Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Roger Federer

Photo by Mike McCune from Wikimedia

Top 10 Outstanding Facts about Roger Federer

Roger Federer is arguably the greatest tennis player of all time. He was ranked world number one by ATP for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks.

He was born on 8 August 1981 in Basel, Switzerland to Robert Federer and Lynette Federer. His father is a Swiss-German from St Gallen and his mother is an Afrikaner from Kempton Park South Africa.

Here are the top 10 outstanding facts about Roger Federer

1. He  Titles won 103 ATP Single Titles

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Although he has won 103 ATP singles titles in his career, Federer has played in an era where he dominated men’s tennis along with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

The three have dominated the world in men’s tennis for almost 20 years. They have won 283 ATP singles titles between them, with Federer winning the second most titles of all time after Jimmy Connors.

Federer remained in the top 3 during most of the early 2010s, but the success of Djokovic and Nadal ended his dominance over grass and hard courts. From mid-2010 through the end of 2016, he only won one major title.

2. He Won his First Title at the age of 17 Years

Roger Federer’s first accomplishments came at Wimbledon in 1998, where he won the boys’ singles final over Irakli Labadze. He also teamed up with Olivier Rochus to defeat Michaël Llodra and Andy Ram in the boys’ junior finals.

Federer won four ITF junior singles tournaments in his career, including the prestigious Orange Bowl, where he defeated Guillermo Coria in the final.

He ended 1998 with 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.

3. Roger Federer won his first Grand Slam in 2003

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In 2003, Federer won his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon beating  Mark Philippoussis in the final.  He had a chance to take over the world’s No. 1 ranking if he made it to the Montreal final.

Federer won his first and to date only doubles Masters Event in Miami with Max Mirnyi. He also made it to one singles Masters Event in Rome on clay, which he lost.

However, he made it to nine finals on the ATP Tour and won seven of them, including the 500 series events in Dubai and Vienna.

4. He has Won Olympic Medals

Federer made his Olympic debut in Sydney in 2000, where he entered the singles competition. He reached the semi-finals stage but lost to Tommy Haas and then lost to Arnaud Di Pasquale in the bronze medal match

At the 2012 Olympic Games, Federer and Stan Wawrinka won the gold medal in doubles, after beating the Swedish duo of Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson in the final. In the singles category, he lost in the quarterfinals to the then ATP ranked No. 8 James Blake.

In the 2012 Summer Olympics, Federer won against Del Porto in a 4-hour 26-minute semi-final, before losing in straight sets to Andy Murray in the final where he won an Olympic silver medal.

5. Rafael Nadal has been  his Biggest Rival

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Federer and Rafael Nadal have played 40 times, with Federer trailing 16–24. Federer has a winning record on grass 3–1 and hard courts 11–9, while Nadal leads on clay 14–2.

 Most of their matches have been in tournament finals, including an all-time record nine Grand Slam finals.

They have been playing each other since 2004, and their rivalry is a significant part of both men’s careers. The latest encounter was at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, where Federer won to reach the final.

6. He has Won the ATP Player of the Year Five Times

Federer has won the ATP Player of the Year five times (2004–07, 2009), and has been named the ITF World Champion five times (2004–07, 2009).

He has won the ATP Fans’ Favourite award a record 18 times consecutively (2003–20), and the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award (voted for by the players) a record 13 times (2004–09, 2011–17).

He also won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award twice (2006, 2013), the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award five times (2005–08, 2018), and the Laureus World Comeback of the Year award once, following his 2017 comeback season.

7. Federer Supports Charity Organisations

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In 2003, Roger Federer established a Foundation to help disadvantaged children and promote their access to education and sport. The foundation has been supporting South African children in social and health awareness.

At the 2005 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, he 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.

 8. He is Featured on Postal Stamp and Swiss Coin

In 2007, the Swiss Post in Basel, Switzerland released a special edition stamp for Federer. He was the first living Swiss person to be featured on a Swiss stamp. The picture on the stamp was of his holding the first Wimbledon trophy. Later, in 2010, Roger Federer was awarded a special edition stamp by Austria’s Postal Service.

In December 2019, Federer became the first living person to be the face of Swiss coins. 

9. He Married a Former Tennis Player

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Federer is married to former Women’s Tennis Association player Miroslava Federer, whom he met while competing for Switzerland at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

she retired from competitive tennis in 2002 after suffering a foot injury. The couple was married at Wenkenhof Villa in Riehen near Basel on 11 April 2009, in a ceremony that was attended by close friends and family.

In 2009, she gave birth to identical twin girls and another pair of fraternal twins in 2014.

10. Federer has Huge Popularity in the World of Sport

Federer has huge popularity in the world of sport and is widely considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. Many tennis players and sports reporters in the period between 2009 and 2018 voted him as the greatest player ever.

In May 2020, the Tennis Channel ranked Federer as the greatest male tennis player of all time, with Serena Williams describing him as a “genius” and the “greatest.