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Famous Tennis Players

Roger Federer

Roger Federer Poster
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Roger Federer (born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss tennis professional whose achievements rank him among history's most successful players. Federer is currently ranked World No. 1. Many observers, including some of his peers, believe he may become the greatest player ever.
In 2004, Federer became the first man since Mats Wilander in 1988 to win three out of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments in the same year. In 2006, Federer repeated this feat and became the first man in the open era to win at least ten singles championships in three consecutive years. He has won nine Grand Slam men's singles titles in 30 appearances, three Tennis Masters Cup, and 12 ATP Masters Series singles titles. He is the only player to have won both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles titles in three consecutive years (2004-2006). He has been ranked No. 1 since February 2, 2004. His current lead in the rankings guarantees that on February 26, 2007, he will break the record for most consecutive weeks as the top-ranked male player.
Federer was born in the small town of Binningen (near Basel, Switzerland), to Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer. He grew up 10 minutes from Basel proper, in suburban Münchenstein. Federer has an older sister. Federer considers his main language German, but he also speaks French and English fluently. He conducts press conferences in all three. Federer spends his off-court time playing card games, table tennis, and other sports and sitting on the beach. He currently resides in Oberwil, Switzerland and is dating former WTA player and fellow Swiss Miroslava Vavrinec (Mirka), who retired from the game in 2002 after a foot injury. The two met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
He co-established the Roger Federer Foundation in December 2003. Its goals include funding projects that benefit disadvantaged children, primarily in South Africa. In January 2005, he encouraged efforts from tennis players for the people affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, saying he would play as many matches as possible in tournaments organized to raise funds for the tsunami victims and auctioned off his autographed rackets to raise funds for UNICEF's relief operations. Federer also launched a fragrance and cosmetics line called RF Cosmetics in October 2003. On April 3, 2006, Federer was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, which helps poor children from all parts of the world.
In January 2006, Federer won the Australian Open by defeating the Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. This win marked Federer's third consecutive Grand Slam championship. In March, he successfully defended his titles at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters to become the first player ever to win the Indian Wells-Miami double in consecutive years.
At the French Open in 2006, Federer pursued the only Grand Slam tournament he had not yet won. He entered the tournament as the top seed and had the goal of winning not only a career Grand Slam, but also to become the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles at the same time, although he would have done so in a two-year schedule. He lost the final to defending champion Rafael Nadal in four sets. Although the title eluded him, he became one of only two then-active players who had reached the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments, the other being Andre Agassi. Federer entered Wimbledon as the top seed and moved through a draw containing Richard Gasquet, Tim Henman, Nicolas Mahut, Tomáš Berdych, Mario Ancic (who was the last man to beat him on grass at Wimbledon in 2002), and Jonas Björkman, to reach the final without dropping a set. There, Federer beat Nadal to win the championship 6-0, 7-6, 6-7, 6-3. This was Federer's fourth consecutive Wimbledon title (2003-2006), matching the achievement of Pete Sampras (1997-2000). He is still one behind Björn Borg, who won five straight Wimbledon titles from 1976-80.
Federer also won the 2006 Rogers Cup, defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the final 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. At the U.S. Open, Federer defeated seventh seeded Nikolay Davydenko in a semifinal, after beating James Blake in four sets. In the final, he defeated Andy Roddick 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 for his third consecutive title at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Along with Justine Henin-Hardenne, who lost the women's final of the U.S. Open, it was the first time in the history of tennis that both a man and a woman had reached all four Grand Slam singles finals within a calendar year.
At the Tennis Masters Cup, Federer defeated defending champion David Nalbandian in one of his three round robin victories and beat Nadal 6-4, 7-5 in a semifinal. Federer then defeated Blake 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 in the final to win his third career singles title there and U.S. $1.52 million. In 2006, Federer lost to only two players: Nadal in the French Open final, Rome final, Monte Carlo final, and Dubai final; and Andy Murray in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters. The loss to Murray was Federer's only straight-sets loss of the year.

Grand Slam singles finals