Roger Federer
1969
In 2006, Federer won three Grand Slam singles titles and reached the final of the other, with the only loss coming against Nadal in the French Open. This was Federer and Nadal's first meeting in a Grand Slam final. He was the first man to reach all four finals in a calendar year since Rod Laver in 1969. Federer defeated Nadal in the Wimbledon Championships final. In the Australian Open, Federer defeated Marcos Baghdatis, and at the US Open, Federer defeated 2003 champion Roddick. In addition, Federer reached six Masters finals, winning four on hard surfaces and losing two on clay to Nadal. Federer, however, consistently pushed Nadal to the limit on clay throughout the season taking him to fourth-set tiebreakers in Monte-Carlo and Paris, and a thrilling match in Rome that went to a deciding fifth-set tiebreaker.
1974
Federer's 2017 season marked a return to Grand Slam wins since 2012, the most titles since 2007, and the highest win percentage since 2006. Statistically, this season was his best since 2007. Federer played in the Hopman Cup and Australian Open in January 2017. His withdrawal from most of the injury affected 2016 season led his ranking to slip to No. 17 at the start of Australian Open, his lowest in over fifteen years. At the Australian Open, he beat top-10 players Tomáš Berdych and Kei Nishikori on his way to semifinals, making Federer the oldest man to compete in a grand slam semi-final since Jimmy Connors in 1991. In the semi-finals, he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets, making him the oldest player to compete in a Grand Slam final since Ken Rosewall in 1974. Coming back from a break down in the fifth set, Federer defeated Rafael Nadal to win the Australian Open, which also marked Federer's 100th match at the Australian Open; it was the first time that Federer had won a match against Nadal in a Grand Slam event since the 2007 Wimbledon final, and also marked Federer's first ever Grand Slam victory over Nadal outside of the grass courts of Wimbledon. With this victory, he re-entered the top ten.
1976
Due to concerns about his longevity, Federer decided that he would skip the entire clay-court season. He returned to the tour at the beginning of the grass-court season in Stuttgart, where he suffered a shock defeat to Tommy Haas in the second round despite holding match points, the lowest-ranked player (No. 302) to beat him since No. 407 Bjoern Phau in 1999. He rebounded the following week by winning a record-extending ninth title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, doing so without the loss of a set. In the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, Federer made it to the final without dropping a set, defeating Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals and Tomáš Berdych in the semifinals. In the final, Federer defeated a physically and mentally out of sorts Marin Čilić in straight sets to win a record-breaking eighth Wimbledon gentlemen's singles title and his record-extending 19th major title overall, becoming the oldest male player to win Wimbledon in the Open era. Federer became the second man in the Open era to win Wimbledon without dropping a set after Björn Borg in 1976. It marked the second time in his career that he had won a grand slam tournament without losing a set, matching his performance at the 2007 Australian Open. Federer moved up to become No. 3 in the ATP rankings after the event and qualified for the ATP Finals for a record 15th time.
August 1981
Federer was born on 8 August 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. A member of the Federer family, his Swiss-German father, Robert Federer, is from Berneck in the canton of St. Gallen and his Afrikaner mother, Lynette Federer (née Durand), is from Kempton Park, Gauteng, in South Africa. He has one sibling, his older sister, Diana, the mother of twins. Since Federer's mother is South African, he holds both Swiss and South African citizenship. He grew up in nearby Birsfelden, Riehen, and then Münchenstein, close to the French and German borders, and speaks Swiss German, Standard German, English, and French fluently as well as functional Italian and a few phrases of Swedish. Swiss German is his native language. He was a ball boy at his hometown Basel event, the Swiss Indoors in 1992 and 1993.
August 1981
Roger Federer (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .reference-text .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}German pronunciation: [ˈrɔdʒər ˈfeːdərər]; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Federer was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 five times. He won 103 singles titles on the ATP Tour, the second most of all time, including 20 major men's singles titles, a record eight men's singles Wimbledon titles, an Open Era joint-record five men's singles US Open titles, and a joint-record six year-end championships.
1982
Federer won 12 singles titles (the most of any player since Thomas Muster in 1995 and John McEnroe in 1984) and had a match record of 92–5 (the most wins since Ivan Lendl in 1982). Federer reached the finals in an astounding 16 of the 17 tournaments he entered during the season.
1986
Federer won three ATP Masters events, one on clay in Hamburg, and the other two on hard surfaces at Indian Wells and in Canada. Federer took the ATP 500 series event at Dubai and wrapped up the year by winning the year-end championships for the second time. He also won his first tournament on home soil by capturing the Swiss Open in Gstaad. His 11 singles titles were the most of any player in two decades, and his record of 74–6 was the best since Ivan Lendl in 1986. He reached the year-end No. 1 ranking for the first time.
1988
During 2004, Federer won three Grand Slam singles titles, becoming the first person to do in one season so since Mats Wilander in 1988. His first major hard-court title came at the Australian Open over Marat Safin, making him the world No. 1 for the first time. He then won his second Wimbledon crown over Andy Roddick. At the US Open, Federer defeated the 2001 champion, Lleyton Hewitt, for his first title there.
1992
On winning the 2009 French Open and completing the career Grand Slam, Federer became the first male tennis player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated since Andre Agassi in 1999. He was also the first non-American player to appear on the cover of the magazine since Stefan Edberg in 1992. He again made the cover of Sports Illustrated following his record-breaking 8th Wimbledon title and second Grand Slam of 2017, becoming the first male tennis player to be featured on the cover since himself in 2009.
1993
That year, Federer won 11 singles titles, which tied his mark during the 2004 season. Federer's 81 match victories were the most since Pete Sampras in 1993, and his record of 81–4 (95.2%) remains the third-best winning percentage in the Open Era behind John McEnroe's 1984 and Jimmy Connors's 1974.
1994
Federer first signed with Nike footwear and apparel in 1994. For the 2006 championships at Wimbledon, Nike designed a jacket emblazoned with a crest of three tennis racquets, symbolising the three Wimbledon Championships he had previously won, and which was updated the next year with four racquets after he won the Championship in 2006. At Wimbledon 2008, and again in 2009, Nike continued this trend by making him a personalised cardigan that also had his own logo, an R and an F joined, which was originally designed by his wife, Mirka.
1996
Federer and Lleyton Hewitt played 27 times, with Federer leading 18–9. Early in their careers, Hewitt dominated Federer, winning seven of their first nine meetings, including a victory from two sets down in the 2003 Davis Cup semifinal which allowed Australia to defeat Switzerland. This marked a turning point in the rivalry, as Federer won 16 of the next 18 meetings from 2004 onwards. This is Hewitt's longest rivalry as these two first played each other as juniors in 1996. They met in one Grand Slam tournament final, the 2004 US Open final, where Federer won his first US Open title in a lopsided encounter in which Federer scored a bagel on both sides of a second-set tiebreak. Federer met Hewitt at six of the Grand Slam tournaments in which he lifted the trophy, including all five of his triumphs between 2004 and 2005. Their last meeting was at the 2014 Brisbane International, where Hewitt triumphed over Federer in three sets for his first title since 2010, when he also beat Federer to the Halle title.
1996
Federer played his first junior match in 1996, at the age of 14, at a grade-2 tournament in Switzerland. His main accomplishments as a junior player came at Wimbledon in 1998, when he won both the boys' singles final over Irakli Labadze, and the doubles final, teamed with Olivier Rochus, defeating the team of Michaël Llodra and Andy Ram. In addition, he reached the US Open Junior final in 1998, losing to David Nalbandian. Federer won four ITF junior singles tournaments in his career, including the prestigious Orange Bowl, where he defeated Guillermo Coria in the final. By the end of 1998 he attained the No. 1 junior world ranking and was awarded ITF junior World Champion. He ended his junior career at the end of 1998 with a high-ranking of No. 1 in singles and No. 7 in doubles (both attained on December 31, 1998) and a win–loss record of 78–20 in singles and 36–21 in doubles.
1997
Marat Safin and Federer played 12 times, with Federer leading 10–2. Federer and Safin turned pro within one year of each other, with Safin turning pro in 1997 and Federer in 1998. Federer leads 4–1 on hard courts, 3–0 on grass, and 3–0 on clay courts, while Safin leads 1–0 on carpet. Notable meetings include Federer's defeating Safin at the 2002 Hamburg Masters to win the first Masters title of his career, as well as Federer's emerging victorious in the semifinals of the 2004 Tennis Masters Cup, after winning a tiebreak 20–18 on his eighth match point. Federer also defeated Safin in the finals of the 2004 Australian Open to capture his first Australian Open and second Grand Slam tournament title. However, Safin defeated Federer in the 2005 Australian Open semifinals, having saved one match point in the fourth-set tiebreak, to end a 26-match winning streak by Federer. They met each other five times in Grand Slam tournaments, with Federer leading 4–1.
1998
A Wimbledon junior champion in 1998 and former ball boy, Federer won his first major singles title at Wimbledon in 2003 at age 21. Between 2003 and 2009, Federer played in 21 out of 28 major singles finals. He won three of the four majors and the ATP Finals in 2004, 2006, and 2007 as well as five consecutive titles at both Wimbledon and the US Open. He completed the career Grand Slam at the 2009 French Open after three consecutive runner-up finishes to Rafael Nadal, his main rival until 2010. At age 27, he surpassed Pete Sampras's record of 14 major men's singles titles at Wimbledon in 2009.
1999
Federer made his Davis Cup debut for Switzerland in the World Group first round against Italy in 1999 at 17 years of age. In his first match he defeated Davide Sanguinetti in four sets and recorded a second singles victory in a dead rubber two days later for Switzerland to advance to the World Group quarterfinals. There, Federer suffered his first Davis Cup loss when he was defeated by Belgian Christophe Van Garsse in five sets. The Swiss team went on to lose the rubber 3–2. A year later, Federer competed in his first Davis Cup doubles rubber where he teamed with countryman Lorenzo Manta to defeat Australians Wayne Arthurs and Sandon Stolle in four sets. Despite the doubles victory, Federer lost both singles rubbers to Mark Philippoussis and Lleyton Hewitt which sent Switzerland to the World Group Playoffs for the first time in Federer's career. He returned for the playoffs in July 2000 and led Switzerland to a 5–0 win over Belarus, recording wins in singles and doubles.
1999
Hewitt and Federer teamed up in the men's doubles at Wimbledon in 1999. They lost in the third round to Jonas Björkman and Pat Rafter.
1999
In 1999, Federer won his first doubles title, in Segovia, Spain on the Challenger tour, teamed with Dutchman Sander Groen; the final was played on Federer's 18th birthday. His first singles win was at the 2001 Milan Indoor tournament, where he defeated Julien Boutter in the final. In 2001, Federer made his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open, losing to former world No. 2 and eventual finalist Àlex Corretja. His run to the French quarterfinals launched him into the top 15 for the first time in his career.
September 1999
Federer entered the top-100 ranking for the first time on 20 September 1999 and started at the 1999 Marseille Open, defeating the reigning champion of the 1998 French Open, Spaniard Carlos Moyá. His first final came at the Marseille Open in 2000, where he lost to fellow Swiss Marc Rosset. Federer won the 2001 Hopman Cup representing Switzerland, along with world No. 1 Martina Hingis. The duo defeated the American pair of Monica Seles and Jan-Michael Gambill in the finals. Federer later said that his experience with Hingis "definitely helped me to become the player I am today."
2000
Federer made his Olympic debut at Sydney in 2000, where he entered the singles competition. He surprised many by reaching the semifinals, where he lost to Tommy Haas and then to Arnaud Di Pasquale in the bronze medal match, causing Federer to leave Sydney empty-handed. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Federer was the clear favorite after claiming the world No. 1 ranking earlier in the year and capturing the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles. However, he lost in the second round to 18-year-old Tomáš Berdych. In doubles, he and compatriot Yves Allegro lost in the second round.
2000
Near the end of the season, he won his hometown tournament, the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland for the first time, having finished runner up in 2000 and 2001, and missing the tournament in 2004 and 2005 due to injuries.
2001
Federer started his season winning the Hopman Cup partnering with Belinda Bencic. This was his second Hopman Cup title, having won previously in 2001 with Martina Hingis. At the 2018 Australian Open, Federer reached the final without dropping a set, and successfully defended his title beating Marin Čilić in a five-set final. It was Federer's sixth title at the Australian Open, equaling the then record held by Roy Emerson and Novak Djokovic, which was surpassed by Djokovic in 2019. He also became the first man to win twenty Grand Slam titles. It was also the first time since the 2008 US Open that Federer successfully defended a major title.
2001
Federer won the Hopman Cup in 2001 representing Switzerland, along with Martina Hingis. The duo defeated the American pair of Monica Seles and Jan-Michael Gambill in the finals. He also played the next year along with his current wife Mirka Vavrinec, but they lost in the round robin stage.
2002
Federer and Andre Agassi played 11 times, and Federer leads their head-to-head 8–3. This was Federer's most significant rivalry with a dominant player of the previous generation. They first met in only the third tournament of Federer's career at the 1998 Swiss Indoors in Federer's hometown, with Andre Agassi prevailing over the 17-year-old. Agassi also defeated Federer at the 2001 US Open and the finals of the Miami Masters in 2002. Federer began to turn the tide at the Masters Cup in 2003, when he defeated Agassi in both the round robin and the final. They played a memorable quarterfinal match at the 2004 US Open that spanned over two days, with Federer eventually prevailing in five sets. At the 2005 Dubai Championships, Federer and Agassi attracted worldwide headlines with a publicity stunt that saw the two men play on a helipad almost 220 meters above sea level at the hotel Burj al-Arab. Their final match was at one of the most prestigious platforms in the sport when they played in the finals of the 2005 US Open. Federer was victorious in four sets, claiming the 6th Grand Slam tournament of his career and denying Agassi his 9th.
2002
Federer is married to former Women's Tennis Association player Miroslava Federer (née Vavrinec), whom he met while they were both competing for Switzerland at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Usually called Mirka, she retired from the tour in 2002 because of a foot injury. They were married at Wenkenhof Villa in Riehen near Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family. In 2009, she gave birth to identical twin girls. They had another pair of twins in 2014, this time fraternal twin boys. Their children were baptized in the Catholic faith by Federer's distant cousin Monsignor Urban Federer, who is the Abbot of Einsiedeln Abbey.
October 2002
Federer has won the third most Grand Slam tournament titles (20), trailing Rafael Nadal (22) and Novak Djokovic (23). He is the first men's singles player to have reached ten consecutive Grand Slam tournament finals and a total of 31 Grand Slam finals. He has earned a men's doubles gold medal, and a men's singles silver medal at the Olympics in 2008 and 2012, respectively. He has spent the second-most time at the top of the ATP rankings (310 weeks). He also holds the record, shared with Djokovic, for the most titles (6) at the year-end championships, where only the year-end eight highest-ranked players participate. Federer was ranked among the top eight players in the world continuously for 14 years and two weeks — from 14 October 2002 until 31 October 2016, when injuries forced him to skip much of the 2016 season.
2003
As a junior player, Federer played with a Wilson Pro Staff 6.0 85 square inch head racquet. He switched to a bigger custom-built Wilson 90 square inch head racquet in 2003. His grip size was .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}4+3⁄8 inches (L3). When asked about string tensions, Federer stated "this depends on how warm the days are and with what kind of balls I play and against who I play. So you can see – it depends on several factors and not just the surface; the feeling I have is most important."
2003
His first Davis Cup highlight came in 2003 as the newly crowned Wimbledon champion led his country to an historic semifinal run. After recording five wins in ties against the Netherlands and France, the Swiss team traveled to Melbourne to play the highly rated Australians. Federer once again defeated Wimbledon runner-up Mark Philippoussis in the second rubber but dropped the doubles rubber in five sets. Federer then played Lleyton Hewitt in a sudden death situation for Switzerland and despite leading two sets to love, lost in five sets. Australia went on to claim the Davis Cup title as Federer's interest in Davis Cup began to wane and his focus shifted to his personal career. He skipped many ties over the years but often competed in the World Group Playoffs in order for Switzerland to maintain their place in the top division.
2003
In 2003, Federer won his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, beating Andy Roddick in the semifinals and Mark Philippoussis in the final. In August he had a chance to take over the No. 1 ranking for the first time from Andre Agassi if he made it to the Montreal final. However, he fell in the semifinals to Roddick, in a final-set tiebreaker, leaving him 120 points behind Agassi. This, coupled with early losses to David Nalbandian at Cincinnati and the US Open, denied Federer the chance to become No. 1 for the duration of the season.
2003
In 2003, he established the Roger Federer Foundation to help disadvantaged children and to promote their access to education and sport.
2003
Like all male Swiss citizens, Federer was subject to compulsory military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, in 2003, he was ruled "unsuitable" and was subsequently not required to fulfill his military obligation. Instead, he served in the civil protection force and was required to pay 3% of his taxable income as an alternative. Later, he revealed that he was discharged due to a chronic back problem.
July 2003
Federer developed back injuries in March and July and his ranking dropped from No. 2 to No. 6. Federer's first and only title of 2013 came at the Gerry Weber Open (defeating Mikhail Youzhny), where he also played doubles with good friend Tommy Haas. With the victory in Halle, he tied John McEnroe for the third-most ATP titles won by a male player in the Open Era. Federer, however, was unable to maintain his form into Wimbledon, suffering his worst Grand Slam tournament defeat since 2003 in the second round against Sergiy Stakhovsky. Not only did the loss end Federer's record streak of 36 consecutive quarterfinals at Grand Slam tournaments, it meant he would drop out of the top 4 for the first time since July 2003.
July 2003
The year 2011 was a lean year for Federer, although great by most player's standards. He was defeated in straight sets in the semifinals of the 2011 Australian Open by eventual champion Novak Djokovic, marking the first time since July 2003 that he did not hold any of the four major titles. In the French Open semifinals, Federer ended Djokovic's undefeated streak of 43 consecutive wins with a four-set victory. Federer then lost in the final to Rafael Nadal. At Wimbledon, Federer advanced to his 29th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, losing to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. It marked the first time in his career that he had lost a Grand Slam tournament match after winning the first two sets.
2004
Federer and Andy Roddick played 24 times, and Federer leads their head-to-head 21–3. Roddick lost his No. 1 ranking to Federer after Federer won his first Australian Open in 2004. Their rivalry includes four Grand Slam event finals, three at Wimbledon and one at the US Open, all won by Federer. Roddick himself said it was not much of a rivalry, being so one-sided.
2004
Federer helped to lead a revival in tennis known by many as the Golden Age, leading to increased interest in the sport and higher revenues for many tennis venues. Rising revenues led to exploding prize money: When Federer first won the Australian Open in 2004, he earned $985,000. When he won in 2018, the prize had increased to AUD 4 million.
February 2004
They held the top two rankings on the ATP Tour from July 2005 until 17 August 2009, when Nadal fell to No. 3 (Andy Murray became the new No. 2), and again from 11 September 2017 until 15 October 2018 (Novak Djokovic became the new No. 2). They are the only pair of men to have ever finished six consecutive calendar years at the top. Federer was ranked No. 1 for a record 237 consecutive weeks beginning in February 2004. Nadal, who is five years younger, ascended to No. 2 in July 2005 and held it for 160 consecutive weeks, before surpassing Federer in August 2008.
May 2004
Since May 2004, citing his close ties with South Africa (his mother is South African) he has been supporting the South Africa-Swiss charity IMBEWU, which helps children better connect to sports as well as social and health awareness. In 2005, he visited South Africa to meet children who had benefited from his support. Also in 2005, he auctioned his racquet from his US Open championship to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.
2005
In 2005, Federer failed to reach the finals of the first two Grand Slam tournaments, losing the Australian Open semifinal to eventual champion Safin after holding match points, and the French Open semifinal to eventual champion Rafael Nadal. However, Federer reestablished his dominance on grass, winning Wimbledon for a third time by defeating Andy Roddick. At the US Open, Federer defeated Andre Agassi in the latter's last major final.
April 2006
At the 2005 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Federer arranged an exhibition with several top players from the ATP and WTA tour called Rally for Relief, whose proceeds went to the victims of the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In December 2006, he visited Tamil Nadu, one of the areas in India most affected by the tsunami. He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF in April 2006 and has appeared in UNICEF public messages to raise public awareness of AIDS.
August 2006
This surprising first-round loss marked the first time that he was defeated since August 2006, a period spanning over seven months.
2007
In 2007, Federer reached all four Grand Slam singles finals, winning three of them again. He won the Australian Open without dropping a set, beating Fernando González in the final. This made him the first man in the 21st century to accomplish the feat, as Björn Borg at the 1980 French Open was the last to win a Grand Slam tournament without the loss of a set. Federer had entered the year on a huge winning streak and, after capturing his fourth Dubai crown, Federer's winning streak stood at 41 matches, the longest of his career and only five shy of the record. Federer entered Indian Wells as the three-time defending champion, but his streak ended in controversy. He was defeated by an Argentine, Guillermo Cañas, who had failed a drug test for illegal doping.
2007
In 2007, Swiss Post in Basel released a special edition stamp for Federer. Three years later, in 2010, Federer was awarded a special edition stamp by Austria's Postal Service.
2008
Federer's success in 2008 was severely hampered by a lingering bout of mononucleosis, which he suffered during the first half of the year. At the end of the year he suffered a back injury.
2008
In 2008, Federer captured one Grand Slam, a singles title at the US Open over Andy Murray. Federer was defeated by Nadal in two Grand Slam finals, the French Open and Wimbledon, which was regarded as the best match of tennis history by many, when he was going for six straight wins to break Björn Borg's record. He came back from two sets down to force a fifth set, where he fell just two points from the title. At the Australian Open Federer lost in the semifinals to eventual winner Djokovic, which ended his record of 10 consecutive finals. He lost twice in Masters finals on clay to Nadal, at Monte Carlo and Hamburg. Federer captured three titles playing in 250-level events at Estoril, Halle, and Basel.
2008
They met in the final of the 2012 Summer Olympics, in which Murray defeated Federer in straight sets, denying Federer a career Golden Slam. Murray also leads 6–3 in ATP 1000 tournaments, 2–0 in finals. They have also met five times at the ATP Finals, with Murray winning in Shanghai in 2008, and Federer in London in 2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014. Murray is one of only three players to have recorded ten or more victories over Federer (the other two being Nadal and Djokovic).
2009
In the 2017 US Open quarterfinals, in a rematch of the 2009 final, del Potro again beat Federer in four sets to end his unbeaten streak in majors that year. With this win, Del Potro also denied the first Federer–Nadal match at US Open, as in 2009 where he beat Nadal in straight sets in the semifinals. Federer, however avenged this loss at the Shanghai Masters semifinals, where he beat del Potro in three sets after coming from a set down. In the final at the 2018 BNP Paribas Open del Potro beat Federer in three close sets, after facing match points in the third set. With this win del Potro won his first Masters title of his career.
2009
Juan Martín del Potro and Roger Federer played 25 times, with Federer leading 18–7. They met seven times in majors, with Federer leading 5–2. Their two most famous major meetings came in 2009. The first was in the French Open semifinals, when Federer survived a five-set clash on his way to the only French Open title of his career. The second was in the final of the US Open, where del Potro beat five-time defending champion Federer in five sets, ending his 20-match winning streak at majors. Another high-profile match was in the semifinals of the 2012 London Olympics, where Federer prevailed 19–17 in the final set to secure the Olympic silver medal. They also met in the finals of the Swiss Indoors in 2012, 2013 and 2017, with del Potro prevailing on first two occasions, and Federer on last one of them in tight three-set matches.
2010
Federer and Andy Murray played 25 times, with Federer leading 14–11. Federer leads 12–10 on hard courts, and 2–1 on grass; they never met on clay. After Federer won the first professional match they played, Murray dominated the first half of the rivalry, leading 8–5 in 2010, while the second half of the rivalry was dominated by Federer, who leads 9–3 from 2011 onwards. The two have met six times at the majors, with Federer leading 5–1. Their first three major matches were finals, with Federer winning all three of these matches; at the 2008 US Open and the 2010 Australian Open, both of which he won in straight sets, and at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships in which Murray took the opening set, but went on to lose in four sets. However, Murray won their encounter in the semifinals of the 2013 Australian Open, defeating Federer for the first time at a major in five sets. At the 2014 Australian Open, Federer reversed that result, defeating Murray in four sets in the quarterfinals. The final meeting between the two in a major was in the semifinals of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, where a dominant Federer triumphed in straight sets.
2010
Federer finished the year in strong form, winning indoor titles at the Stockholm Open, Swiss Indoors and the ATP Finals in London to bring his tally to 66 career titles. Federer won the year-end championships in London by beating rival Rafael Nadal for his fifth title at the event. He beat all contenders except Nadal in straight sets. It remains the only tournament in his career in which Federer defeated all fellow members of the Big Four. In 2010, Federer finished in the top two for the eighth consecutive season.
2010
In May 2020, Federer became the first tennis player to reach the top of Forbes's list of highest-paid athletes in the world. He is endorsed by Japanese clothing company Uniqlo and Swiss companies Nationale Suisse [de; fr; nl], Credit Suisse, On, Rolex, Lindt, Sunrise, and Jura Elektroapparate. In 2010, his endorsement by Mercedes-Benz China was extended into a global partnership deal. His other sponsors include Gillette, Wilson, Barilla, and Moët & Chandon. Previously, he was an ambassador for Nike, NetJets, Emmi AG, and Maurice Lacroix.
2010
The Nadal vs. Federer "Match for Africa" in 2010 in Zürich and Madrid raised more than $4 million for the Roger Federer Foundation and Fundación Rafa Nadal. In January 2011, Federer took part in Rally for Relief, an exhibition to raise money for the victims of the Queensland floods. In 2014, the "Match for Africa 2" between Federer and Stan Wawrinka, again in Zurich, raised £850,000 for education projects in Southern Africa.
2010
Tomáš Berdych and Federer played 26 times, with Federer leading 20–6. Federer leads 12–5 on hard courts, 3–1 on grass courts, 4–0 on clay courts, and 1–0 on carpet. Berdych won their first professional match, notably upsetting then-No. 1 Federer at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Federer then went on to win their next eight meetings, before Berdych ended the losing streak in 2010. Between 2010 and 2013, Berdych won 5 of 8 meetings. Federer again dominated the matchup after 2014, leading 9–0 since then. They met ten times in Grand Slam tournaments, with Federer leading 8–2, and Berdych is one of five players, along with Arnaud Clément, Álex Corretja, David Nalbandian, and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, to defeat Federer multiple times in majors before the semifinal stage. Their most notable Grand Slam matches took place in the 2009 Australian Open, when Federer prevailed in five sets after dropping the first two sets, the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and the 2012 US Open, both of which Berdych won in four sets. Berdych went on to reach the only Grand Slam final of his career after the Wimbledon quarterfinal victory, ending Federer's run of seven consecutive finals at Wimbledon dating back to 2003.
2011
In 2011, on the Reputation Institute's study of the World's most respected, admired and trusted personalities, Federer ranked No. 2 just behind Nelson Mandela but ahead of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey and Bono.
September 2011
In September 2011, in a South African poll, Federer was voted the second most trusted and respected person in the world next to Nelson Mandela.
November 2011
The 2006 season was statistically the best season of Federer's career. In November 2011, Stephen Tignor, chief editorial writer for Tennis.com, ranked Federer's 2006 season as statistically the second-best season of all time during the Open Era, behind Rod Laver's Grand Slam year of 1969.
2012
Federer has huge popularity in the world of sport, and is considered by many to be the greatest tennis player of all time. Between 2009 and 2018, many players and analysts considered him to be the greatest player ever. He was also called the greatest athlete of his generation by some sports reporters after he won his 19th and 20th major titles. In 2018, Tennis.com listed him as the greatest male player of the Open Era. Federer himself has downplayed these claims, stating in 2012 that it is impossible to compare tennis players from different eras and that past champions are needed to pave the way for future champions. In 2014, Frank Sedgman ranked Federer number two, behind Jack Kramer, in his greatest male tennis players of all-time list in his autobiography 'Game, Sedge and Match'. In May 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked Federer as the greatest male tennis player of all time. In May 2021, Serena Williams described Federer as a "genius" and the "greatest". In July 2021, BBC Sport users picked Federer as the greatest male tennis player of all time. During an interview with L'Équipe in July 2021, Richard Gasquet said 'aesthetics and grace' are more important than the number of Grand Slam titles when it comes to deciding who is the greatest. He named Federer, Djokovic and Nadal as the three best players in history, but singled out Roger Federer as the greatest.
2012
In 2012, the city of Halle, in Germany, unveiled "Roger-Federer-Allee" in recognition of Federer's success on the grass at the Gerry Weber Open. In 2016, the city of Biel, Switzerland, location of the national centre for Swiss Tennis where Federer trained as a junior, named the street in his honour as "1 Allée Roger Federer".
2013
At the Dubai Tennis Championships, he defeated Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and then defeated Tomáš Berdych in the final to win his sixth Dubai crown and his first title since Halle in 2013. Federer made the final at the Indian Wells Masters, but lost to Novak Djokovic in a final-set tiebreaker. At the Davis Cup quarterfinals, Federer won both of his singles rubbers against Kazakhstan, the second of which was the first live deciding rubber of his Davis Cup career. Federer then took a wild card into the Monte-Carlo Masters, defeating Novak Djokovic on his way to the finals, but he lost to compatriot Stan Wawrinka in a tight final.
May 2013
Federer then played in the Shanghai Masters. He beat Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, ending the Serb's 28-match unbeaten run on Chinese soil. He battled Frenchman Gilles Simon in his second Shanghai final, defeating him in two tiebreak sets, and he collected the 23rd Masters title of his career. The victory saw Federer return to the No. 2 ranking for the first time since May 2013. Federer then played the Swiss Indoors in October, where he won a record sixth title and his 82nd ATP men's singles title overall. Federer also reached the finals of the 2014 ATP Finals to face Djokovic again, but withdrew from the final because of another back injury from his semifinal match against Stan Wawrinka.
December 2013
On 27 December 2013, Federer announced that Stefan Edberg was joining his team as co-coach with Severin Lüthi.
2014
Federer and Stan Wawrinka led the Switzerland Davis Cup team to their first title in 2014, following their Olympic doubles gold victory at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Federer also won a silver medal in singles at the 2012 London Olympics, finishing runner-up to Andy Murray. After a half-year hiatus in late 2016 to recover from knee surgery, Federer returned to tennis, winning three more majors over the next two years, including the 2017 Australian Open over Nadal and an eighth singles title at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships. At the 2018 Australian Open, Federer became the first man to win 20 major singles titles and the oldest ATP world No. 1 at age 36. In September 2022, he retired from professional tennis following the Laver Cup.
2014
In December, Federer announced that he would enter the 2016 ATP Tour season with a new-look coaching team, having additionally announced that Stefan Edberg would not be travelling with him the following year. While countryman Severin Lüthi remained Federer's head coach, joining the team in 2016 was Croatian former world No. 3 player Ivan Ljubičić. Federer revealed that Edberg originally signed on to the coaching team for one season only in 2014 but agreed to stay on in 2015.
2014
The emergence of countryman Stanislas Wawrinka as a Grand Slam singles champion in 2014 renewed hope for Federer in his Davis Cup quest, and the pair both committed to playing each tie that year. Their commitment paid off as wins over Serbia, Kazakhstan and Italy allowed the Swiss team to advance to the 2014 Davis Cup Final. Leading up to the final, Federer was suffering from a back injury that threw serious doubt over Switzerland's chance to claim the title, and lost in straight sets to Gaël Monfils. However, a rejuvenated Federer returned the next day to help claim the doubles rubber, which set up a fourth rubber singles tie between Federer and Richard Gasquet. Federer defeated Gasquet in straight sets and in doing so won Switzerland its first (and only to date) Davis Cup title.
2015
Federer started his season in the Brisbane International as the defending champion, despite having a virus when the tournament started. However, in a rematch of the previous year's final, he lost in the final to Milos Raonic in straight sets. Federer then participated at the 2016 Australian Open and rebounded from his third round defeat by Andreas Seppi in 2015 by reaching the semifinals but lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in four sets. The day after his loss to Djokovic, Federer sustained a knee injury and in early February, he underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee and missed the tournaments in Rotterdam, Dubai, and Indian Wells in February and March. He was scheduled to return to action in Miami. Due to a stomach virus, he had to withdraw from the Miami Open, thus prolonging his time on the sidelines.
July 2016
In July 2016, Federer ranked No. 1 in the list for the most recognizable people in Switzerland, surpassing personalities such as Albert Einstein and William Tell. In a poll of more than 9,000 people from 15 countries, Federer topped the list of most recognizable Swiss with 600 more votes than the country's second national hero, William Tell, who came up second. Federer got 916 votes, Tell got 316 and Einstein ranked third with 204. The other three in the first six were Henry Dunant, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and novel character Heidi.
2017
Europe won the inaugural Laver Cup in 2017. Federer played his first singles match on day two, when he dispatched Sam Querrey in straight sets. Later on day two, he partnered with his long-time rival Rafael Nadal in doubles, where they defeated the Team World duo of Sam Querrey and Jack Sock in the match tie breaker, which took place at one set all. This was the first time Federer and Nadal competed on the same side of a doubles match. On day three, Federer competed in the final match of the tournament, where he sealed victory for Team Europe by defeating Nick Kyrgios in the champion's tiebreak (saving a match point). With three wins and seven points, Federer was the most accomplished player of the tournament.
2017
Federer founded the Laver Cup, which pits Europe against the rest of the world. The tournament is named in honor of Rod Laver and the inaugural edition was played in 2017.
2017
Federer is one of the founders, via his management company TEAM8, of the Laver Cup; the annual team tennis tournament which pits Europe against the rest of the world. He co-founded the tournament in honor of tennis legend Rod Laver and the inaugural edition was played in 2017.
2017
Federer played at the Hopman Cup again in 2017 with Belinda Bencic. They won all of their ties except the last one, and as a result did not make the final.
2017
Later in his career, Federer added the drop shot to his arsenal and can perform a well-disguised one off both wings. He sometimes uses a between-the-legs shot, which is colloquially referred to as a "tweener" or "hotdog". His most notable use of the tweener was in the semifinals of the 2009 US Open against Novak Djokovic, bringing him triple match point. Federer is one of the top players who employ successfully the "squash shot", when he gets pushed deep and wide on his forehand wing. Since Stefan Edberg joined his coaching team at the start of the 2014 season, Federer has played a more offensive game, attacking the net more often, and improved his volley shots. In the lead-up to the 2015 US Open, Federer successfully added a new unique shot to his arsenal called SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger), in which he charges forward to receive the second serve and hits a return on the service line. The SABR is a unique shot that Federer owns, in the way that he manages to add enough power and placement into the shot, which makes it very difficult, or close to impossible for the opponent to reach it. With the switch to a bigger 97 inch racket from 90 inches, Federer has gained easy power while relinquishing some control on his shots. The bigger racket has enabled easier serving and better defense on both wings with fewer shanks. However this has diminished control and power on his forehand, slice backhand and dropshot. Since his comeback in 2017, Federer is noted for his improved backhand both down the line and cross court which was cited as the reason for his win against Nadal in the 2017 Australian Open Final and Indian Wells 4th round.
January 2017
In January 2017, Federer named the Most Marketable Sports Person for 2016 by researchers of London School of Marketing. He earned £49.2 million in endorsements and sponsorships.
November 2017
Federer plays with his signature Wilson Pro Staff RF97 Autograph racquet. It has a 97 square inch head, 16x19 string pattern, 366 gram strung weight, 340 gram swing weight, 68 RA stiffness, and 9 point head light balance. Federer strings his racquets using Wilson Natural Gut 16 gauge for his main strings and Luxilon ALU Power Rough 17 gauge (polyester) for his cross strings. In an interview in November 2017, Federer stated his favorite stringing tension is 26.5 kilograms (58.4 lb) mains & 25 kilograms (55.1 lb) crosses.
November 2017
On 24 November 2017, Federer received an honorary doctorate from his home university, the University of Basel, in recognition of his role in increasing the international reputation of Basel and Switzerland, and for his work for children in Africa through his charitable foundation.
2018
In 2018, Federer won his second Hopman Cup title and third overall for Switzerland, partnering Belinda Bencic again. The Swiss team won all its ties and Federer won every match he played. They defeated the German pair, Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber, in the final 2–1.
2018
The second edition was played in 2018. The European team led by Federer retained the title after defeating Team World, 13–8. Federer won both his singles matches, against Nick Kyrgios and John Isner, but lost both his doubles matches, one of which was partnering with his long-time rival Novak Djokovic.
2018
The third edition was held in Geneva, Switzerland. Federer and the European team captured their third consecutive title. Team World was closer than ever to win their first title, losing 11–13 after having led during the final day. Like in 2018, Federer won singles matches against Kyrgios and Isner. He went 1–1 in doubles.
March 2018
Federer's contract with Nike expired in March 2018, and he later signed a deal with Uniqlo. It was reported that Uniqlo signed Federer for roughly $300 million for 10 years ($30 million per year), as opposed to Nike's previous deal with Federer, which was for roughly $10 million per year. Since 2021, Federer has worn tennis shoes produced by On, a Swiss-based athletic shoe and sports apparel manufacturer in which he became a shareholder in November 2019. A limited edition lifestyle shoe named "The Roger" was released by On in July 2020.
2019
Federer won his third and second consecutive Hopman Cup title in 2019 alongside Belinda Bencic. They again defeated Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber of Germany in the final, and won the final tie 2–1 by a tiebreak in the decisive set (5–4). Federer again won all of his singles matches. The Swiss team only lost one tie to Greece (1–2).
2019
In 2019, the ATP announced that the Laver Cup would be an official event on the ATP Tour, with match wins and losses to be counted as official on every player's career record in singles and doubles.
December 2019
In December 2019, Federer became the first living person to be celebrated on Swiss coins. His face will be on the 20-franc coin and in May 2020, Swissmint issued a Federer 50-franc gold coin featuring a different design.
December 2019
In December 2019, Federer was voted by GQ readers as the Most Stylish Man of the Decade (2010–2019), ahead of celebrities including Timothée Chalamet, LeBron James, Harry Styles, David Beckham, Justin Bieber, Kanye West and Ryan Gosling.
2020
A versatile all-court player, Federer's grace on the court made him popular among tennis fans. Originally lacking self-control as a junior, he transformed his on-court demeanor to become well-liked for his graciousness, winning the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award 13 times. He also won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award a record five times. Outside of competition, Federer played an instrumental role in the creation of the Laver Cup team competition. He is also an active philanthropist. He established the Roger Federer Foundation, which targets impoverished children in southern Africa, and has raised funds in part through the Match for Africa exhibition series. By the end of his career, Federer was routinely one of the top-ten highest-paid athletes in any sport, and ranked first among all athletes with $100 million in endorsement income in 2020.
2020
In 2020, Federer topped Forbes's list of the world's highest paid athletes, with $106.3 million in total earnings from salary, winnings and endorsements. As of the 2021 list, he has also appeared in the top-10 every year since 2012.
July 2020
On 20 July 2020 Federer was featured by Swiss National Museum in their 100-part chronicle of Swiss history and culture.
2021
Federer began his 2020 season at the 2020 Australian Open. He reached the semifinals after straight sets wins over Steve Johnson and Filip Krajinović, a five-set win over John Millman and a four-set win over Márton Fucsovics. Federer saved seven match points in his five-set quarterfinal win over Tennys Sandgren. Federer then lost his semifinal match to Djokovic in straight sets, having sustained a groin injury earlier in the tournament. In February, Federer underwent arthroscopic surgery for a right knee injury and subsequently withdrew from the Dubai Championships, Indian Wells, Miami Open and the French Open to give time for his knee to recover, announcing that he would return in the grass season. On 10 June, due to a setback from his initial rehabilitation from the knee injury suffered earlier in the year, Federer announced that he had to have an additional arthroscopic procedure on his right knee. He officially shut down his season to take the necessary time to recover, vowing to return in 2021. This was only the second year in Federer's career since he won his first title that he finished without a title.
2021
In 2021 Halle Open where he was seeded fifth, he lost in the second round to Félix Auger-Aliassime. Federer was playing against the 20-year-old for the first time. Their 19-year age difference was the biggest in Federer's 1,521 career matches. This was the earliest exit at this tournament for Federer who was seeking his 70th match win in Halle, and his 18th quarterfinal at this event in as many appearances. At Wimbledon, 39-year-old Federer advanced to the quarterfinals and thus became the oldest Wimbledon quarterfinalist in the Open Era, breaking the record held by Ken Rosewall, following wins over Adrian Mannarino by retirement, Richard Gasquet, 29th seed Cameron Norrie, and 23rd seed Lorenzo Sonego. However, he was then upset by 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinal in straight sets. This was the first time in 19 years at Wimbledon he had lost in straight sets, and only the second time he had lost a set 6–0 in the 21st century (the previous occasion was against Nadal in the 2008 French Open final).
October 2021
In October 2021, the city of Basel inaugurated a tram named after him, the "Federer-Express".
2022
On 15 August, Federer announced that he underwent another knee surgery after further injury during the grass court season. He withdrew from the US Open and stated that he would be off the tour for "many months," but he hoped to make a return to the tour in 2022.
June 2022
Federer did not play in a singles tournament after Wimbledon 2021, and dropped out of the top 50 on 13 June 2022. On 11 July 2022, he became unranked for the first time since his professional debut.
September 2022
However, Federer announced that he was set to return to the tour at the 2022 Laver Cup in September. On 15 September 2022, he announced his impending retirement from professional tennis on the ATP Tour, noting that the Laver Cup would be his final ATP event. He stated that he "will play more tennis in the future, of course, but just not in Grand Slams or on the tour." His final match resulted in a 6–4, 6(2)-7, 9–11 loss in doubles partnering long-time rival and friend Rafael Nadal against Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe. The match was his 1750th on the tour.
