Roger Federer: The Swiss tennis veteran

Roger Federer is one of the biggest names in tennis history. Everything you need to know about the Swiss tennis player.

Basel – Roger Federer is one of the best tennis players of all time. His career is adorned with dozens of records and is shaped by his ongoing rivalry with Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal. With almost 25 years as a professional, he is one of the seasoned veterans of the current ATP world rankings. A period of more than 300 weeks secured Federer the title as long-term world number one. The Swiss is currently fighting for his place in the top ten. But even if the tennis veteran is not currently one of the favorites in the big tournaments, Federer should never be written off.

Roger Federer: youth and beginnings as a professional

Roger Federer was born on August 8, 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. He started playing tennis at the age of three. The talent of the Swiss boy quickly revealed itself through his constant improvements in performance and success. At the age of ten, Federer was already on the field at international youth tournaments, four years later he was already considered the great tennis hope of Switzerland. At the age of 16, school had to give way to a tennis career and Federer decided not to pursue a postgraduate degree.

In 1998, Roger Federer made his professional tennis debut. At the age of 17 he took part in four professional competitions in one season. There were no great successes, but through strong performances, the Swiss finally made it into the top 200 of the ATP world rankings. At the youth tournaments he reached the final of the US Open. He won the Wimbledon Championships in both singles and doubles. His game steadily improved so that a year later Federer was already in the top 100 and shortly afterwards even in the top 30 players in the world.

Roger Federer: First professional title and the way to the top of the world

Roger Federer started his third professional season in 2001 with great ambitions. 15th place in the world and the first major tournament victory were on the list for the Swiss. And his goals were to be fulfilled: Federer won a tournament final in Milan for the first time in February. In the clay court season he reached the quarterfinals at the French Open. Federer started the Wimbledon Championships as number 15 in the world. After the successful start of the season, Federer was seen by many experts as the favorite for the London tournament. After his phenomenal win over 31-game unbeaten Pete Sampras, the 20-year-old Swiss was eliminated in the quarter-finals at Church Road.

Federer’s performance curve continued to show upwards in the following seasons. After his defeat in the 2002 Wimbledon final, there was open talk of a Grand Slam blockade at Federer. The Swiss rarely seemed to be able to call up his best tennis in the four major tournaments. He ended the 2002 season sixth in the world rankings. A first-round defeat at the French Open 2003 brought Federer plenty of ridicule and malice. In the press, the Swiss’ lack of success was attributed to his mental weakness.

Federer silenced the voices of his critics when he made it to the final of the Wimbledon Championships after an unprecedented winning streak. With a sovereign final victory against the Australian Mark Philippoussis, Federer finally won his first Grand Slam title. He marked the end of the 2003 season by winning the final of the Masters Cup. After winning the Australian Open in spring 2004, Federer was number one in the ATP world rankings for the first time.

Roger Federer: World rankings and low form

From February 2nd, 2004, the top of the world rankings should remain in the hands of the Swiss for a long time. For the next few years, Federer was considered the measure of all things in the world of tennis. After a winning streak of 23 consecutive wins and three Grand Slam tournament wins in one season, unmatched by any male player before him, Roger Federer ended the 2004 season as the world’s best tennis player. In 2005 Federer won the Wimbledon title again and achieved a season record of only four defeats in 81 matches. A year later he clinched the Chruch Road title for the fourth time, this time in the final against his closest rival Rafael Nadal.

During this time he won numerous ATP tournaments as well as all Grand Slam titles with the exception of the French Open. He managed to win the US Open title five times in a row. In Beijing he won gold for Switzerland in doubles. By the end of August 2008, Federer was stuck at the top of the world. After 237 weeks, the Swiss was replaced by Rafael Nadal as number one in the world. Between 2009 and 2013, Federer repeatedly reached the top of the world rankings, until Novak Djokovic took over and the Swiss slipped into a weak phase.

In 2013, Federer fell out of the top four in the world for the first time in ten years. He continued to struggle for form and the following year he jumped back to fourth place in the world rankings. However, Federer was unsuccessful in the coming seasons at the tournaments in New York, London, Melbourne and Paris. In those years, the number one in the world was made up of Serbia’s Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Roger Federer: His comeback in 2018

Federer started the Australian Open in Melbourne in February 2017 as 17th in the world rankings. After a surprisingly good run, he finally managed to defeat Rafael Nadal in the final and thus also the 18th Grand Slam title of his career. With the second title win of the season in Indian Wells, Federer was suddenly back in sixth place in the world. At the tournament in Halle he prevailed against Alexander Zverev in the final. In Wimbledon, the experienced Swiss won the Grand Slam tournament without losing a single set. But it wasn’t enough for first place in the world rankings, as Rafael Nadal also won two Grand Slam tournaments this year. Federer had the chance to be number one several times, but stuck to his strategy of taking longer breaks after tournaments and playing fewer tournaments overall.

At the beginning of 2018, Roger Federer successfully defended his title in Melbourne and thus triumphed for the 20th time in a Grand Slam tournament. After world number one Nadal had to take a break due to injury, Federer quickly regained pole position in the world rankings as the oldest player of all time. However, the Swiss could not hold the lead for long. After just a few weeks, he was replaced by the Spaniard Nadal. Until the very end, Federer was always seen as a surprise candidate and darling of the public, who should not be written off at major tournaments. Even if there have been no successes lately, you still have to have the current world ranking sixteenth (as of April 2022) on your list.

Roger Federer: All titles and achievements (as of April 6, 2022)

Roger Federer: private and personal

Roger Federer has been married to former Swiss tennis player Mirka Federer-Vavrinec since 2009. Both met at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Federer is now the father of two twins. In 2003 he founded a foundation for needy children in South Africa. In addition to his own foundation, Federer has repeatedly supported social aid projects.

The tennis veteran has been living in Valbella in his home country of Switzerland since 2015. Federer’s net worth is estimated at $130 million over the course of his career. (Andreas Apetz)