Roger Federer | Biography, Championships, & Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

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Roger Federer (born August 8, 1981, Basel, Switzerland) is a Swiss tennis player who dominated the sport in the early 21st century with his exceptional all-around game. He won a record eight Wimbledon titles, and in 2018 he became the first player to claim 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles.

Federer, who started playing tennis at age eight, became Switzerland’s junior champion when he was 14. In 1998 he captured the Wimbledon junior singles championship and secured the Orange Bowl junior tournament crown in Miami. The following year Federer made his debut on the Swiss Davis Cup team and became the youngest tennis player (at 18 years 4 months) to end the year among the world’s top 100, finishing that season at number 64.

Federer competed at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, advancing to the bronze medal match. The following year at Wimbledon he defeated Pete Sampras to reach the quarterfinals, and by the end of 2002 he was ranked number six in the world. In 2003 Federer won his first Grand Slam tournament title, at Wimbledon. The following year he captured his first Australian Open and his first U.S. Open and defended his Wimbledon title. A gifted shot maker known for his forehand, he also developed a reputation for composure and sportsmanship. In 2004 Federer was victorious in 11 of the 17 tournaments he played in, and he finished the year ranked number one in the world. His numbers were similarly remarkable in 2005, as he won 11 of 15 tournaments, including Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. From July 2003 to November 2005 he also won a modern-record 24 straight finals.

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In 2006 Federer continued to be the game’s best player. In addition to winning Wimbledon, he was victorious at the Australian Open and the U.S. Open, becoming the first player to win the latter two tournaments three years in a row. He also reached the finals at Roland Garros (the French Open) but was defeated by Rafael Nadal of Spain. In all, Federer competed in 17 tournaments in 2006, capturing 12 titles and reaching the finals in all but one tournament. At the Australian Open in 2007, he won his 10th Grand Slam title. Later that year, however, his bid for his first French Open was again derailed by Nadal, who defeated him in the final. Federer’s rivalry with Nadal continued at Wimbledon in 2007. There he bested Nadal in a thrilling five-set final to become the second male player (after Björn Borg) in more than 100 years to capture five consecutive Wimbledon titles. Federer continued to make history in 2007 when he won his fourth consecutive U.S. Open, a men’s record in the open era.

In 2008 Federer’s record 65-match grass-court winning streak came to an end when he lost to Nadal in the Wimbledon final. Federer later teamed with Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka to win the men’s doubles gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Federer lost his number one world ranking to Nadal in August 2008, ending his record run of 237 consecutive weeks atop the rankings. The following month Federer won the U.S. Open.

In June 2009 Federer won his first French Open, giving him a championship in each of the four Grand Slam tournaments over the course of his career. Additionally, the win was his 14th Grand Slam title, which tied Federer with Sampras for the most in all time. The following month at Wimbledon, Federer defeated American Andy Roddick in a thrilling marathon five-set match (5–7, 7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 16–14) to win his sixth Wimbledon championship and his record 15th career Grand Slam title; he subsequently regained the world number one ranking. In January 2010 he won the Australian Open, defeating Andy Murray of Great Britain. Federer again defeated Murray in 2012 to win his record-tying seventh career Wimbledon title. A month later the two men faced off in the gold medal match at the London Olympics. This time, however, Federer lost to Murray and had to settle for a silver medal.

Federer endured an injury-riddled 2013 season, and in 2014 he reached just one Grand Slam final (a loss at Wimbledon to Novak Djokovic). He did still manage a career highlight that year by leading Switzerland to its first-ever Davis Cup victory. In 2015 he appeared in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals but lost to Djokovic both times. Shortly after losing in the Wimbledon semifinals in July 2016, he withdrew from the remainder of that tennis season because of a persistent knee injury.

Federer entered the first Grand Slam tournament of 2017, the Australian Open, as the 17th-ranked men’s player but shocked the tennis world by winning the singles title in an epic five-set final against Nadal. Federer continued his resurgent play at that year’s Wimbledon, where he did not lose a single set during the tournament and won a record-breaking eighth Wimbledon title. Federer’s hot streak continued into 2018 when he won his sixth career Australian Open singles title. With the victory, Federer set a record for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles (20); that mark was later matched by Nadal and Djokovic, and in 2022 Nadal became the first to surpass it. Federer reached the semifinals at the 2019 French Open and advanced to the final at that year’s Wimbledon, where he lost an epic 4-hour 57-minute match (the longest final match in Wimbledon history) to Djokovic.

After losing in the semifinals at the 2020 Australian Open, Federer had two knee surgeries that caused him to miss the rest of the season. Although he returned in 2021, his play was limited. However, he did compete at Wimbledon, where he lost in straight sets in the quarterfinals. That proved to be his last Grand Slam event. Federer was again sidelined by knee problems, and in September 2022 he announced that he would be retiring after the Laver Cup. Later that month he played in his final competitive match, a doubles event in which he paired with Nadal; they lost.

In addition to tennis, Federer was involved in various philanthropic causes, with a particular interest in South Africa, his mother’s home country. In 2003 he established the Roger Federer Foundation, which sought to help underprivileged children in Switzerland and southern Africa, primarily through educational projects.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.