Roger Federer Player Online Information at WagerWeb Sportsbook

Roger Federer Tennis Player Information at WagerWeb Sportsbook

Roger Federer (born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss tennis professional, currently ranked World No. 1. Many experts and many of his own tennis peers believe that Federer may be the greatest men's singles player of all time. Federer has won eleven Grand Slam men's singles titles in 33 appearances (all eleven coming in a record 17 consecutive appearances), three Tennis Masters Cup titles, and 14 ATP Masters Series titles. In 2004, the Swiss became the first man since 1988 to win three of four Grand Slam singles tournaments in the same year: the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. In 2006, he became the first and only male player to repeat this feat in the Open Era and also the first man in the Open Era to win at least ten singles tournaments in three consecutive years (2004 to 2006).

He is also the only player ever to have won both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open singles titles in three consecutive years. In 2007, when Federer won his third Australian Open title, he became the only male player ever to have won three separate Grand Slam tournaments at least three times. In 2007 at Wimbledon, he reached his ninth consecutive Grand Slam singles final—an all-time record in men's tennis. By winning, Federer tied Björn Borg's open-era record of five consecutive Wimbledon championships.

Federer has been ranked No. 1 in the world since February 2, 2004, and holds the all-time record for most consecutive weeks as the top-ranked male player. His current lead in the rankings guarantees that on August 27, 2007 he will break Steffi Graf's record for most consecutive weeks (186) as the top-ranked male or female player. In 2007, he was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record third consecutive time.

Personal life

Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland, to Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer. He grew up 10 minutes from Basel proper, in suburban Münchenstein which borders France and Germany.

He considers his main language German, but he also speaks French and English fluently. He conducts press conferences in all three. Answering a frequently asked question about the proper pronunciation of his first name, Federer said: "As my mother comes from South Africa, my name has always been pronounced the English way."

As a boy, Federer was very emotional on the court and threw many tantrums, in contrast to his cool, calm playing style today. He admits to being kicked off the practice court occasionally. Federer was also a very talented football player. At one point, he considered becoming a professional player but instead decided to make a career in tennis. He continues to support FC Basel, his hometown club and is also a fan of the Italian club AS Roma. When he was younger, he liked to watch tennis player Marcelo Ríos in action. Federer especially liked Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker and has cited them as idols.

Federer spends his off-court time at the beach, skiing, and playing card games, table tennis, football, and golf. He is an avid fan of Färjestads BK, a Swedish Elite League ice-hockey team. He currently resides in Oberwil, Switzerland and is dating former WTA player and Slovakian-born Miroslava Vavrinec (Mirka), who retired from tennis in 2002 after a foot injury. The two met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

With Mirka and a Swiss associate, Federer launched a fragrance and cosmetics line called RF Cosmetics in October 2003.

His favorite vacation spots are the Maldives, Dubai, and the Swiss mountains. He is also friends with golf superstar Tiger Woods. Roger Federer won his first tournament on the pro tour in 2001. He defeated Pete Sampras in the fourth round at the Wimbledon ending Sampras' 31-match winning streak in the tournament.

He co-established the Roger Federer Foundation in December 2003. Its goals include funding projects that benefit disadvantaged children, primarily in South Africa, such as the charity IMBEWU. 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 racquets to raise funds for UNICEF's relief operations.

On April 3, 2006, Federer was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF, which helps poor children from all parts of the world. He made his first official trip as Goodwill Ambassador on December 23, 2006, when he visited children in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a region devastated by the December 26, 2004, tsunami. "It's amazing to see how young people are using the rebuilding process as an opportunity to improve their lives and strengthen their community," said Federer. "The way these children are bouncing back from even the toughest tragedy is a testament to their resilience."

Federer is the first living Swiss to be pictured on a postage stamp. The stamp was issued in April 2007, and shows Federer with the Wimbledon trophy. Switzerland does not normally depict persons on its stamps, except for historical figures.

Career

Juniors

Federer started playing tennis at the age of six. He began having group lessons at the age of nine and weekly private coaching when he was ten. He also played soccer up until the age of 12 when he decided to focus solely on tennis. At 14, he became the national champion for all groups in Switzerland and was chosen to train at the Swiss National Tennis Center at Ecublens. He joined the ITF junior tennis circuit in July 1996.

In 1998, his final year as a junior, Federer won the Wimbledon juniors title and the year-ending Orange Bowl. He was recognized as the ITF World Junior Tennis champion for the year.

Professional

Early years

In July 1998, Federer joined the ATP tour at Gstaad. The following year he debuted for the Swiss Davis Cup team against Italy and finished the year as the youngest player (for the year) inside the ATP's top 100 ranking. In 2000, Federer reached the semifinals at the Sydney Olympics and lost the bronze medal match to Arnaud Di Pasquale of France. Federer reached his first final in Marseille which he lost to Marc Rosset and was also the runner-up in Basel. He failed to make an impression at the Grand Slams and the Masters Series tournaments but still ended the year ranked 29th.

2006

Federer won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments and ended the year ranked number one, with his points ranking several thousand points greater than that of his nearest competitor.

Federer won the year's first Grand Slam tournament, the 2006 Australian Open, by defeating Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis. In March, Federer successfully defended his titles at the Indian Wells and Miami Masters, and became the first player ever to win the Indian Wells-Miami double in consecutive years. Federer then reached two consecutive ATP Masters Series finals on clay, at Monte Carlo and Rome, but lost to Rafael Nadal on both occasions.

At the 2006 French Open, Federer lost in the final to defending champion Nadal in four sets. Had he won the French Open, he would have completed a Career Grand Slam and become the first man since Rod Laver to hold all four Grand Slam singles titles at the same time. Although the clay Grand Slam 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 reached the final without dropping a set. There, Federer beat Nadal in four sets to win the championship. This was Federer's fourth consecutive Wimbledon title.

Federer then started his North American tour and won the 2006 Rogers Cup in Toronto, defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the final. In the year's last Grand Slam tournament, the 2006 U.S. Open, he defeated American Andy Roddick in four sets for his third consecutive title at the Flushing Meadows.

At the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup at Shanghai, Federer defeated defending champion David Nalbandian in one of his three round robin matches and Nadal in a semifinal. Federer then defeated American James Blake 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 in the final to win his third Masters Cup title.

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 Cincinnati loss to Murray was Federer's only straight-sets loss of the year and the only tournament out of 17 in which he did not reach the final.
(All results in 2006)

2007

Federer won his third Australian Open and tenth Grand Slam singles title when he, as defending champion, won the tournament without dropping a set, defeating Fernando González of Chile in the final 7-6(2), 6-4, 6-4. Bjorn Borg was the last man to win a Grand Slam singles title without dropping a set, at the 1980 French Open.

Federer then won his fourth Dubai Duty Free Men's Open title, defeating Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the final 6-4, 6-3. This raised his match record for the year to 12-0 and brought his winning streak to 41-consecutive matches. His streak ended during his next match when he lost to Guillermo Cañas in the second round of the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, after winning this tournament three consecutive years (2004-2006). At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, Federer again lost to Cañas, this time in the fourth round in three sets. However, he was awarded four ATP Awards during a ceremony at the tournament, making him the first player to receive four awards during the same year.

Federer started his clay-court season by reaching his second consecutive final of the Monte Carlo Masters. There, as in 2006, he lost to second seeded Rafael Nadal. This time, the score was 6-4, 6-4.

Federer lost in the third round of the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome to Filippo Volandri 6-2, 6-4. This defeat meant he had gone four tournaments without a title, his longest stretch since becoming World No. 1.

On May 20, 2007, however, Federer defeated Nadal on clay for the first time 2-6, 6-2, 6-0, winning the Hamburg Masters tournament, and ending Nadal's record of 81 consecutive match wins on clay. It was his thirteenth ATP Masters Series title, his sixth tournament win on clay, and the second time he defeated Nadal with a bagel set.

At the French Open, Federer reached the final for the second consecutive time but again lost to Nadal 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. The day after the final, Federer announced that he was withdrawing from the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, which he had won the last four years. He cited fatigue and fear of getting an injury. He therefore entered Wimbledon for the first time without having played a warm-up grass-court tournament. Despite this, Federer once again beat Rafael Nadal in a memorable final (7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2), winning the tournament for the fifth consecutive time, a feat only before achieved in the Open Era by Björn Borg (William Renshaw holds the all-time record with six consecutive titles from 1881 to 1886). It was the first time since the fourth round in 2001 against Sampras that Federer had played a fifth set at Wimbledon and his first five-set grand slam final. Federer's win meant that the top two players in the computer rankings have won ten consecutive Grand Slam singles tournaments between them (2005 French Open through 2007 Wimbledon). It was also Federer's 11th Grand Slam victory, tying him in third with Björn Borg and Rod Laver in number of Grand Slams won.

Federer competed as the defending champion at the Canada Masters in Montréal, his first tournament since Wimbledon. He lost in the final to Novak Ðokovic 7-6, 2-6, 7-6. The next week Federer won the Cincinnati Masters Series for the second time, beating James Blake in the final. The victory was his 50th career singles title; he became the fifth youngest player to acheive this milestone (ahead of Pete Sampras). Federer also won the 2007 US Open Series with this victory.

It was announced in May that Federer and former World #1 Pete Sampras will compete in three exhibition matches between November 20-24, 2007. The best-of-three-sets matches will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Macau and Seoul

Awards

2006

* L'Equipe Magazine's Champion of Champions (for the year 2005).
* ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2005).
* Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
* ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite.
* Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
* ESPY Best Male Tennis Player.
* International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year.
* International Tennis Writers Ambassador for Tennis.
* ITF World Champion.
* BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year.
* Swiss Sportsman of the Year.
* European Sportsman of the Year.
* EFE's Sportsman of the Year.
* Golden Bagel Award.
* Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year by The United States Sports Academy.

2007

* L'Equipe Magazine's Champion of Champions (for the year 2006).
* ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2006).
* Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award.
* ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite.
* Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year.
* Laureus World Sportsman of the Year.
* ESPY Best Male Tennis Player.
* ESPY Best Male International Athlete.

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