Roger Federer’s Road to Success
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A detailed summary of Roger Federer’s life. One of the most well-known and respected tennis players in history.
A detailed summary of Roger Federer’s life. One of the most well-known and respected tennis players in history.
This article will explain how and why Roger Federer was one of the greatest tennis players known to mankind. It will cover all aspects of his career, including tournaments, injuries and titles, while also touching on his family life and other interesting facts.
Born on August 8, 1981, in Basel Switzerland, Roger Federer would become one of the greatest tennis players known to mankind.
From a young age, Federer was naturally strong at several sports, including soccer and tennis. At 11 years old, he was among Switzerland’s Top 3 junior tennis players. Focusing all of his energy on achieving his best, 3 years later, he was a frequent and competitive player. He would come to play 2 to 3 monthly tournaments, training 6 hours a week and an additional 3 hours of conditioning. Striving to constantly improve, he would often imitate his idols, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg.
Recognised for his talents, Federer was invited to play at the Swiss National Tennis Center and was granted his first sponsorship at only 16 years old. After winning the Wimbledon boys’ singles and doubles titles in 1998, the tournament being one of the most prestigious in the world, he turned pro later that year. Fighting for his glory, Federer caused a sensation in 2001 at Wimbledon by eliminating reigning singles champion Pete Sampras. 2 years later, he became the first Swiss man to win a Grand Slam title.
At only 23 years of age, Roger Federer was No. 2 in the world and in 2004, he won the US and Australian Open, along with the ATP Masters, and continued to win the Wimbledon singles title. Ranking as the best globally in 2005, Roger Federer managed to maintain his seat on the throne for 4 consecutive years. After many wins and losses, to Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal and rising star Novak Djokovic respectively, Federer fell to No. 2 for the first time in years. The next few years challenged Federer’s physical and mental strength, presenting numerous surprises and obstacles. Despite this, Roger returned to his No. 1 spot, more determined than ever, at 30 years old, an incredible feat for an athlete.
By the end of 2012, Roger Federer had established a record of 302 weeks at the top of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) world ranking. In 2013, events took a turn for the worse when Federer retreated from Wimbledon after suffering an early loss to Sergiy Stakhovsky, who ranked 116th. At the US Open, Federer’s struggles were increasingly evident as he lost 3 straight sets to Tommy Robredo (Spain). At the conference, Federer claimed that he “struggled throughout, which is not very satisfying,” and was disappointed since he felt that he “missed so many opportunities” and felt that his “rhythm was off.”
Djokovic and Federer were rivals on court, facing each other 50 times throughout their careers. The ratio of their wins was 27-23, revealing the true closeness of their abilities. They fought against each other many times, but remained the 2 most celebrated players in tennis history.Without surprise, Djokovic is still playing professionally at an astounding 37 years of age.
Federer fought a never-ending battle with Djokovic at the 2014 Wimbledon, losing at the fifth set and consequently, failing to receive the record eighth championship on the famed grass courts. Later on, he lost in the US Open semi-finals to Croatian Marin Cilic, who ended up winning the tournament.
The year 2015 brought a rocky start as Roger Federer lost to Andreas Seppi in the third round of the Australian Open. However, he succeeded in a glorious win against Djokovic during the Dubai Championships, proving those who lost faith wrong. Unfortunately, his quest for a second French Open crown was disrupted when he competed and lost against Stan Wawrinka.
Returning to 2016, Federer could not make it to the Wimbledon finals. He was victoriously defeated by Milos Raonic, who became the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final. Early in the year, Federer suffered losses in the Australian Open (AO) to Djokovic and experienced a knee injury shortly afterwards. As the season progressed, he also began to endure back problems and was encouraged to withdraw from the French Open to avoid any risk of further injury.
6 months of recovery was the medicine for the athlete’s short downfall. Roger Federer triumphantly returned by beating Rafael Nadal at the AO and winning his 18th Grand Slam title. After the match, Federer graciously complemented his opponent, “I’d like to congratulate Rafa on an amazing comeback too. I don’t think either one of us thought we would be in the final at the Australian Open this year. I am happy for you. I would’ve been happy to lose to you tonight, too, really.” It was these sorts of speeches that turned the crowd for Federer, millions loved him for his grace and ease on court, as well as his kindness and simplicity.
In July 2017, Federer won his 8th Wimbledon title, setting a new world record. 35 years old at the time, he became the oldest men’s champion of the tournament in the Open era. In his words, “I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be here again in another final after last year. I’ve had some tough ones here, losing to Novak in 2014 and 2015. But I always believed that maybe I could come back and do it again. And if you believe, you can really go far in life.”
In 2018, Federer defeated Cilic again, in 5 sets, and received a record-tying 6 Aussie titles and claimed 20 GS titles. He added to a personal record later in Wimbledon, when he reached the tournament’s quarter-finals for the 16th time in his career, before exiting with a loss to Kevin Anderson from South Africa.
Federer joked about retirement after winning the US Open, which caused nothing short of chaos amongst his fans and others. Nevertheless, he returned with full force, making an impressive run to the semifinals of the French Open in 2019 and eventually wearing out Novak in a 5th-set tiebreaker, taking the Wimbledon title that summer.
Sadly and triumphantly, Federer announced his retirement from the ATP Masters and future Grand Slams on September 15th, 2022, after appearing at the Laver Cup.
“I am 41 years old. I have played more than 1500 matches over 24 years, Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever would have dreamt, and now I must recognize when it is time to end my competitive career.” (Roger Federer, 2022).
Fun Facts
2003 - The Roger Federer Foundation was established by Federer himself, providing grants to countries that have high child mortality rates (>15%) for education and sports-related projects.
2009 - Federer married Mirka Vavrinec, a former professional tennis player. That summer, they became the parents of identical twin girls, Myla and Charlene. 5 years later, they had a second set of twins, boys, named Leo and Lenny.
2012 - The longest match Federer played lasted 4 hours 26 minutes against Juan Martin del Potro (ARG), in which the former won.
His mother is South African. He holds dual citizenship in South Africa as well as Switzerland.
Federer’s good luck charm is Tweety Bird.
Reference List
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Roger federer. (2022, September 19). Biography. https://www.biography.com/athletes/roger-federer
Steiner, R. (2014, June 22). Roger Federer and Lynette Federer attend the Moet & Chandon Effervescence Event on November 29, 2022 in Zurich, Switzerland. [Photograph]. Poeple. https://people.com/all-about-roger-federer-parents-8664258
Tennis in Time. (2014, September 24). Boris Becker [Photograph]. Tennis in Time. https://tennisintime.tumblr.com/post/98296336941/boris-becker-at-wimbledon-1986ellesse
Walton, J. (2017, September 19). Andy Murray proves, yet again, that feminism has a place in sports [Photograph]. Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2017/09/172642/andy-murray-male-feminist-tennis-player?epik=dj0yJnU9d3lHWmJlZFZlRmZkS1l6Tmg5VV9oTmRpRHdFTWc4QjcmcD0wJm49OVVtdXJnUkxBVGVaQjBvdzFuMXV0USZ0PUFBQUFBR2dGd2ww
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