The career of the most successful male tennis player of all time
If you have watched any tennis in the last 23 years then you will be more than aware of who Roger Federer is.
Federer is an Olympic gold medal winning tennis player who jointly holds the men’s record for most singles titles won with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. The only tennis player to ever win more singles titles is Serena Williams.
Federer is one of the most popular tennis players in the world because of the beautiful tennis he plays and how respectful he is on and off the court.
The First Singles Win
Federer is Swiss and began playing professional tennis in 1998 after 6 years of playing in the junior division. Federer had a mixed career as a junior tennis player. He did not show any signs that he was an all-time great in the making.
The first big win in Federer’s career was when he and Martina Hingis won the doubles track at the 2001 Hopman Cup on behalf of Switzerland.
Between 1998 and 2002, Federer won or was the first runner-up in a few smaller tournaments. His biggest event was in 2001 when he knocked Pete Sampras out of Wimbledon before getting knocked out by Tim Henman in the semi-final. Federer was 19 at the time.
In 2003, Federer returned to Wimbledon, this time ranked at world number 6. He knocked out both Andy Roddick in the semi-finals and Mark Philippoussis to claim his first Grand Slam title.
That year he went on to win 7 out of 9 of the ATP tour finals that he played in and end the year ranked as world number 2.
The Singles Wins 2-10 (2003-2007)
Federer lost in the final of the 2003 US open, but after that, the Grand Slam titles came rolling in. In 2004, Federer won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the USA open. He won both the US Open and Wimbledon in 2005, and in 2006 he won the Australian, the US Open, and Wimbledon again.
2006 was considered by some experts to be Federer’s best season. That year he comfortably won three out of four of the Grand Slam titles and he made it to the final of the French Open (his best performance up to that point).
This performance made Federer the first man to play in all four Grand Slam finals since 1969. That year his winning record was 92–5. And he made it into the finals of 16 out of 17 of the tournaments that he entered. He won 12 of those tournaments.
The 2006 French Open final was the first time (of many) that Federer and Nadal met in a Grand Slam final match. Nadal had previously knocked him out of the French Open Semi-Finals.
The Singles Wins 11-20, the Olympics, and illnesses
In 2007 Federer went on to win the US Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon again. This was the 5th year in a row that he had won at Wimbledon.
He had one of his best clay seasons ever. He most notably won at the Hamburg Masters, which was particularly impressive as he beat Nadal. That was the first time Nadal had lost on clay in 82 games.
This victory started people talking about whether Federer would become the first man to win all four Grand Slam titles in their career in over 40 years. However, Nadal beat him in the final of the French Open once again.
In 2008, Federer won a gold medal in mixed doubles at the Beijing Olympics. He was sick earlier in the year and was not sure if he would be well enough to play any tennis that year. He lost in the Wimbledon final to Andy Murray but went on to win his 5th US Open title.
In 2009, Federer lost the Australian Open final to Nadal but beat him for the second time on clay at the Madrid Masters. Federer went on to beat him in the French Open as well. This won him the Career Grand Slam and drew him level to the all-time men’s singles title record.
In 2010, Federer won the Australian Open. This victory meant that he now held the record for most wins as a man. As of that moment, Federer had played in the finals of 18 out of 19 Grand Slam finals – something no one else has ever achieved. This was his only Grand Slam victory but that year he beat Andy Murray, Nadal, and Djokovic all in one season.
At the 2012 London Olympics, Federer won a silver medal in the men’s singles event.
Federer went on to win at Wimbledon again in 2012 and 2017. He won the Australian Open in 2017. His last Grand Slam win was at the Australian Open in 2018.
Federer has continued to play tennis but is playing in fewer tournaments as he now has two sets of twins and has suffered from knee and hip injuries.
He has not announced his retirement yet, so many expect to see him playing at the 2022 Australian Open. If you are betting on tennis tournaments, will you be betting on Federer?
