Roger Federer born 8 August 1981 is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks. As of 23 May 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles, holding at least one Grand Slam title every single year from Wimbledon 2003 until the Australian Open in 2010. He is one of seven male players to capture the career Grand Slam and one of three (with Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal) to do so on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts). Many sports analysts, tennis critics, and former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time.
Federer has appeared in an unprecedented 22 career Grand Slam finals, of which 10 were consecutive appearances, and appeared in 18 of 19 finals over the four and a half years from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open, excluding the 2008 Australian Open. He holds the record of reaching the semi-finals or better of 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments over five and a half years from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open. In the 2011 French Open he reached his 28th consecutive quarter-final in the grand slam tournaments, breaking the record set by Jimmy Connors.
Federer has won a record five ATP World Tour Finals (shared with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras) and 17 ATP Masters Series tournaments. He also won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. For the past eight years (2003–2010) he has been in the top two in the year-end rankings.
As a result of Federer's successes in tennis, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record four consecutive years (2005–2008). He is often referred to as The Federer Express or abbreviated to Fed Express, the Swiss Maestro or simply Maestro.
Federer was born in Binningen, near Basel, to Swiss national Robert Federer and South African-born Lynette. He holds both Swiss and South African citizenships. He grew up in suburban Münchenstein, near Basel, close to the French-German borders and Federer speaks Swiss German, German, French and English fluently. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL d'Italia tournament in Rome. Like all male Swiss citizens, Federer was subject to compulsory military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, in 2003 he was deemed unfit due to a long-standing back problem and was subsequently not required to fulfill his "obligations.
Federer is married to former Women's Tennis Association player Mirka Vavrinec. They met while both competing for Switzerland in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Vavrinec retired from the tour in 2002 because of a foot injury and has since been working as Federer's public relations manager. They were married in Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family at Wenkenhof Villa (municipality of Riehen). On 23 July 2009, Mirka gave birth to twin girls, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva.
Federer's main accomplishment's as a junior player came at Wimbledon, where he won both the singles tournament over Irakli Labadze 6–4, 6–4 and in doubles teamed up with Olivier Rochus, in which they defeated the team of Michaël Llodra and Andy Ram 6–4, 6–4. In addition, Federer lost the US Open Junior tournament in 1998 to David Nalbandian in 3–6, 5–7. He won four other ITF junior singles tournaments in his career, including the prestigious Orange Bowl where he defeated Guillermo Coria 7–5, 6–3 in the finals. He ended 1998 as the junior World Number One.
Roger Federer's first tournament as a professional was Gstaad in 1998 (12th grade), which he faced Lucas Arnold Ker in the Round of 32, and he lost 4–6, 4–6. Federer's first final came at the Marseille Open, which was in 2000, and he lost to fellow Swiss Marc Rosset 6–2, 3–6, 6–7(5). Federer won in 2001 the Hopman Cup representing Switzerland, with Martina Hingis. Federer's first win was at the 2001 Milan Indoor tournament, which he defeated Julien Boutter by a score of 6–4, 6–7(7), 6–4. In 2001, Federer made his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open, and at Wimbledon that same year defeated four-time defending champion Pete Sampras to reach the quarterfinals. The most prestigious event final he reached during this period was the 2002 Miami Masters event, where he lost to Andre Agassi in 3–6, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6 on hardcourt. In addition, Federer won his first Master Series event at the 2002 Hamburg Masters on clay in 6–1, 6–3, 6–4 over Marat Safin; the victory made him a top-10 player for the first time. Federer made ten singles finals during this time in his career between 1998 and 2002, of which he won four and lost six. From 1998 to 2002, Federer made six finals in doubles. Of note are Federer and partner Max Mirnyi's defeat in the final of the Indian Wells Masters in 2002, and their victory in the same year in the final of the Rotterdam 500 series event. Federer had won the latter the year earlier with partner Jonas Björkman.
Federer is an all-court, all-round player known for his style of play and shot making. Federer mainly plays from the baseline but is also comfortable at the net being one of the best volleyers in the game today. He has a very effective smash and very effectively performs rare elements in today's tennis, such as backhand smash, half-volley and jump smash (slam dunk). David Foster Wallace described Federer's exceptional speed, fluidity and brute force of this forehand motion as "a great liquid whip," while John McEnroe has referred to Federer's forehand as "the greatest shot in our sport." Federer plays with a single-handed backhand which gives him great variety. He employs the slice, occasionally using it to lure the opponent to the net and pass him. Federer can also fire topspin winners and possesses a 'flick' backhand where he can generate pace with his wrist; this is usually used to pass the opponent at the net. His serve is difficult to read because he always uses a similar ball toss regardless of what type of serve he is going to hit and where he aims to hit it, and turns his back to his opponents during his motion. He is often able to produce big serves on key points during a match. His first serve is typically around 200 km/h (125 mph), however, he is capable of serving at 220 km/h (137 mph). Federer is accomplished at serve and volleying, and used this tactic especially frequently in his early career. His speciality is a half-volley from the baseline which enables him to play very near to the baseline and to pick up balls (even deeper ones) very early after their bounce, thus giving his opponents less time to react on his shot. Recently, Federer has also added the drop shot to his game and utilizes a well-disguised one off of both wings. He sometimes uses a between-the-legs shot, which is colloquially referred to as a "tweener." His most notable use of the tweener was in the semifinals of the 2009 US Open against Novak Djokovic, bringing him match point.
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