final in Hamburg. He also won both his Davis Cup singles matches against former world number one Russians Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. However, he also had early-round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open; Federer also suffered the devastating loss of his long-time Australian coach and mentor, Peter Carter, in a car crash in August. Federer reached No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race by the end of the year and thus qualified for the first time in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. His run at the tournament was ended in the semifinals by then World no.1 and eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt.
(All results in 2002)

Roger Federer - 2003

Federer challenged for the top ranking during 2003, finishing the year at World no.2, just behind Andy Roddick and just ahead of Juan Carlos Ferrero.

In the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, Federer lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open to David Nalbandian. He then won two hard court tournaments in Marseille and Dubai before being upset in early round matches at the Masters Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami. On clay, Federer won the tournament in Munich, was the runner-up at the Masters Series tournament in Rome, and lost in the third round of the Masters Series tournament in Hamburg. Federer was seeded fifth at the French Open but lost to Luis Horna in the first round.

Federer was undefeated on grass in 2003, winning both of the grass court tournaments he played. A victory against Nicolas Kiefer in the final of the tournament in Halle was followed by his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon. He defeated Roddick in the semifinals and Mark Philippoussis in the final and lost only one set during the tournament, to Mardy Fish in the third round.

During the North American summer hard court season, Federer lost to Roddick in the semifinals of the Masters Series tournament in Montreal and to Nalbandian in the second round of the Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati. At the US Open, Nalbandian again defeated Federer, this time in the fourth round.

During the autumn, Federer played four consecutive indoor tournaments in Europe. He won the tournament in Vienna but failed to reach the finals of the tournament in Basel and the Masters Series tournaments in Madrid and Paris. To end the year, Federer won the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston. As the third-seeded player, he defeated Andre Agassi, Nalbandian, and Ferrero during the round robin competition before beating World no.1 Roddick in the semifinals and Agassi in the final.

(All results in 2003)

Roger Federer - 2004

Roger Federer had one of the most dominating and successful years in the open era of modern men's tennis. He won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments, did not lose a match to anyone ranked in the top ten, won every final he reached, and was named the ITF Tennis World Champion. His win-loss record for the year was 74-6 with 11 titles.

He won his first Australian Open singles title by defeating Marat Safin in the final in straight sets. This win saw him supplant Andy Roddick as the World No. 1, a ranking he would hold for four years until August 18, 2008. He successfully defended his Wimbledon singles title by defeating Roddick in the final and won his first US Open singles title by defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the final. Federer was the top-seeded player at the Athens Olympics but lost in the second round to TomáÅ¡ Berdych 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. He finished the year by taking the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston for the second consecutive year, defeating Hewitt in the final. Federer's only loss at a Grand Slam tournament was at the French Open, where he lost to former World No. 1 and 3-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten in straight sets.

Federer did not have a coach during 2004, relying instead on his fitness trainer Pierre Paganini, physiotherapist Pavel Kovac, and a management team composed of his parents, girlfriend Mirka Vavrinec, and a few friends.

(All results in 2004)

Roger Federer - 2005

Federer in Cincinnati during the 2005 US Open Series

At the start of the year, Federer hired former Australian tennis player Tony Roche to coach him on a limited basis. He then reached the Australian Open semifinals before falling to eventual winner Marat Safin 5-7, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(6), 9-7 in a five-set night match that lasted more than four hours. He rebounded to win the year's first two ATP Masters Series titles: Indian Wellsdefeating Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in straight sets and Miami, defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain in five sets after being down two sets to love, and two points from defeat. He won his third Hamburg clay court title in May by defeating Richard Gasquet, to whom he had earlier lost in Monte Carlo. He then entered the French Open as one of the favorites, but lost a four set semifinal to eventual winner Nadal.

Federer successfully defended his Wimbledon title, winning for the third consecutive year by defeating Andy Roddick in a rematch of the previous year's final. Federer also defeated Roddick in Cincinnati to take his fourth Masters Series title of the year (and sweep all the North American Masters events) and became the first player to win four Masters Series titles in one season. He then dropped only two sets en route to his second consecutive US Open title, defeating Andre Agassi in four sets in the final. He became the first man in the open era to win Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back in consecutive years (2004 and 2005). He failed to defend his Tennis Masters Cup title, however, losing to David Nalbandian of Argentina in a four-and-a-half hour, five-set match. This lose prevented him from tying John McEnroe's 1984 record for the highest yearly winning percentage in the open era. This defeat also ended his streak of winning 24 consecutive finals, doubling the previous record.
(All results in 2005)

Roger Federer - 2006

Federer won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments for the second consecutive year and ended the year ranked number one, with his points ranking several thousand points greater than World No.2 Nadal's total. Federer won the year's first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, by defeating Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. In March, Federer successfully defended his titles at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters, and became the first player ever to win the Indian Wells-Miami double in consecutive years. Federer then started the clay-court season by reaching the final of the ATP Masters Series event at Monte Carlo losing in four sets to Rafael Nadal. He then reached the Rome Masters final where he lost to Nadal in an epic five-set match that culminated in a decisive tiebreak. Federer chose not to defend his title at the Hamburg Masters, where he had won in the previous two years. At the French Open Federer advanced to the final for the first time but lost to defending champion Nadal in four sets. Although the clay Grand Slam title eluded him, Federer became one of only two active players who had reached the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments, the other being Andre Agassi.

Federer entered Wimbledon as the top seed and reached the final without dropping a set. There, Federer beat Nadal in four sets to win the championship. This was Federer's fourth consecutive Wimbledon title. He then started his North American tour and won the 2006 Rogers Cup in Toronto, defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the final. In the year's last Grand Slam tournament, the US Open, he defeated American Andy Roddick in four sets for his third consecutive title at Flushing Meadows. During the open era, 2006 is the only year in which same man (Federer) and woman (Justine Henin) reached the finals of all four Grand Slams. At the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup at Shanghai, Federer defeated defending champion David Nalbandian in one of his three round robin matches and Nadal in the semifinals. Federer then defeated American James Blake 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 in the final to win his third Masters Cup title. During the year, Federer lost to only two players: Nadal in the French Open, Rome, Monte Carlo, and Dubai finals; and Andy Murray in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters. The Cincinnati loss to Murray was Federer's only straight-sets loss of the year and the only tournament out of 17 in which he did not reach the final.
(All results in 2006)

Roger Federer - 2007

Federer won his third Australian Open and tenth Grand Slam singles title when he won the tournament without dropping a set defeated Fernando González of Chile in the final. He was the first man since Bjí¶rn Borg in 1980 to win a Grand Slam singles tournament without losing a set. His winning streak of 41 consecutive matches ended when he lost to Guillermo Cañas in the second round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, after winning this tournament three consecutive years. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, Federer again lost to Cañas, this time in the fourth round in three sets. He was awarded four ATP Awards during a ceremony at the tournament, making him the first player to receive four awards during the same year.

Federer started his clay-court season by reaching his second consecutive final of the Monte Carlo Masters. As in 2006, he lost to second seeded Rafael Nadal. Federer lost in the third round of the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome to Filippo Volandri. This defeat meant he had gone four tournaments without a title, his longest stretch since becoming World No. 1. On May 20, 2007, however, Federer defeated Nadal on clay for the first time, winning the Hamburg Masters tournament, and ending Nadal's record of 81 consecutive match wins on clay. At the French Open, Federer reached the final for the second consecutive year but lost to Nadal for the third consecutive time. The day after the final, Federer announced that he was withdrawing from the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, which he had won the last four years. He cited fatigue and fear of getting an injury. He therefore entered Wimbledon for the first time without having played a warm-up grass-court tournament. Despite this, Federer once again defeated Nadal in five sets in the final. With the win over Nadal, Federer tied Bjí¶rn Borg's record of five Wimbledons in a row.

Federer won the Cincinnati Masters title for the second time, beating James Blake in the final, to collect his 50th career singles title, his 14th ATP Masters Series title, and the 2007 US Open Series points race.

In the US Open final, Federer beat third seed Novak Djokovic. It was Federer's 12th Grand Slam title, tying Roy Emerson. As champion of the US Open Series points race, Federer received a bonus of $1 million, in addition to the $1.4 million prize for winning the US Open singles title. He became the only player in history to win three grand slams in three years(2004, 2006, 2007) in

Federer entered the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup where he lost his first round robin match to the 2007 Australian Open runner-up, Fernando González, 3-6 7-6(1) 7-5 . This marked the first time a player had defeated Federer in the round robin of the Tennis Masters Cup and González's first win against Federer. Federer went on to defeat Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1 in the semifinals and David Ferrer in the final 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

On November 19, 2007, in an exhibition match in Seoul between players recognized as among the greatest ever, Federer defeated former World No. 1 Pete Sampras 6-4, 6-3. This was the first of three exhibitions the two played in Asia. "I feel pretty good", Sampras told Korean television after the match. "I made it competitive, which was my goal. Obviously Roger is the best player in the world and I retired five years ago. I am grateful that he invited me." Federer was equally happy with the workout: "Pete was one of my idols growing up and it's great to play him. It wasn't easy for me, it wasn't easy for him as he's been retired five years. I am number one and everyone expects me to win." Two days later, Sampras again lost to Federer 7-6, 7-6. However, Sampras won the last match of the series 7-6(6), 6-4, though his stated goal was to just win a set.
(All results in 2007)

Roger Federer - 2008

Federer at the 2008 BNP Paribas Masters

Federer began the year by attempting to defend his title at the Australian Open. He lost, however, in the semifinals to eventual champion Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(5). This ended his male record of ten consecutive Grand Slam finals. It was the first time that Federer had lost in straight sets in a Grand Slam singles match since he lost in the third round of the 2004 French Open. His last straight-sets loss at a hard court Grand Slam tournament was during the fourth round of the 2002 US Open.

In March, Federer revealed that he had recently been diagnosed with mononucleosis and that he may have suffered from it as early as December 2007. Federer also had an illness related to food poisoning prior to the start of the Australian Open. He noted, however, that he was now "medically cleared to compete".

Although Federer was seeded first and was the defending champion at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, he lost to Andy Murray in the first round with a score of 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-4. On March 10, Federer won his third exhibition match out of four against former World No. 1 and fourteen-time Grand Slam singles titlist Pete Sampras at Madison Square Garden in New York City 6-3, 6-7, 7-6.

At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, the first Tennis Masters Series event of the year, Federer lost in the semifinals to American Mardy Fish for the first time, thus ending his 41-match winning streak against American players dating back to August 2003. Federer's next tournament was the 2008 Miami Masters, where he lost in the quarterfinals to American Andy Roddick. Roddick's last official win against him was in 2003.

Federer began the clay court season at the Estoril Open in Portugal. This was his first tournament with coach José Higueras and his first non-Master Series clay-court tournament since Gstaad in 2004. Federer won his first tournament of the year when Nikolay Davydenko retired from the final while trailing 7-6, 1-2 with a leg ligament strain.

Federer then played three Masters Series tournaments on clay. At the Masters Series Monte Carlo, Federer lost to three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the final in straight sets. Federer made 44 unforced errors, lost a 4-0 lead in the second set, and fell to 1-7 against Nadal on clay courts. At the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Radek Å tÄ›pánek 7-6(4), 7-6(7). Federer was the defending champion at the Masters Series Hamburg and won his first four matches in straight sets to set up a repeat of the previous year's final against Nadal. In the first set of the final, Federer built a 5-1 lead and served for the set twice. Nadal, however, won six consecutive games to win the set 7-5. Nadal again broke Federer's serve in the opening game of the second set, but Federer broke back and won the set 7-6(3). Nadal then won the third set 6-3 and the tournament.

At the French Open, Federer was defeated quickly by Nadal in the final 6-1, 6-3, 6-0. The last time Federer had lost a set 6-0 was his first round match in 1999 against Byron Black at the Artois Championships played at Queen's Club in London. This was also the fourth consecutive year that Federer and Nadal had played at the French Open, with Federer losing his third consecutive final to Nadal as well as their semifinal match in 2005. Federer's record of 23-4 (2005-08) at the French Open is second only to Nadal's record of 28-0 during the same period.

Federer bounced back by winning the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany without dropping a set or a service game. This was the fifth time he had won this event. With this result, he tied Pete Sampras's record for most titles on grass in the open era with ten.

At Wimbledon, Federer reached his 17th consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinal and his 16th Grand Slam final, tying Bjí¶rn Borg for fourth most in male tennis history. He once again played World No. 2 Nadal in the final. A victory for Federer would mean his sixth consecutive Wimbledon singles title, breaking Borg's modern era record and equaling the all-time record held since 1886 by William Renshaw. Federer saved two championship points in the fourth set tiebreak but eventually lost the match 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(8), 9-7. The rain-delayed match ended in near darkness after 4 hours, 48 minutes of play, making it the longest (in terms of elapsed time) men's final in Wimbledon recorded history. It concluded 7 hours, 15 minutes after its scheduled start. The defeat also ended Federer's 65 match winning streak on grass. John McEnroe described the match as "The greatest match I've ever seen." After Nadal surpassed him as World No. 1 later in the year, Federer stated that his main goal would be to regain the Wimbledon title rather than the top spot.

Federer made early exits in his next two singles tournaments. At the Masters Series Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada, Federer lost in the second round to Gilles Simon after receiving a first round bye. At the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, Federer was the defending champion but lost in the third round to Ivo Karlovich for the first time in seven matches between them.

Federer was chosen to carry the national flag at the Beijing Olympics. At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to James Blake for the first time in their nine matches. Federer however, finally won his first Olympic gold medal in the men's doubles when he and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka upset the World No. 1 doubles team of Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan of the United States in the semifinals and defeated Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson in the final, 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3. The following day, Federer lost his World No. 1 ranking to Nadal after a record 237 consecutive weeks.

At the US Open, Federer reached the fourth round without dropping a set. There, he defeated Russian Igor Andreev 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Gilles Mí¼ller in straight sets and then, in a rematch of the 2007 US Open final, he topped third-seeded Novak Djokovic in the semifinals 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2. On a Monday final, he defeated Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to win his 13th Grand Slam title and his fifth straight US Open title and extended his US Open winning streak to 34 matches. Federer became the first player in tennis history to have five consecutive wins at both Wimbledon and the US Open.

At the 2008 Madrid Masters, Federer reached the semifinals without losing a set. He lost to Murray, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Meanwhile, he became the all-time leader in career prize money in men's tennis, earning over US$43.3 million at the end of the tournament and surpassing former World No. 1 and 14-time Grand Slam champion, Pete Sampras.

Federer won his 57th career title at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, beating David Nalbandian in the final, 6-3, 6-4. He became the only player to win the title three consecutive years. He reached the quarterfinals of his next event, the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris before withdrawing because of back pain. This was the first time in Federer's career of 763 matches that he had withdrawn from a tournament. This meant that 2008 was his first since 2003 in which he did not win a Masters Series title.

Federer entered the Tennis Masters Cup as the top-seeded player after Nadal withdrew from the tournament. He drew Gilles Simon, Andy Murray, and Andy Roddick in the Red Group. In his opening match, Federer lost to Simon 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Simon became just the second man to defeat Federer in the round robin stage of the Tennis Masters Cup. Federer kept his hopes alive by defeating Roddick's replacement, Radek Stepanek, 7-6(4), 6-4. In his third match, he faced Murray in a repeat of the US Open final and Madrid semifinal. Murray went on to win the match 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-5, although Federer came back from trailing 5-2 in the second set and 3-0 in the third set. Federer had also received medical treatment for back and hip problems in the third set and lost after saving seven match points. This was the first time that Federer had not advanced to the semifinal stage of the event. However, Federer still ended the year ranked World No. 2.

Roger Federer - 2009

In preparation for the Australian Open, Federer played two exhibition tournaments and one official tournament. He lost to Andy Murray in the semifinals of the Capitala World Tennis exhibition in Abu Dhabi. He then lost in the semifinals of the ATP World Tour 250 series tournament in Doha, Qatar to Murray 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2. Federer won the AAMI Classic exhibition in Melbourne when he defeated fellow countryman Stanislas Wawrinka in the final 6-1, 6-3.

Federer defeated each of his first three opponents in straight sets at the Australian Open, including former World No. 1 Marat Safin in the third round 6-3, 6-2, 7-6. In the fourth round, Federer rallied from two sets down to defeat Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, which was truly a showcase for his mental and physical abilities. Federer reached his record 19th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal by defeating eighth seeded Juan Martin del Potro in the quarterfinals 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 in only 80 minutes. Federer then defeated another former World No. 1, Andy Roddick, 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 to advance to his 18th Grand Slam final (one behind the all time record set by Ivan Lendl). In the final, Federer was defeated by long-time rival Rafael Nadal in their first meeting on a hard court in a Grand Slam tournament. The match lasted over four hours with Nadal victorious in five sets. Federer broke down in tears during the trophy presentation and struggled to make his runner-up speech. Federer blamed the defeat on a lack of rhythm in his first serve.

Federer then withdrew from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships and from Switzerland's Davis Cup tie against the U.S. because of a back injury he sustained in late 2008. He stated that this is "a precautionary measure" to make sure his back is "fully rehabilitated ... for the rest of the 2009 season".

On March 4, Federer's agent, Tony Godsick, announced that the Australian tennis coach Darren Cahill was working with Federer, on a trial basis, at Federer's training base in Dubai. One week later, Cahill opted out of the coaching position, citing the travel commitment needed.

Federer played both of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series tournaments in the United States. At the 2009 Indian Wells Masters, Federer lost to Murray in the semifinals 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. At the 2009 Miami Masters, Federer defeated his first three opponents in straight sets after receiving a first round bye and Roddick in the quarterfinals 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. In the semifinals against Novak Djokovic, Federer lost 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, a match that included Federer's smashing of his racket in frustration after missing an easy shot.

After initially deciding not to participate, Federer accepted a last-minute wildcard entry at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, his first clay court event of the year. He lost to Wawrinka for the first time in the third round 6-4, 7-5. His next scheduled tournament is the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series event on clay.

Roger Federer: Rivalry with Rafael Nadal

Federer and Nadal have been playing each other since 2004, and this rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers:

• They are the only men in the open era who have played each other in 7 Grand Slam finals.
• Their 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match of all time by many long-time tennis critics.
• Many critics consider their rivalry to be the greatest in tennis history.

Roger Federer: Playing style

Federer has a versatile, all-court playing style and can hit all of the fundamental shots with a high degree of proficiency. His versatility was epitomised when Jimmy Connors said "In an era of specialists - you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist... or you're Roger Federer". He is an adept volleyer and an excellent baseliner who can dictate play with precise groundstrokes from both wings. While there seems to be no definite answer regarding which forehand grip he uses, most agree the grip is between eastern and slightly semi-western. He can generate extreme top-spin with the forehand, allowing him to open up cross-court angles while still hitting the ball with pace. He keeps his eyes locked on the contact point longer than most players and keeps his head fairly still despite his speed of swing. David Foster Wallace described the exceptional speed, fluidity and brute force of this forehand motion as "a great liquid whip", while John McEnroe has referred to it as "the greatest shot in our sport". Federer plays with a one-handed backhand, and has an excellent slice, and can also fire top-spin winning shots. Federer tends to hit his groundstrokes early, while the ball is still on the rise, much like Andre Agassi did. While this requires excellent reactions and footwork, it means that Federer hits his groundstrokes closer to the net than most of his opponents. This reduces the reaction time of his opponents and allows him to hit the angled winners that are a trademark of his game.

His serve is difficult to read because he tosses the ball in the same spot no matter where he intends to serve it and he turns his back to his opponents during his motion. His first serve is typically around 190 km/h (However, he is capable of serving at 220 km/h).

Roger Federer: Equipment, apparel, and endorsements

Federer currently plays with a customized Wilson (K)Factor (K)Six-One Tour 90 tennis raquet, which is characterised by its smaller hitting surface (customized) (90 square inch), heavy weight (customized)(12.7 oz strung weight), and thin beam (18 mm). His grip size is 4 3/8" (L3). Federer strings his racquets at a 46-54 pounds tension (depending on his opponent and surface), although at Wimbledon 2008 he was stringing at around 48 pounds with natural gut main strings (Wilson Natural Gut 16 String) and polyester cross strings (Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power Rough 16L String). Federer also uses Wilson Pro Overgrip, 3 power pads placed at the throat of his racquet, and 10 Babolat Elasto-Cross 2 string savers to extend the life of the natural gut strings. (placed alternately on the fourth and sixth cross string) Federer endorses Wilson tennis racquets and accessories with a lifetime contract and Nike footwear and apparel (he wears the Nike Air Vapor VI and Nike Polo shirts). For the 2006 championships at Wimbledon, Nike designed a jacket emblazoned with a crest of three tennis racquets symbolizing the three Wimbledon Championships he had previously won. This jacket was updated in preparation for the 2007 Wimbledon Championships, with four racquets. In Wimbledon 2008, Nike even made him a personalized cardigan which exuded stylishness and had the mark of the supreme champion. He now has his own logo, an R and F joined together. He also has endorsement deals from various other companies, many of them being Swiss. He also endorses Gillette and Jura, a Swiss based company. In addition, he has had a long standing endorsement deal with Mercedes Benz. He also launched a fragrance called RF Cosmetics in 2003.

Roger Federer: Achievements

With 57 career singles titles, Federer is tied for eighth on the open era career singles titles list. Time Magazine named Federer as one of the 100 most influential people in 2007.

Roger Federer - Records

Roger Federer holds a number of records in tennis history, the most prominent being winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year three times: 2004, 2006, and 2007.

He has surpassed or equaled many long-standing records, including:

• Equaling Bjí¶rn Borg's open era record of five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles in 2007
• Capturing the open era record of most consecutive US Open titles (five) in 2008
• The only player in tennis history to have won 5 consecutive Grand Slam titles at two separate Grand Slam Events (Wimbledon 2003-2007 and US Open 2004-2008)
• Ranked World #1 for a record of 237 consecutive weeks as of August 17, 2008, outlasting Jimmy Connors's record of 160 consecutive weeks as #1 men's player and Steffi Graf's record of 186 weeks as #1 singles player in the world

Roger Federer - Awards

Federer has won numerous awards during his tennis career.

Federer was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in 2005. He also won this award in 2006 through 2008.

Roger Federer: Career statistics

Roger Federer - Major finals (47)

Grand Slam singles finals (18)

Wins (13)

Runner-ups (5)

Tennis Masters Cup singles finals (5)

Wins (4)

Runner-up (1)

ATP Masters Series singles finals (23)

Wins (14)

Runner-ups (9)

Olympic doubles final

Gold

Roger Federer - Career finals (91)

Singles (79)

Wins (57)

Runner-ups (22)

Doubles (12)

Wins (8)

Runner-ups (4)

Roger Federer - Singles performance timeline

To help interpret the performance table, the legend below explains what each abbreviation and color coded box represents in the performance timeline.

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2009 Monte Carlo Masters in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

NMS - neither an ATP Masters Series 1000 event nor an ATP Masters Series event.

Roger Federer - ATP Tour career earnings

*As of April 6, 2009. **As of April 6, 2009.

Roger Federer: See also

• List of career achievements by Roger Federer
• List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions