Tennis is one of the biggest sports in the world and has welcomed plenty of stars over the years: Andre Agassi, Serena Williams, Rod Laver, the list could go on. However, of them all, none had had the impact that Roger Federer has. One of the greatest tennis players of all time, he’s even got a skill for basketball as he showed in Shanghai.
Born in Basel, Switzerland to a Swiss-German father and a South African mother, Federer got into tennis at a young age and was a ball boy at his hometown Basel indoor tournament. He was 14 when he played his first junior match before playing in the boys tournament at Wimbledon two years later in 1998. He had an incredible boys career, winning both the boys’ singles final over Irakli Labadze, and in doubles teamed with Olivier Rochus defeating the team of Michaël Llodra and Andy Ram.
He finished his junior career with four ITF singles tournament wins and was the number one junior player in the world by the time he had finished. What followed was one of the greatest, most decorated careers of all time. But is it the best of any player of his ilk? Many would say so.
Federer made his ATP debut at the 1998 Swiss Open Gstaad in his home country of Switzerland and won his first game later that year in Toulouse against Guillaume Raoux. He would experience decent success over the next year or so, entering the top 100 in 1999 and winning the challenger tour, but it was in 2001 where he would have his breakout year. He made his first grand-slam quarter final at the French Open, losing to world number 2 Alex Corretja, which catapulted him into the top 15. His first huge performance and win came when the 19-year-old Federer defeated the four-time defending champion and all-time Grand Slam leader Pete Sampras in the Wimbledon fourth round. He narrowly lost to Tim Henman in the quarters after a tiebreaker, but it was apparent to everyone that this was the leader of the next generation of tennis.
Known for his incredible offensive fundamentals, his skillset made him one of the most exciting players to watch throughout his entire career. He would glide around the court, making everything seem so effortless. Although he experienced most major success on grass, he was just as adept on hard courts, further accenting just how good of a player he was. His five trademark shots reinvented how to play the game and his legacy is one that propelled tennis into the 2000s and beyond.
In his storied career, the Swiss ace accumulated an incredible 20 majors titles and spent a record 237 consecutive weeks as number one, 77 weeks longer than the Jimmy Connors streak in the 1970s. While his odds may have been short in the betting at a sportsbook, he always attracted plenty of backers as he dominated the sport in the first decade of the 21st century, where he won 15 of his 20 majors. He holds the men’s open era record for the most Gentlemen’s Wimbledon Singles titles with eight. His list of records is too long to name with some of the highlights being: 24 consecutive ATP tour tournament finals won, all 4 Grand Slam finals in 1 season reached three times and 4 consecutive years winning 2+ grand slam titles.
He has stood across the court and beaten greats like Sampras, Novak Djokovic, Agassi and Andy Murray, though his greatest rival stands tall among them all. His competitive rivalry with Rafael Nadal is considered by many to be the greatest in the history of the sport. Though the Spaniard got the better of Federer more often than not, their matches were always tightly contested, exhilarating events. They developed an incredible friendship off the court however. Speaking after his retirement, Nadal was quoted as saying: “Roger was always there in front of me,” Nadal said in his post-match press conference alongside Federer. “For me, he was always the guy to beat. So at some point, we were probably the biggest rivals – I think always in a very good way. We have never had any big issues and always respected each other… I’m very proud to be part of his career in some way”.
Roger Federer’s impact on the sport in maybe more than any man before him. His trademark style took the sport by storm and changed the way younger players approached it, essentially laying the groundwork for the next two decades of tennis. Beyond that even, his impact on the world of sport is clear for all to see and his position as a role model has never been questioned. Roger Federer is undoubtably the greatest tennis player of all time, but he may even be in the argument for the greatest athlete of all time as well.
