Roger Federer Biography

Roger Federer is the Swiss tennis player whose 20 Grand Slam singles titles made him one  one of the greatest tennis players of all time. For a decade he has been one of a dominant “big three” in men’s tennis with fellow stars Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Roger Federer turned pro in 1998 after a stellar career in junior competition. He made a name for himself in 2001 by beating defending champion Pete Sampras in a match at Wimbledon before being knocked out himself in the quarterfinals. Federer won his first major men’s singles title at Wimbledon in 2003, and in 2004 he again won Wimbledon and added the Australian and U.S. Opens, with only a third-round loss in the French Open keeping him from the Grand Slam.

Roger Federer won his third consecutive Wimbledon in 2005, defeating Andy Roddick in the finals for the second year in a row. He then defeated Andre Agassi for his second straight U.S. Open title. In 2006 he lost to Rafael Nadal in the finals of the French Open, beat Nadal in the finals at Wimbledon and defeated Roddick to win the U.S. Open. His 2007 victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon (again beating Nadal) and the U.S. Open, plus a 2008 win at the U.S. Open, gave him a total of 13 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, one short of Sampras’s career record of 14.

He tied Pete Sampras with a win at the French Open in 2009; his win also meant he had won each of the major titles at least once. Federer then passed Sampras with 15 major titles when he beat Roddick in the Wimbledon finals on July 5, 2009, and started 2010 by beating Andy Murray of Scotland for his fourth Australian Open championship and his 16th major overall.

Roger Federer again defeated Murray (the British favorite) to win Wimbledon 2012, and (after a title drought of five years) beat Nadal in the 2017 Australian Open finals to claim his 18th major title, then beat Marin Cilic at Wimbledon 2017 to claim an unprecedented eighth Wimbledon title and his 19th major win. He again beat Cilic in the finals of the 2018 Australian Open to claim his 20th major singles title.