Roger Federer ; born August 8, 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player, ranked World No. 1 since February 2, 2004, for a record 229 consecutive weeks.^[3] Many tennis critics, past legends of the game, and his own peers consider him to be the greatest player in the history of tennis.^[4] In 2008, he was named Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record fourth consecutive time.^[5] Federer won a record 56 consecutive hard courts matches in the open era before being defeated by long time rival Rafael Nadal in the Dubai final in March 2006. He currently holds the record of consecutive wins on grass courts with 59 wins.

Federer has won twelve Grand Slam singles titles (three Australian Open, five Wimbledon, four US Open), four Tennis Masters Cup titles, and fourteen ATP Masters Series titles. He holds many records in the game, including having appeared in ten consecutive Grand Slam men's singles finals (2005 Wimbledon Championships through to 2007 U.S. Open).

Personal life

Roger Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland,^[6] to Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer. He grew up in suburban Münchenstein, ten minutes from Basel and close to the borders of France and Germany. As a boy, Federer was a very emotional player and was occasionally kicked off practice courts for his behaviour. Federer was also a talented football player. He had considered becoming a professional soccer player but decided instead to pursue tennis. He continues to support FC Basel, his hometown club and is a fan of Italian club AS Roma.^[7][8] As a youngster, he enjoyed watching Marcelo Ríos in action.^[9] Federer especially liked Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Marcelo Rios and has cited them as idols.^[6]

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Federer currently resides in Oberwil, Switzerland and is dating former WTA player and Slovakia-born Miroslava Vavrinec (Mirka), who retired from tennis in 2002 after a foot injury. The two met at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Federer launched a fragrance called RF Cosmetics in October 2003.^[10] He considers Swiss German his first language, but also speaks German, French, and English fluently^[7] and conducts press conferences in all three. His favorite vacation spots are Dubai, the Maldives and the Swiss mountains.^{[7] [11]} He is also a good friend of golf superstar Tiger Woods. Federer is Roman Catholic, and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the Rome Masters in 2006.^[12]

Roger Federer is highly involved in various charities. He established the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003 to help disadvantaged people and to promote sports to youth. He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF from 2006. Since then, he has visited Tamil Nadu, one of the worst tsunami-affected areas in India, and South Africa. He has also appeared in UNICEF public messages to raise public awareness of AIDS.

Tennis career

Federer started playing tennis at the age of six.^[13] He began participating in group lessons at the age of nine and began weekly private coaching when he was ten. He also played football until the age of twelve when he decided to focus solely on tennis.^[14] At fourteen, he became the national champion of all groups in Switzerland and was chosen to train at the Swiss National Tennis Center in Ecublens. He joined the ITF junior tennis circuit in July 1996.^[15] In 1998, his final year as a junior, Federer won the junior Wimbledon title and the prestigious year-ending Orange Bowl. He was recognized as the ITF World Junior Tennis champion of the year.^[16] 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 ATP's top 100 ranking. In 2000, Federer reached the semi-finals 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 Grand Slams and Masters Series tournaments, and ended the year ranked 29th.

Victor Lamm says about him: "Roger is a tremendous competitor. He's got talent, work-ethic, passion and style. His contribution to tennis is already priceless. He's got what it takes to become the best player of all time."

2001

Federer's first ATP tournament victory came in Milan in February 2001. During the same month, he won three matches for his country in its 3–2 Davis Cup victory over the United States. He later reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, defeating four-time defending champion and seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round in a closely fought match, a victory that many consider to be the turning point of his career, as well as ending Sampras's 31-match winning streak in the tournament.^[18] He then lost to Tim Henman in the quarterfinal and finished the year ranked 13th.

2002

Federer reached his first ATP Masters Series (AMS) final at the Miami Masters, where he lost to Andre Agassi. He won his next AMS final in Hamburg. He also won both his Davis Cup singles matches against former world number ones, Russians Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov). Despite early-round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open and the untimely, devastating loss of his long-time Australian coach and mentor, Peter Carter, in a car crash in August,^[20] Federer reached No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race by the end of the year and thus qualified for the first time in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. His run at the tournament was ended in the semifinals by then #1 seeded and ranked Lleyton Hewitt (who eventually went on to win the Cup).

2003

In 2003, Federer challenged for the top ranking in men's tennis. Federer began his Grand Slam campaign at the Australian Open where he lost to David Nalbandian in the round of 16. He then won two hard court tournaments in Marseille and Dubai. He also won a clay court tournament in Munich, then lost in the first round of the French Open to Luis Horna. However, he won the tournament in Halle on grass, and in July, he won his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Andy Roddick in the semifinals and Mark Philippoussis in the finals, losing only one set in the tournament (to Mardy Fish in the round of 32). He lost to Roddick and to Nalbandian the Masters tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati, respectively. As in the Australian Open, he lost to Nalbandian at the U.S. Open, again in the round of 16. He won on hard courts in Vienna and ended the year on a high note by winning the year-end Tennis Masters Cup tournament in Houston, defeating Andre Agassi in the final. In a three-way battle for supremacy, Roddick captured the year-end No. 1 ranking over Federer and Juan Carlos Ferrero.

2004

In 2004, Roger Federer had one of the most dominating and successful years in the Open Era of modern men's tennis.^[23] He won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments, did not lose a match to anyone ranked in the top ten, and won every final he reached. He won his first Australian Open title by defeating Marat Safin in straight sets. This win helped him succeed Andy Roddick as the World No. 1, a ranking which he has maintained as of June 2008. He successfully defended his Wimbledon title by defeating Andy Roddick, and won his first U.S. Open title by defeating Lleyton Hewitt. Federer entered the 2004 Athens Olympics as one of the favorite's but had his Olympic dream ended, being defeated in the Round of 32 against Tomáš Berdych 4-6 7-5 7-5. Federer went on to finish the year by taking the Tennis Masters Cup at Houston for the second consecutive year, defeating Hewitt in the final. Federer's only Grand Slam loss of the year was at the French Open, where he lost to former world number one and 3-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten in straight sets. His win-loss record for the year was 74–6 with 11 titles. Federer was named the ITF Tennis World Champion^[24] and Laureus World Sportsman of the Year in early 2005,^[25] edging out the likes of Michael Schumacher, Valentino Rossi, Lance Armstrong, and Michael Phelps. Throughout 2004, Federer did not have a coach, relying instead on his fitness trainer Pierre Paganini, physiotherapist Pavel Kovac, and a management team composed of his parents, his girlfriend and manager Mirka Vavrinec, and a few friends.^[10] In 2005, Federer hired former Australian tennis player Tony Roche to coach him on a limited basis.^[26]

2005

To begin the year, Federer reached the Australian Open semifinals before falling to eventual winner Marat Safin in a five-set night match that lasted more than four hours, 5-7 6-4 5-7 7-6(6) 9-7.^[28] He rebounded to win the year's first two ATP Masters Series (AMS) titles: Indian Wells (by defeating Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in straight sets) and Miami (by defeating Rafael Nadal of Spain in five sets after being down two sets to love). He won his third Hamburg clay court title in May by defeating Richard Gasquet, to whom he had earlier lost in Monte Carlo. He then entered the French Open as one of the favorites, but lost in the semifinals in four sets to eventual winner Nadal.

Federer successfully defended his Wimbledon title, winning for the third consecutive year by defeating Andy Roddick in a rematch of the previous year's final. Federer also defeated Roddick in Cincinnati to take his fourth AMS title of the year (and sweep all the American AMS events) and become the first player in AMS history to win four titles in one season.^[29] He then dropped only two sets en route to his second consecutive U.S. Open title, defeating Andre Agassi in four sets in the final. He became the first man in the Open Era to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open back-to-back in consecutive years (2004 and 2005). He failed to defend his Tennis Masters Cup title, however, losing to David Nalbandian of Argentina in a four-and-a-half hour, five-set match (He was playing with an injury in his ankle).^[30] Had he won the match, he would have finished the year 82–3, tying John McEnroe's 1984 record for the highest yearly winning percentage in the open era.

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, Rafael Nadal.^[32] Federer won the year's first Grand Slam tournament, the 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 started the clay-court season by reaching the final of the ATP Masters Series (AMS) event at Monte Carlo losing in four sets to Rafael Nadal. He then reached a consecutive AMS final, along with Nadal, at the Rome Masters where it seemed as though Federer would finally defeat his rival on clay; however, Nadal won the epic five-set match, which lasted five hours, in the decisive tiebreak after saving two match points.^[33] Federer chose not to defend his title at the Hamburg Masters, where he had won in the previous two years. At the 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.^[34]

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 U.S. Open, he defeated American Andy Roddick in four sets for his third consecutive title at the Flushing Meadows. During the open era, 2006 is the only year in which same man (Federer) and woman (Henin) reached the finals of all four Grand Slams. 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, Rome, Monte Carlo, and Dubai finals; 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 (Davis Cup excluded) in which he did not reach the final.

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. He was the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win a Grand Slam singles tournament without losing a set.^[36] His winning streak of 41 consecutive matches ended 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. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, Federer again lost to Cañas, this time in the fourth round in three sets. 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.^{[37] [38]}

Federer started his clay-court season by reaching his second consecutive final of the Monte Carlo Masters. As in 2006, he lost to second seeded Rafael Nadal. Federer lost in the third round of the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome to Filippo Volandri.^[39] This defeat meant he had gone four tournaments without a title, his longest stretch since becoming World No. 1.^[39] On May 20, 2007, however, Federer defeated Nadal on clay for the first time, winning the Hamburg Masters tournament, and ending Nadal's record of 81 consecutive match wins on clay.^[40] At the French Open, Federer reached the final for the second consecutive year but lost to Nadal for the third consecutive time. 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.^[41] He therefore entered Wimbledon for the first time without having played a warm-up grass-court tournament. Despite this, Federer once again defeated Nadal in the final, however Nadal was able to push Federer into a fifth set, with his last five-set match at Wimbledon coming from 2001 where he beat Pete Sampras. With the win over Nadal, Federer tied Björn Borg's record of five Wimbledon's in a row.

Federer won the Cincinnati Masters title for the second time, beating James Blake in the final, to collect his 50th career singles title, his 14th ATP Masters Series title, and the 2007 US Open Series points race.

In the U.S. Open final, Federer beat third seed Novak Djokovic. It was Federer's 12th Grand Slam title, tying Roy Emerson. As champion of the US Open Series points race, Federer received a bonus of $1 million, in addition to the $1.4 million prize for winning the U.S. Open singles title.^[42]

Federer entered the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup where he lost his first round robin match to the 2007 Australian Open runner-up, Fernando González, 3-6 7-6(1) 7-5 . This marked the first time a player had defeated Federer in the round robin of the Tennis Masters Cup and González's first win against Federer. Federer went on to defeat Rafael Nadal 6-4, 6-1 in the semi-finals and David Ferrer in the finals 6-2, 6-3, 6-2.

On November 19, 2007, in an exhibition match in Seoul between players recognized as among the greatest ever, Federer defeated former World No. 1 Pete Sampras 6–4, 6–3. This was the first of three exhibitions the two played in Asia. "I feel pretty good," Sampras told Korean television after the match. "I made it competitive, which was my goal. Obviously Roger is the best player in the world and I retired five years ago. I am grateful that he invited me." Federer was equally happy with the workout: "Pete was one of my idols growing up and it's great to play him. It wasn't easy for me, it wasn't easy for him as he's been retired five years. I am number one and everyone expects me to win."^[43]

2008

In January, Federer withdrew from the Kooyong Classic exhibition tournament because of a stomach virus, disrupting his warm-up to the Australian Open.^[45] He returned to the Australian Open to defend his title and reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, 7–5, 6–3, 7–6(5). This ended his record string of Grand Slam final appearances at ten, though his streak of 15 Grand Slam semifinals was maintained. At every Grand Slam tournament during the semifinal streak, Federer has either won the tournament or lost to the eventual champion. The loss also ended his 37-match winning streak in best of five set matches on hard courts. It was the first time that Federer had lost in straight sets in a Grand Slam singles match since he lost 6–4, 6–4, 6–4 to Gustavo Kuerten in the third round of the 2004 French Open. His last straight-sets loss at a hard court Grand Slam tournament was even further back, when he lost in the fourth round of the 2002 US Open to Max Mirnyi, 6–3, 7–6(5), 6–4. Federer himself stated that he was "quite happy with the result in the end." ^[45]

Federer then returned to the Dubai Tennis Championships. Federer was seeded first and was the defending champion. Federer lost to Andy Murray 6–7(6), 6–3, 6–4 in the first round.

In March, Federer revealed that he was recently diagnosed with mononucleosis, and that he may have suffered from it since December 2007. He noted, however, that he was now "medically cleared to compete."^[46]

Federer won his third exhibition match out of four against former World No. 1 and fourteen-time Grand Slam singles titlist Pete Sampras in Madison Square Garden in New York City. Federer won 6–3, 6–7, 7–6.^[47]

At the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, the first Tennis Masters Series event of the year, Federer lost in the semi-finals to American Mardy Fish for the first time, 6–3, 6–2, thus ending his 41-match winning streak against American players dating back to August 2003.^[48] Federer's next tournament was the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where he lost in the quarterfinals to American Andy Roddick 7–6, 4–6, 6–3. Roddick's last win against him on the ATP tour came in 2003.

Federer began the clay court season at the Estoril Open in Portugal, which was his first optional clay-court tournament since Gstaad in 2004 and his first tournament with coach Jose Higueras.^[49] Federer won his first tournament of the year when Nikolay Davydenko retired from the final while trailing 7–6, 1–2 with a leg ligament strain. With 54 titles, Federer is No. 9 on the open era career singles titles list.^[50]

As of April 2008, Federer and James Blake are the only members of the top ten never to have retired during a match.^[51]

At the Monte Carlo Masters, Federer defeated qualifier Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo in the second round 6–1, 3–6, 7–6 despite trailing 5-1 in the third set. Federer then beat Gael Monfils in straight sets and David Nalbandian in the quarterfinals 5–7, 6–2, 6–2. Federer was leading Djokovic 6–3, 3–2 when Djokovic retired from their semifinal match. In the final, Federer lost to three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal 7–5, 7–5. Federer made 44 unforced errors, lost a 4–0 lead in the second set, and fell to 1–7 against Nadal on clay courts.^[52]

At the Tennis Masters Series Internazionali d'Italia in Rome, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Radek Stepanek 7–6(4), 7–6(7), furthering his 2008 slump.^[53]

Federer was the defending champion at the Masters Series Hamburg and won his first four matches in straight sets to set up a repeat of the previous year's final against Nadal. In the first set of the final, Federer built a 5–1 lead in the first set and served for the set but eventually lost to Nadal who won six consecutive games. Nadal again broke Federer's serve in the opening game of the second set, but Federer broke back and won the second set 7–6(3). Nadal came back in the third set beating Federer 6–3 and winning the whole championship.

At the French Open, Federer beat American Sam Querrey in the first round 6–4, 6–4, 6–3. In the second round, Federer defeated Albert Montanes of Spain 6–7(5), 6–1, 6–0, 6–4 and then beat Mario Ancic of Croatia in the third round 6–3, 6–4, 6–2. Federer next defeated Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the fourth round 6–4, 7–5, 7–5. In the quarterfinals, Federer beat Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 2–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4 to reach his record sixteenth consecutive Grand Slam singles semi final. He then beat Frenchman Gael Monfils in the semifinals 6–2, 5–7, 6–3, 7–5 to set up a repeat final against Rafael Nadal, for the third consecutive year. However Federer was beaten heavily by Nadal, losing 1-6, 3-6, 0-6 in the final. The last time Federer had lost a set 6-0 was the first round in 1999 at Queen’s against Byron Black.

This is also the fourth consecutive year that Federer and Nadal have met at the French Open, with Federer losing his third consecutive final to Nadal as well as their semifinal match at the 2005 championship. With this loss, Federer is now 1-9 against Nadal on clay, while their overall rivalry stands at 6-11 to Nadal.

Federer was able to bounce back from his defeat by Nadal at Roland Garros by winning the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany which he did without dropping a set or even a service game. By winning the Gerry Weber Open, Federer extended his grass-court winning streak to 59 matches and tied Pete Sampras’ record for most titles on grass in the Open era with 10^[54]. This was Federer's second title of the year, 55th overall career title, and the fifth time he has won this event.

Playing style

Federer has a versatile, all-court playing style and can hit all of the fundamental shots with a high degree of proficiency. He is an adept volleyer and an excellent baseliner who can dictate play with precise groundstroke's from both wings. He uses an extreme eastern grip, which places the hand between eastern and semi-western for his forehand and finishes with his right arm around the shoulder, and he keeps his eyes on the moment of impact longer than others. He also can generate extreme top-spin with the forehand shot, allowing him to open up cross-court angles while still hitting the ball with pace. David Foster Wallace has described the exceptional speed, fluidity and brute force of this forehand motion as "a great liquid whip",^[55] while John McEnroe has referred to it as "the greatest shot in our sport" on numerous occasions.^[56] Federer plays with a one-handed backhand, and has an excellent slice, and can also fire top-spin winning shots.^[55] Federer tends to hit his groundstrokes early, while the ball is still on the rise, much like Andre Agassi did. While this requires excellent reactions and footwork, it means that Federer hits his groundstrokes closer to the net than most of his opponents. This reduces the reaction time of his opponents and allows him to hit the angled winners that are a trademark of his game.^[55]

His serve is difficult to read because he tosses the ball in the same spot no matter where he intends to serve it and he turns his back to his opponents during his motion. His first serve is typically around 190 km/h (However, he is capable of serving at 220km/h).^[57] His second serve usually has a heavily kicked delivery. Federer generally serves with placement and precision, but on occasion he will hit a powerful serve to keep his opponents off balance. His footwork, balance, and court coverage are exceptional and he is considered to be one of the fastest movers in the game. Unlike most players who take many small steps when approaching the ball, like Jimmy Connors, Federer takes long fluid strides. He can hit a strong shot on the run or while backpedalling, allowing him to switch from defence to offense. Federer's relaxed, smooth playing style belies his aggressive and opportunistic tactics as he constructs points that allows him to hit winners with his powerful groundstroke's. Federer is capable of performing in high pressure situations, often saving break, set or even match points during a match.

Equipment and apparel

Federer currently plays with a customized Wilson (K) Factor (K)Six-One Tour 90 Racquet,^[58] which is characterised by its smaller hitting surface (90 square inch),^[58] heavy weight (12.5 oz strung weight),^[58] and thin beam (18 mm).^[58] Federer strings his racquets at a 53–60 pounds tension (depending on his opponent and surface) with natural gut main strings (Wilson Natural Gut 16 String) and polyester cross strings (Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power Rough 16L String).^[59] This allows him to hit balls at higher velocity with less effort but makes consistent accuracy more difficult. Federer also uses string savers to extend the life of the natural gut strings. Federer endorses Wilson tennis racquets and accessories and Nike footwear and apparel (he wears the Nike Air Vapor V and Nike Sphere Pinstripe Polo shirts).^[60] For the 2006 championships at Wimbledon, Nike made a jacket that had a crest with three tennis racquets symbolising the three Wimbledon Championships he had won previously. This jacket was also updated for 2007, with four rackets.^[61] He also has endorsement deals from various other companies, many of them being Swiss.^[62] He also endorses Gillette with French, Brazilian and Mexican football stars Thierry Henry, Kaká and Rafael Márquez, American golfer Tiger Woods, South African rugby player Bryan Habana and Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid. Nike released a line of personal apparel such as hats and shirts that are embroidered with an "RF" to represent Roger Federer. He also endorses Moores suits and his image is used in the computer. ^[63]

Achievements

Records

Roger Federer holds a number of records in tennis history, the most prominent of which is that he has won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in the same year three times: 2004, 2006, and 2007.

He has surpassed a myriad of long-standing records, including:

• Equalling Bjorn Borg's Open Era record of five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles in 2007
• Capturing the Open era record of most consecutive US Open titles (four) in 2007
• Ranked World #1 for an ongoing record of 229 consecutive weeks as of June 16, 2008, outlasting Jimmy Connors's record of 160 consecutive weeks as #1 men's player and Steffi Graf's record of 186 weeks as #1 singles player in the world

Awards

Federer has won numerous awards during his tennis career. His most significant achievement was winning his fourth consecutive Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award, in 2008.

Career statistics

Grand Slam singles finals (15)

Wins (12)

ATP Tour career earnings

**As of June 16, 2008.

References and Notes

Wiki Source

References ^ (French) Open d'Australie: le "Fed Express" redémarre à Melbourne. ^ Federer on his name's pronunciation. ^ CNN (2007). Federer sets record as number one (English). CNN. Retrieved on September 6, 2007. ^ "Roddick: Federer might be greatest ever yup", The Associated Press, 2005-07-03. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.  "Federer inspires comparisons to all-time greats", The Associated Press, 2004-09-12. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.  "4-In-A-Row For Federer", The Associated Press, 2006-07-09. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.  Sarkar, Pritha. "Greatness beckons Federer", Reuters, 2005-07-04. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.  Collins, Bud. "Federer Simply In a League of His Own", MSNBC Website, MSNBC.COM, 2005-07-03. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.  "Jack Kramer: Federer is the best I have ever seen", The Observer, 2007-06-24. Retrieved on 2007-07-15.  BBC.co.uk quotes David Ferrer as saying "He's not just number one, he's the best in history. He has 12 Grand Slams and I'm sure he'll get the record [which is at 14]. He can do it all. He serves very well, he has a very good forehand and backhand. He has no weak points." — "Supreme. Owais destroys Ferrer", BBC.co.uk, 2007-11-18. Retrieved on 2007-11-18.  ^ Laureus World Sports Awards 2008 | Laureus ^ a b Profile. rogerfederer.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-19. ^ a b c Ask Roger - Official Website. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ Favorite Football Team. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ Malinowski, Scoop. "Marcelo Rios: The Man I love to dance with.", Tennis Week, 2005-03-22. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.  ^ a b Boeck, Greg. "Low-key Federer on top of world", USA Today, 2004-03-15. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.  ^ Favorite Vacation Spot. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ ROGER MEETS WITH POPE. Retrieved on 2007-11-19. ^ Federer, Roger (September, 2004). Fanletter September 2004 (PDF). Retrieved on 2007-06-30. ^ Life as a Junior. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. ^ Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas - Overview. ITF tennis.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-30. ^ ITF Junior World Champions. ITF tennis.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-30. ^ ATPtennis.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-22. ^ Clarey, Christopher. "Federer wins, continues match against history", The New York Times, 2007-01-29. Retrieved on 2007-03-02.  ^ ATPtennis.com - Roger Federer: Playing Activity 2001. Retrieved on 2007-07-09. ^ Split from coach could "help Federer to focus". swissinfo.org (2007-05-14). Retrieved on 2007-06-20. ^ ATPtennis.com - Roger Federer: Playing Activity 2002. Retrieved on 2007-07-09. ^ ATPtennis.com - Roger Federer: Playing Activity 2003. Retrieved on 2008-01-22. ^ Niebuhr, Keith. "America's love affair with Federer lies ahead", St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.  ^ "Federer, Myskina crowned 2004 ITF world champions", China Daily, 2004-12-21. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.  ^ "Federer and Holmes win top Laureus awards", People's Daily Online, 2005-05-17. Retrieved on 2007-06-21.  ^ "Roche previously coached Lendl, Rafter", Reuters, 2005-01-04. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.  ^ ATPtennis.com - Roger Federer: Playing Activity 2004. Retrieved on 2007-07-09. ^ Safin stuns Federer in epic semi. BBC Sport/Tennis (2005-01-27). Retrieved on 2007-06-21. ^ Roger Federer - Profile. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. ^ Bill Scott (2005-11-20). Nalbandian Upsets Federer to Claim Crown. masters-cup.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. ^ ATPtennis.com - Roger Federer: Playing Activity 2005. Retrieved on 2007-07-09. ^ Caroline Cheese (November 2006). Federer's Magic Numbers. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. ^ ATP Tennis (May 2006). Rome 2006 stats. ATP Tennis. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. ^ Nikita C Fernandes. The king of tennis: Roger Federer. oneIndia. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. ^ ATPtennis.com - Roger Federer: Playing Activity 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-02. ^ Bjorn Borg-Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. ^ Federer claims record 4 ATP awards (2007-03-28). Retrieved on 2007-03-28. ^ "Federer scoops record four awards", BBC Sports, 2007-03-26. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.  ^ a b Federer still has time to salvage a poor clay season. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. ^ Nadal's clay win streak comes to end at 81. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. ^ OFF COURT - ROGER WITHDRAWS FROM HALLE. ^ usopen.org, *Prize Money could exceed... ^ Roger Federer - News Detail ^ ATPtennis.com - Roger Federer: Playing Activity 2007. Retrieved on 2008-01-22. ^ a b sportsillustrated.[dead link – history] ^ Clarey, Christopher (2008-03-08). Federer’s Weakness Might Have Been an Illness. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. ^ Bruehl, Erin (2008-03-10). Federer defeats Sampras in third set tiebreak. United States Tennis Association. Retrieved on 2008-03-15. ^ [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/scorecard/othernews.asp?articleID=230424 Fish stuns Federer, joins Djokovic in Pacific Life final]. Seattle post (2008-04-22). Retrieved on 2008-04-24. ^ Federer to Work with Higueras in Estoril. Retrieved on 2008-04-15. ^ Most Titles - Career ^ [Retiring Types: How often the top men quit a match http://tennis.com/features/general/features.aspx?id=127724] ^ ESPN - Nadal continues mastery of Federer on clay, takes Monte Carlo Masters title - Tennis ^ Federer slump extends to Rome. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news?slug=txhalletennis&prov=st&type=lgns ^ a b c Wallace, David Foster (2006-08-20). Federer as Religious Experience. Play Magazine. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-06-21. ^ "On court", Swissinfo.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.  ^ Service Speed Comparison:Federer, Roddick, Sampras. Retrieved on 2007-05-31. ^ a b c d Roger Federer Equipment. Retrieved on 2007-03-07. ^ Ask Roger; Official Website. Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ Roger Federer Sponsors. Retrieved on 2008-01-18. ^ Hodgkinson, Mark (2006-06-27). More jacket than racket for Federer. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 2007-09-05. ^ Roger Federer-Sponsors. rogerfederer.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-20. ^ Gillette Winners. Retrieved on 2007-09-28. ^ a b ATP Prize Money for 12/13/99 (TXT). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ a b ATP Prize Money for 12/18/00 (TXT). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ a b Prize money leaders 11/19/01 (TXT). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ a b ATP Prize Money for 12/09/02 (TXT). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ a b ATP Prize Money for 12/15/03 (TXT). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ a b ATP Prize Money for 12/13/04 (TXT). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ a b ATP Prize Money for 12/19/05 (TXT). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ a b ATP Prize Money for 12/18/06 (TXT). Retrieved on 2007-03-02. ^ a b ATP Prize Money for 12/24/07 (TXT). Retrieved on 2008-01-28. ^ a b Current ATP Prize Money Leaders (PDF). Retrieved on 2008-01-29. ^ a b Career ATP Prize Money Leaders (PDF). Retrieved on 2008-01-28. Further reading Rene Stauffer (2007). The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection. New York, N.Y: New Chapter Press. ISBN 0-942257-39-1.  Chris Bowers (2007). Fantastic Federer: The Biography of the World's Greatest Tennis Player. John Blake. ISBN 1-84454-407-9.