Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in history for a male tennis player, and held the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a record total of 310 weeks. In majors, Federer has won a record eight Wimbledon titles, six Australian Open titles, a record five consecutive US Open titles and one French Open title. He is among the eight men to capture a career Grand Slam. He has reached a record 31 men's singles Grand Slam finals, including 10 in a row from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships to the 2007 US Open.
He also appeared in 18 of 19 finals from the 2005 Wimbledon through to the 2010 Australian Open. He reached the semifinals at 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open. At the 2020 Australian Open, he reached a record 56th Grand Slam quarterfinal and a record 46th Grand Slam semifinal. Earlier at the 2016 Australian Open, he played in a record 65th consecutive Grand Slam tournament. Also earlier at the 2013 French Open, Federer reached a record 36th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. Federer has won the most matches in Grand Slams (358) and is the first to record 65+ wins each at each Grand Slam tournament.
Federer's ATP tournament records include winning a record six ATP World Tour Finals, playing in the finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. He also won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot Stan Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and the Olympic silver medal in singles at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. By winning the Olympic silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Roger Federer achieved the Career Silver Slam and remains the only player in the Open Era to be seeded #1 for 3 consecutive Olympic Games. Representing Switzerland, he was a part of the 2014 winning Davis Cup team. He spent eight years (2003 - 2010) continuously in the top 2 in the year-end men's rankings and ten (2003 - 2012) in the top 3. He has been voted by his peers to receive the tour Sportsmanship Award a record thirteen times, and voted by fans to receive the ATP Fans' Favorite award for sixteen consecutive years. Federer has been named the Swiss Sports Personality of the Year a record seven times. He has been named ATP Player of the Year and ITF World Champion five times, and has won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award a record five times, including four consecutive awards from 2005 to 2008 and the most recent one in 2018. He is also the only individual to have won the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year award four times.
Federer was born at the Basel Cantonal Hospital in Basel, Switzerland. His father, Robert Federer, is Swiss, from Berneck, near the borders between Switzerland, Austria and Germany, and his mother, Lynette Federer (born Durand), from Kempton Park, Gauteng, is a South African whose ancestors were Dutch and French Huguenots. He holds both Swiss and South African citizenship. He grew up in nearby Birsfelden, Riehen and then Münchenstein, close to the French and German borders and speaks German, French and English fluently, Swiss German being his native language.
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 ruled "unsuitable" because of a long-standing back problem and was subsequently not required to fulfill his military obligation. Instead, he served in the civil protection force and was required to pay 3% of his taxable income as an alternative. He grew up supporting F.C. Basel and the Swiss National Football Team. Federer also credits the range of sports he played as a child - he also played badminton and basketball - for his hand-eye coordination.
Federer is married to former Women's Tennis Association player Mirka Vavrinec. He met her while both were competing for Switzerland in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Vavrinec retired from the tour in 2002 due to a foot injury. They were married at Wenkenhof Villa in Riehen near Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family. On 23 July 2009, Mirka gave birth to identical twin girls, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva. The Federers had another set of twins on the 6 May 2014, this time boys who they named Leo and Lenny.
Management
Federer was signed by IMG as a junior player in 1998. He quit the agency in early 2003, before he had any major championships, and handed his business matters to Roger Federer Management conformed by an attorney, a financial adviser and his mother, Lynette. Also Miroslava Vavrinec, for a period of time was put in charge of media relations and travel.
By 2012 when Tony Godsick left IMG Worldwide Inc. he began to exclusively represent Federer. He travels with him around the tour most of the time.
In 2003, he established the Roger Federer Foundation to help disadvantaged people and to promote sports. In 2005, he auctioned his racquet from his US Open championship to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF in 2006. At the 2005 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Federer arranged an exhibition involving several top players from the ATP tour and WTA tour called Rally for Relief. The proceeds from the event went to the victims of the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In December 2006 he visited Tamil Nadu, one of the areas in India most affected by the tsunami. He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF in April 2006 and has appeared in UNICEF public messages to raise public awareness of AIDS. In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, he arranged a collaboration with fellow top tennis players for a special charity event during the 2010 Australian Open called 'Hit for Haiti', in which proceeds went to Haiti earthquake victims. He participated in a follow-up charity exhibition during the 2010 Indian Wells Masters which raised $1 million. The Federer vs Nadal "Match for Africa" in 2010 in Zurich and Madrid raised more than $4 million for the Roger Federer Foundation and Fundación Rafa Nadal. In January 2011 Federer took part in an exhibition, Rally for Relief, to raise money for the victims of the Queensland floods. In 2014 the Match for Africa 2 between Federer and Stan Wawrinka, again in Zurich, raised £850,000 for education projects in southern Africa.
Junior years
They first played each other at an official event called The Bambino Cup in Arlesheim when both were eight. "Back then we only played one long set of up to nine games," Chiudinelli recollects. "Things weren't going well for me at the beginning. I was behind 2–5 and I started to cry. We cried a lot back then even during the matches. Roger came up to me and tried to comfort me when we switched sides. He told me everything would be alright, and in fact, things got better. I took the lead 7–6 and noticed that the tide had turned. Then he began to cry and I ran up to him and give him encouragement and things went better for him. It was the only time I could beat him.
When he was 10, Federer began weekly private coaching with Adolf Kacovsky - a tennis coach at The Old Boys Tennis Club. "I noticed right away that this guy was a natural talent," said Kacovsky. "He was born with a racquet in his hand." At first, Federer received lessons only while part of a group, although "the club and I quickly noticed he was enormously talented. We began giving him private lessons that were partly funded by the club. Roger was a quick learner. When you wanted to teach him something new, he was able to pick it up after three of four tries, while others in the group needed weeks."
A "star pupil", the Swiss youngster always wanted to become the best in the world. "People laughed at him, including me," recollects Kacovsky. "I thought that he would perhaps become the best player in Switzerland or Europe but not the best in the world. He had it in his head and he worked at it."
He played football until the age of twelve when he decided to focus solely on tennis. 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. In 1998, his final year as a junior, Federer won the junior Wimbledon title and was recognized as the ITF World Junior Tennis champion of the year. As well as winning the under 18's category at the prestigious Orange Bowl.
Junior Grand Slam results:
Australian Open: SF (1998)
French Open: 1R (1998)
Wimbledon: W (1998)
US Open: F (1998)
Early career
In July 1998, Federer joined the ATP tour at Gstaad, where he lost to Lucas Arnold Ker in straight sets. Although he played two more ATP tournaments in 1998, the majority of his matches were still at the Junior level. However Roger did face a top ten player for the first time, in Andre Agassi at Basel, losing 6-3, 6-2.
In April 1999, he debuted for the Swiss Davis Cup team against Italy and finished the year ranked World No. 66. During that time, he was the youngest player in the top 100. He also competed in his first Grand Slam tournament at the French Open, but lost to Patrick Rafter in the first round after a 4 set match. He also made his first appearance at Wimbledon, where he entered as a wildcard. After a 5 set match, he lost in the first round to Czech player, Jiří Novák, who was then ranked 59th. In the same tournament, Federer partnered Lleyton Hewitt in the Men's Doubles, where they managed to reach the Round of 16, losing to Pat Rafter and Jonas Björkman in another 5 set match. In January 2000, Federer competed for the first time in the Australian Open, losing to 49th ranked Arnaud Clément of France in the third round. He then equaled this achievement in his very first US Open, losing in the third round to 12th ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain. After reaching the semi-finals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Federer reached his first ATP final in Marseille, where he lost to compatriot Marc Rosset, and was also the runner-up in his home tournament at Basel. He did, however, win the Harry Hopman Cup in Australia along side Martina Hingis. Defeating the USA team in the final. Federer beat Jan-Michael Gambill in straight sets. Even though he failed to make an impression at Grand Slams, it was the first year he played in all four. Federer would then end the year ranked World No. 29.
Federer's first ATP tournament victory came in February 2001 where he defeated French player Julien Boutter in the final of the Milan Indoor. 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 quarter-finals at Wimbledon, as the No. 15th seed, defeating four-time defending champion and seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras 7–6(7), 5–7, 6–4, 6–7(2), 7–5 in the fourth round in an epic five-set match. This defeat ended Sampras' 31-match winning streak in the tournament. He also managed to reach the quarter-finals at the French Open. He finished the year ranked 13th.
Federer reached his first Masters Series final in 2002 at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where he lost to Andre Agassi. He won his next Masters final in Hamburg. He also won both his Davis Cup singles matches against former World No. 1 Russians Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He had early-round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open; Federer also suffered the devastating loss of his long-time Australian coach and mentor, Peter Carter, in a car crash in August. Federer reached No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race by the end of 2002. He jumped in the rankings from 13th at the end of September to 7th by the middle of October. This qualified him for the first time in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. However, his run at the tournament was ended in the semi-finals by then World No. 1 and eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt.
2003
In the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, Federer lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open to David Nalbandian. He then won two hard court tournaments in Marseille and Dubai before being upset in early round matches at the Masters Series tournaments in Indian Wells and Key Biscayne. On clay, Federer won the tournament in Munich, was the runner-up at the Masters Series tournament in Rome, and lost in the third round of the Masters Series tournament in Hamburg. Federer was seeded fifth at the French Open but lost to Luis Horna in the first round. Federer was undefeated on grass in 2003, winning both of the grass court tournaments he played. A victory against Nicolas Kiefer in the final of the tournament in Halle was followed by his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon. He defeated Andy Roddick in the semi-finals and Mark Philippoussis in the final and lost only one set during the tournament, to Mardy Fish in the third round. During the North American summer hard court season however, Federer lost to Roddick in the semi-finals of the Masters Series tournament in Montreal and to David Nalbandian in the second round of the Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati and the US Open. During the autumn, Federer played four consecutive indoor tournaments in Europe. He won the tournament in Vienna but failed to reach the finals of the tournament in his home tournament of Basel and the Masters Series tournaments in Madrid and Paris. To end the year, Federer won his first ever Tennis Masters Cup title in Houston. As the third-seeded player, he defeated Andre Agassi, Nalbandian, and Ferrero during the round robin competition before beating World No. 1 Andy Roddick in the semi-finals and Andre Agassi in the final. Federer challenged for the top ranking during 2003, finishing the year at World No. 2, just behind Roddick and just ahead of Juan Carlos Ferrero.
2004
Federer had one of the most dominating and successful years in the open era of modern men's tennis. He won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments, did not lose a match to anyone ranked in the top ten, won every final he reached, and was named the ITF Tennis World Champion. His win–loss record for the year was 74–6 with 11 titles, which included three of the year's four Grand Slams and three ATP Masters Series titles. He won his first Australian Open singles title by defeating Marat Safin in the final in straight sets. This win saw him supplant Roddick as the World No. 1, a ranking he would hold for four and a half years until 18 August 2008. In March, he won the Dubai Tennis Open, defeating Spanish player Feliciano López in the final. A week later, he would go on to claim the 2004 Pacific Life Open, defeating Tim Henman in straight sets to win the title. 2004 also marked the year where he first met rival Rafael Nadal, who defeated Federer in their first ever encounter at the tournament in Miami. Federer also won two titles in Germany, at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle and the Hamburg Masters, defeating World No. 4 ranked Guillermo Coria in the final to claim his second title at Hamburg and end Coria's longest winning streak of 31 consecutive matches on clay. He entered the French Open as the number 1 seed but was defeated in the third round by former three-time champion Gustavo Kuerten. He then successfully defended his Wimbledon singles title, defeating Roddick in the final, and won his first US Open singles title, defeating Lleyton Hewitt 6–0, 7–6(3), 6–0 in the final. Federer was the top-seeded player at the Athens Olympics but was upset in the second round by Czech Tomáš Berdych. He finished the year by taking the Tennis Masters Cup in Houston for the second consecutive year, defeating Hewitt in the final. Federer's only loss at a Grand Slam tournament during the year was during the third round of the French Open, where he lost to former World No. 1 and 3-time French Open champion Kuerten in straight sets.
2005
At the start of the year, Federer hired former Australian player Tony Roche to coach him on a limited basis. He reached the Australian Open semi-finals before falling to eventual winner Safin 5–7, 6–4, 5–7, 7–6(6), 9–7. He rebounded to win the year's first two ATP Masters Series titles: Indian Wells defeating Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in straight sets and Key Biscayne, defeating Nadal in five sets, 2–6, 6–7(4), 7–6(5), 6–3, 6–1 after being down two sets to love, and two points from defeat. He won his third Hamburg clay court title in May by defeating Richard Gasquet, to whom he had earlier lost in the quarter-finals of Monte Carlo. He then entered the French Open as one of the favorites, but lost a four set semi-final to then number 4 seed and eventual winner Nadal.
Federer successfully defended his Wimbledon title, winning for the third consecutive year by defeating Roddick in a rematch of the previous year's final, this time winning in straight sets. Federer also defeated Roddick in the final of the Cincinnati Masters to take his fourth Masters Series title of the year (and sweep all the North American Masters events) and became the first player to win four Masters Series titles in one season. He then dropped only two sets en route to his second consecutive US Open title, defeating Andre Agassi in four sets in the final. Federer became the first man in the open era to win Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back in consecutive years (2004 and 2005). Federer however, failed to defend his year end Masters Cup title, losing to David Nalbandian of Argentina in a four-and-a-half hour, five-set match. Had he won the match, Federer would have tied John McEnroe's 1984 record for the highest yearly winning percentage in the open era (82–3), as well as winning a streak of 25 consecutive finals.
2006
Federer won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments for the second time and ended the year ranked World No. 1, with his points being several thousand points greater than World No. 2 Nadal's total. Federer won the year's first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, by defeating Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in four sets. This was Federer's seventh consecutive victory in a Grand Slam final (2003 Wimbledon – 2006 Australian Open), a record to start a career, and second overall only to Pete Sampras's eight consecutive wins (1995 Wimbledon – 2000 Wimbledon).
He also successfully defended his Masters titles at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California and the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, and became the first player ever to win the Indian Wells-Key Biscayne double in consecutive years. Federer then started the clay-court season by reaching the final of the ATP Masters Series event at Monte Carlo losing in four sets to Nadal. He then reached the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome where he lost to Nadal, 6–7(0), 7–6(5), 6–4, 2–6, 7–6(5) in an epic five-set match that culminated in a decisive tiebreak. At the French Open, Federer found himself in final for the first time but lost to defending champion Nadal in four sets. Although the French Open title eluded him, Federer became one of only two 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 rival Nadal in four sets to win the championship, and his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title. He then started his North American tour and won his second Rogers Cup title in Toronto, defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the final. During the US Open, the year's last Grand Slam tournament, he defeated American Roddick in four sets for his third consecutive title at Flushing Meadows. During the open era, 2006 is the only year in which same man (Federer) and woman (Justine Henin) reached the finals of all four Grand Slams. At the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Federer defeated defending champion David Nalbandian in one of his three round robin matches and Nadal in the semi-finals. Federer then defeated American James Blake 6–0, 6–3, 6–4 in the finals to win his third Masters Cup title. Federer won 12 titles in 2006, which included 3 Grand Slam titles and 4 ATP Masters titles. During the year he 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 Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati. 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.
2007
Federer won his 3rd Australian Open and 10th Grand Slam singles title, defeating Fernando González of Chile in the final. He became the first man since Björn Borg in 1980 to win a Grand Slam singles tournament without losing a set. 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 the tournament for three consecutive years. The following week at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, 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 but lost once again, to second seed Nadal. Federer also lost in the third round of the Internazionali d'Italia in Rome to Filippo Volandri. This defeat meant he had gone four tournaments without a title, his longest stretch since becoming World No. 1. Federer rebounded back however, to defeat Nadal on clay for the first time, winning his fourth Hamburg Masters title, and ending Nadal's clay court streak of 81 consecutive matches. At the French Open, Federer reached the final for the second consecutive year but lost to Nadal for the second time in four sets. One day after the loss, Federer announced that he was withdrawing from his usual warm-up tournament in Halle, which he had won the last four years, citing 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 defeated Nadal in a five set final, and tied Björn Borg's open-era men's record of five consecutive Wimbledon titles.
During the hard court season in August, Federer won the Cincinnati Masters title for the second time, defeating James Blake in the final. The victory was Federer's 50th career singles title, his 14th ATP Masters Series title, and made him the winner of the 2007 US Open Series points race. At the US Open final, Federer defeated third seed Novak Djokovic to collect his 12th Grand Slam singles title, and 4th consecutive US Open title. 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 US Open singles title. He became the only player in history to win three grand slams within a year for three years (2004, 2006, 2007). Federer then finished the season at the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. Despite losing for the first time in the round robin group to Fernando González, Federer moved on to defeat rival Nadal in the semi-finals and David Ferrer in the tournament finals to win his 4th Tennis Masters Cup title. Federer finished the year as the World No. 1 player for the 4th consecutive time. Due to his performance on the court and off-court personality, in 2007, Time magazine named him as one of the 100 most important persons in the world. Rod Laver, one of the greatest player ever himself described him as follows: "One thing is for sure: he's the best player of his time and one of the most admirable champions on the planet. That's certainly something worth crowing over. The beauty is, Roger Federer won't.".
2008
Federer began the year by attempting to defend his title at the Australian Open. He lost, however, in the semi-finals to eventual champion Djokovic 7–5, 6–3, 7–6(5). This ended his record of ten consecutive Grand Slam finals, the most ever for a men's player. In March, Federer revealed that he had recently been diagnosed with mononucleosis and that he may have suffered from it as early as December 2007. Federer also had an illness related to food poisoning prior to the start of the Australian Open. He noted, however, that he was now "medically cleared to compete". Although Federer was seeded first and was the defending champion at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, he lost to Murray in the first round. On 10 March, Federer won his third exhibition match out of four against former World No. 1 Pete Sampras at Madison Square Garden in New York City 6–3, 6–7(4), 7–6(6).
Federer began the clay court season at the Estoril Open in Portugal. This was his first tournament with coach José Higueras and his first non-Master Series clay-court tournament since Gstaad in 2004. 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. Federer then played three Masters Series tournaments on clay. At the Masters Series Monte Carlo, Federer lost to three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the final in straight sets. Federer made 44 unforced errors, lost a 4–0 lead in the second set, and fell to 1–7 against Nadal on clay courts. At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia Federer lost in the quarter-finals to Radek Štěpánek. Federer was the defending champion at the Masters Series Hamburg but lost to Nadal in the final. At the French Open, Federer was defeated quickly by Nadal in the final 6–1, 6–3, 6–0. This was the fourth consecutive year that Federer and Nadal had played at the French Open, with Federer losing his third consecutive final to Nadal. Federer's record of 23–4 (2005–08) at the French Open is second only to Nadal's record of 28–0 during the same period.
Federer bounced back by winning the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany without dropping a set or a service game. This was the fifth time he had won this event. With this result, he tied Pete Sampras's record for most titles on grass in the open era with ten. At Wimbledon, Federer once again played World No. 2 Nadal in the final. A victory for Federer would have meant his sixth consecutive Wimbledon singles title, breaking Borg's modern era men’s record and equaling the all-time record held since 1886 by William Renshaw. Federer saved two championship points in the fourth set tiebreak but eventually lost the match 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(8), 9–7. The rain-delayed match ended in near darkness after 4 hours, 48 minutes of play, making it the longest (in terms of elapsed time) men's final in Wimbledon recorded history. It concluded 7 hours, 15 minutes after its scheduled start. The defeat also ended Federer's 65 match winning streak on grass. John McEnroe described the match as "The greatest match I've ever seen." After Nadal surpassed him as World No. 1 later in the year, Federer stated that his main goal would be to regain the Wimbledon title rather than the top spot.
Federer made early exits in his next two singles tournaments Masters Series Rogers Cup in Toronto, Canada and Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio. Federer was chosen to carry the national flag at the Beijing Olympics. At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Federer lost in the quarter-finals to James Blake for the first time in their nine matches. Federer however, finally won his first Olympic gold medal in the men's doubles when he and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka upset the World No. 1 doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States in the semi-finals and defeated Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson in the final, 6–3, 6–4, 6–7(4), 6–3. The following day, Federer lost his World No. 1 ranking to Nadal after a record 237 consecutive weeks. At the US Open, Federer reached the fourth round without dropping a set. He defeated third-seeded Novak Djokovic in a rematch of the 2007 US Open Final 6–3, 5–7, 7–5, 6–2 in the semi-finals and then defeated Andy Murray, who was playing in his first Grand Slam final 6–2, 7–5, 6–2 to win his fifth straight US Open title and 13th career grand slam title, leaving 1 him grand slam title from tying Pete Sampras's all time record of 14. This extended his US Open winning streak to 34 matches. Federer became the first player in tennis history to have five consecutive wins at both Wimbledon and the US Open. At the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid, Federer reached the semi-finals without losing a set. There he lost to Murray, 3–6, 6–3, 7–5. Meanwhile, he became the all-time leader in career prize money in men's tennis, earning over US$ 43.3 million at the end of the tournament and surpassing 14-time Grand Slam singles champion, Pete Sampras.
Federer won his 57th career title at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, beating David Nalbandian in the final. He became the only player in history to win the title three consecutive years. He reached the quarter-finals of his next event, the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris before withdrawing because of back pain. This was the first time in Federer's career of 763 matches that he had withdrawn from a tournament. This meant that 2008 was his first year since 2003 in which he did not win a Masters Series title. Federer entered the Tennis Masters Cup as the top-seeded player after Nadal withdrew from the tournament. He drew Simon, Murray, and Roddick in the Red Group. In his opening match, Federer lost to Simon but kept his hopes alive by defeating Roddick's replacement, Stepanek, in his second match. He lost his third match to Murray who won the match 4–6, 7–6(3), 7–5. Federer had received medical treatment for back and hip problems in the third set but lost after saving seven match points. However, Federer still ended the year ranked World No. 2.
2009
In preparation for the Australian Open, Federer played two exhibition tournaments and one official tournament. He lost to Murray in the semi-finals of the Capitala World Tennis exhibition in Abu Dhabi. He then lost in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 series tournament in Doha, Qatar to Murray 6–7(6), 6–2, 6–2. Federer won the AAMI Classic exhibition in Melbourne when he defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the final 6–1, 6–3. Federer defeated each of his first three opponents in straight sets at the Australian Open. In the fourth round, Federer rallied from two sets down to defeat Tomáš Berdych 4–6, 6–7(5), 6–4, 6–4, 6–2. Federer reached his record 19th consecutive Grand Slam semi-final by defeating eighth seeded Juan Martín del Potro in the quarter-finals 6–3, 6–0, 6–0 in only 80 minutes. In his 18th Grand Slam final, Federer was defeated by long-time rival Nadal in their first meeting on a hard court in a Grand Slam tournament. The match lasted over four hours with Nadal victorious in five sets. Federer broke down in tears during the trophy presentation and struggled to make his runner-up speech. Federer blamed the defeat on a lack of rhythm in his first serve. Federer withdrew from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships and from Switzerland's Davis Cup tie against the U.S. because of a back injury he sustained in late 2008. He stated it was "a precautionary measure" to make sure his back is "fully rehabilitated ... for the rest of the 2009 season". On 4 March, Federer's agent, Tony Godsick, announced that the Australian tennis coach Darren Cahill was working with Federer, on a trial basis, at Federer's training base in Dubai. One week later, Cahill opted out of the coaching position, citing the travel commitment needed. Federer played both of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series tournaments in the United States. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, Federer lost to Murray in the semi-finals 6–3, 4–6, 6–1. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, Federer defeated his first three opponents in straight sets after receiving a first round bye. In the semi-finals against Novak Djokovic, Federer lost 3–6, 6–2, 6–3, a match that included Federer's smashing of his racket in frustration after missing a forehand approach shot by hitting it into the net, the same shot that cost him the 2008 Wimbledon final.
After initially deciding not to participate, Federer accepted a last-minute wildcard entry at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, his first clay court event of the year. He lost to Stanislas Wawrinka for the first time in the third round 6–4, 7–5. In the semi-finals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, another ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series event on clay, Federer lost to Djokovic for the first time on clay 4–6, 6–3, 6–3. Federer received a first-round bye in the Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open, the last ATP World Tour Masters 1000 series event on clay for the year. He defeated Nadal 6–4, 6–4 in the final. This ended Nadal's 33-match winning streak on clay, and for the second time Federer prevented Nadal from becoming the first man to win all 3 Masters Series on clay in the same year. In the 2009 French Open, in a fourth round encounter, Federer had to come back from 2 sets to love down to defeat Tommy Haas, 6–7(4), 5–7, 6–4, 6–0, 6–2. He defeated Gaël Monfils in the quarter-finals 7–6(6), 6–2, 6–4, to reach his 20th consecutive Grand Slam semi-final. He reached his fourth straight final in Paris by outlasting del Potro 3–6, 7–6(2), 2–6, 6–1, 6–4. He won the French Open for the first time by beating Robin Söderling in the final 6–1, 7–6(1), 6–4. With this win, Federer equaled Pete Sampras's men's record of 14 Grand Slam titles and Ivan Lendl's record of 19 Grand Slam finals, and also became the sixth man in history to complete a Career Grand Slam. Owing to the overwhelming emotions and fatigue brought by the tournament, Federer withdrew from the Gerry Weber Open, his usual pre-Wimbledon tournament.
Federer became the highest seed for Wimbledon following defending champion Nadal's decision to withdraw from the tournament due to tendinitis. Federer defeated Yen-Hsun Lu in the first round 7–5, 6–3, 6–2. He moved safely into the third round with a 6–2, 6–2, 6–4 win over Guillermo García-López. In the third round Federer defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber 6–3, 6–2, 6–7(5), 6–1. Federer then booked a place in the quarter-finals by defeating Söderling 6–4, 7–6(5), 7–6(5). In the quarter-finals, Federer cruised through Ivo Karlović, 6–3, 7–5, 7–6(3) to extend his all-time record of consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals to 21. In the semi-finals, Federer defeated Tommy Haas 7–6(3), 7–5, 6–3 to reach his seventh consecutive Wimbledon final, an all-time record. With this win, he also reached his 20th Grand Slam final, surpassing the previous record of 19 set by Lendl. In a match that took 4 hours and 17 minutes to complete, he beat the American Roddick in the final in the latest chapter of their long, though lopsided rivalry, regaining the World No. 1 spot from Rafael Nadal. The final score was 5–7, 7–6(6), 7–6(5), 3–6, 16–14, and the 30 total games in the fifth set was a new Grand Slam record. The match was also the longest men's singles final (in terms of games played) in Grand Slam history with 77 games played, and the fifth set alone lasted 95 minutes. The match has been called an "instant classic" by ESPN, and received the highest TV ratings in the UK for any Wimbledon final since 2001. With the win, he also became the fourth man in the open era to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year following Nadal in 2008, Borg in 1978–1980, and Laver in 1969. He also joined Nadal as the only players to simultaneously hold Grand Slams on clay, grass and hard court (2008 US Open, 2009 French Open, 2009 Wimbledon).
Federer won his first match after a five-week break at the second round of the 2009 Rogers Cup against Frédéric Niemeyer, 7–6(3), 6–4, having received a first-round bye. He then defeated countryman Stanislas Wawrinka 6–3, 7–6(5), coming back from 0–3 down in the second set; in doing so, he made more history by contributing to the first occasion where the top 8 ranked men had all made the quarter-finals of a single tournament, joining the other seven players: Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roddick, Juan Martín del Potro, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Davydenko. However, in the quarter-finals, he lost to Tsonga 6–7(5), 6–1, 6–7(3), despite leading 5–1 in final set. Despite the relatively early exit in Montreal, Federer started off well at the 2009 Cincinnati Open, beating José Acasuso in the second round (after having another bye in the first round like the other top seeds) and David Ferrer in the third round. He then beat Lleyton Hewitt in the quarter-finals, followed by Murray in the semi-finals 6–2, 7–6(8) to reach the final, where he defeated Novak Djokovic 6–1 7–5. Federer began his US Open campaign well with a 6–1, 6–3, 7–5 victory over unseeded Devin Britton. He advanced to the third round with a second round 6–3, 7–5, 7–5 win over Simon Greul. His third-round match was against Hewitt, against whom he lost his first set of the tournament but eventually rallied to win 4–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4. After this match, Federer held a 16–7 lead over Hewitt, continuing a fourteen match winning streak against him. Federer next defeated Tommy Robredo 7–5, 6–2, 6–2 to book a quarter-final berth against Robin Söderling for the third Grand Slam in a row, which he won in four sets 6–0, 6–3, 6–7(6), 7–6(6) after saving a set point in the fourth set. Federer reached his 21st Grand Slam final by defeating number four seed Novak Djokovic for the third straight year. He triumphed 7–6(3), 7–5, 7–5, and in doing so reached match point by performing a between-the-legs passing shot, which he later described as "...the greatest shot I ever hit in my life." He lost to del Potro in the final, the score being 6–3, 6–7(5), 6–4, 6–7(4), 2–6. The loss broke Federer's streak of forty consecutive wins at the US Open. It also marked the first time Federer had lost in a Grand Slam final to an opponent other than Rafael Nadal.
Federer went to play in the Davis Cup tie with Italy, and in his first match on the red clay courts at Valletta Cambiaso Club, in Genoa, won in a match against Simone Bolelli with a score of 6–3, 6–4, 6–1. He sealed Switzerland's qualification for the World Group with a 6–3, 6–0, 6–4 victory over Potito Starace. Following the match, Federer was quoted as saying "I was able to play very well. I have to go on holiday badly. I have a problem with my leg, I have a problem with my arm — everything is hurting. And I've got to do some baby-sitting." He later withdrew from the 2009 Japan Open and the Shanghai ATP Masters 1000. At the Davidoff Swiss Indoors, Federer defeated Olivier Rochus, Andreas Seppi, Evgeny Korolev, and his childhood friend Marco Chiudinelli in straight sets, before losing in the finals to Novak Djokovic 4–6, 6–4, 2–6. Federer's next tournament was at the Paris Masters, where his 6 previous appearances had never extended past the quarterfinals. After a first round bye, Federer continued his Paris Open struggles with an early exit to second round opponent Julien Benneteau 3–6, 7–6(4), 6–4. Federer's final tournament of the year was the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals, starting the 22nd of November. He beat Fernando Verdasco 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 in the first of his Round Robin matches followed by a victory over Andy Murray 3–6, 6–3, 6–1 which secured him the Year-end Number 1 ranking for the fifth year. However, he lost to del Potro once more, but he won enough games to qualify for the semi-finals. In the semis he met Nikolay Davydenko, who beat Federer for the first time in their 13 encounters 6–2, 4–6, 7–5. This loss ended Roger Federer's 2009 tennis season. A year where he managed to accomplish three major goals: winning his first French Open title, breaking Pete Sampras's record of 14 Grand Slam wins and regaining the Number 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal.
2010
On Sunday, January 17, Federer created 2-hour hit-out session called the "Hit for Haiti" at the Rod Laver Arena the day before the Australian Open. He invited a number of top world players from the ATP and WTA tours to join him to raise money for relief efforts in Haiti. The players who participated included Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Lleyton Hewitt, and Samantha Stosur. A few days before the start of Indian Wells, Federer, Nadal, 14-time Grand Slam singles champion Pete Sampras, and 8-time Grand Slam singles champion Agassi participated in a doubles exhibition match called "Hit for Haiti 2" as a fundraiser for the relief efforts in Haiti. Also in February Federer made a trip to Ethiopia where his charity foundation works.
Federer started the year by playing in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, where he was defeated in the semifinals by eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko.
Federer won his 16th Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open. In the fourth round, Federer beat Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Federer trailed Davydenko by a set and 1–3 (15–40) in the second set but was able to win in four sets. Federer then defeated World No. 10 and 2008 Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals in straight sets. This marked the 23rd consecutive time that Federer had appeared in a semifinal of a Grand Slam tournament and the seventh consecutive year that Federer had made at least the semifinals at the Australian Open, breaking the previous record held by Ivan Lendl. In the final, Federer defeated fifth seeded Andy Murray in straight sets to claim his fourth Australian Open singles title. This win tied him for most Australian Open victories in the open era at four with Andre Agassi.
Federer withdrew from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships for the second consecutive year due to a lung infection.
Federer then appeared at the mandatory BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells for his first tournament since the Australian Open. Along with the 31 seeded players behind him, Federer received a first round bye in the main draw. However, in the third round, he was defeated by Marcos Baghdatis in a rematch of the 2006 Australian Open final after Federer failed to convert three match points.
The week after Indian Wells, Federer played in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Federer and the other 31 seeded players received first round byes. In the second round, Federer defeated Nicolás Lapentti before over 14,000 fans – a record breaking attendance for a second round match in the "Stadium" (the center courts of Miami). After beating Florent Serra, Federer lost to the eventual runner-up, Czech Tomáš Berdych, in three sets in the fourth round. Federer hit 62 unforced errors in that match.
Federer next appeared in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. In addition to singles, he teamed with Yves Allegro for the doubles competition as wildcards. The team lost in the quarterfinals to Sam Querrey and John Isner. Federer lost to World No. 40 Gulbis in the second round of the singles competition after receiving a first round bye. It was the first time since 2000 that Federer had lost his opening clay court match of the year. It was the first time since 2002 that he had lost before the quarterfinals at three consecutive events, and the first time since 2002 that he had lost his first match in Rome.
Federer then played the Estoril Open. In his only previous appearance in 2008, he won the title when Davydenko retired in the final. But he lost in the semifinals this year to Albert Montañés in straight sets, after which Federer said he was not worried by his current form, while his rival Nadal was extremely concerned by Federer's current state.
Federer continued at the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where he was the defending champion. He defeated his 2008 Olympic doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round. In the quarterfinals, he avenged his earlier loss to Gulbis. In the semifinals, he defeated David Ferrer in three sets. Federer then lost to Nadal in the final in straight sets, 4–6, 6–7.
In the third round of the French Open, Federer beat Julian Reister to register his 700th ATP-level match victory and 150th on clay. He followed this milestone by defeating Wawrinka in the fourth round. Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Robin Söderling, ending his 6-year streak of consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. Moreover, after the end of tournament, he lost the World No. 1 ranking to Nadal, leaving Federer at 285 weeks of being World No. 1. Sampras holds the record of 286 weeks.
He next played at the Gerry Weber Open, where he lost to Hewitt in the final in three sets. In doubles, Federer and Allegro lost in the first round to Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Next, Federer attempted to defend his title at the Wimbledon Championships. Since Wimbledon has a different formula for seedings based on grass court achievements, Federer was seeded first above World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. In the first round Federer won for the 200th occasion in Grand Slam matches as he came from 2 sets down to beat Alejandro Falla, who served for the match in the 4th set at 5–4 at that time, but the final score was 5–7, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6, 6–0. Federer beat Ilija Bozoljac in 4 sets. The score was 6–4, 6–7, 6–4, 7–6. He next faced Arnaud Clement and had a straight sets victory 6–2 6–4 6–2. At the fourth round, Federer defeated No.16 seed Jurgen Melzer 6–3, 6–2, 6–3. In the quarterfinals he faced Tomáš Berdych, and lost 4–6 6–3 1–6 4–6. With this defeat, Federer will be ranked No.3 at the end of Wimbledon which is his lowest ranking since November 10, 2003.
During Federer's summer break between Wimbledon and Canada he hired Pete Sampras' old coach Paul Annacone to revive his fortune to start with on a trial period. After beating Chela in his first match at the 2010 Rogers Cup Federer broke Andre Agassi's record for Master level wins as he won his 210th match. Federer then over came quarterfinal and semifinal challenges from Berdych and Djokovic respectively, winning the first set of both matches before dropping the second and having to fight hard to capture the decider. His triumph over Djokovic, the World No. 2, ensured he would reclaim that ranking regardless of the outcome of his final showdown with Murray, the defending champion. Federer lost in the final 7–5, 7–5. A week later, Federer played in the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio still seeded third behind Nadal and Djokovic but competing as World No. 2 for the first time since Wimbledon. He received a bye in the first round, and then got another break when Uzbekistani second-round opponent Denis Istomin was forced to retire in the first set, and then he advanced to the quarterfinals in a walkover when Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany pulled out of a third-round tie with the Swiss, citing a shoulder injury. He defeated frequent tour opponent and World No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko 6–4, 7–5, and advanced to the semifinals. He defeated Marcos Baghdatis 6–4, 6–3 and advanced to the finals. There he defeated Mardy Fish 6–7(5), 7–6(1), 6–4, and successfully defended the title. Federer began his quest for a sixth U.S. Open title with a easy win over Brian Dabul, the score was 6–1, 6–4, 6–2. Federer next beat Andreas Beck 6–3 6–4 6–3. In the third round, Federer defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu 6–4, 6–3, 6–3. In the round of 16, Federer faced Roland Garros semifinalist Jurgen Melzer and won 6–3, 7–6 (7–4), 6–3. Then, in the quarterfinals, he faced Robin Soderling, who had recently beaten him in the quarterfinals of the 2010 French Open, ending his streak of 6-year streak of consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. Federer defeated Soderling 6–4, 6–4, 7–5. He narrowly lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals 7–5, 1–6, 7–5, 2–6, 5–7, after failing to convert two match points in the final set (5–4, 40–15). As a result, Djokovic has risen to No.2 in the world and Federer fallen to No.3. By iust reaching the semifinals, Federer achieved his 20th match win in 2010 grand slams; this is the seventh consecutive year he has accomplished this feat, a record matched only by Ivan Lendl. In the semifinals.
Federer competed at the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai where he was seeded third and had a bye in the first round. Federer defeated John Isner and Andreas Seppi to advance to the quarter-finals where he defeated World No.5 Robin Soderling. He revenged his last US open lose against Djokovic 7–5, 6–4. However, in the final, Federer fell to Murray 3–6, 2–6. His next tournament was the IF Stockholm Tournament. He got a bye in the first round, defeated the American Taylor Dent in the next round 6–1, 6–2 and defeated fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka next 2–6, 6–3, 6–2. Up next, in the semi-final, was Ivan Ljubicic whom Federer beat in 2 sets, 7–6, 6–2. Federer won his 64th tour-level title, tying with Pete Sampras for fourth place on the Open Era titles list, as he beat Florian Mayer 6–4, 6–3 in the final to win his first Stockholm crown.
He next participated at the 2010 Davidoff Swiss Indoors as the top seed. He defeated Djokovic the final 6–4, 3–6, 6–1 to win a record fourth title at the event. This was his 65th career title placing him fourth in the all time list, surpassing Pete Sampras' record of 64 career titles. At the BNP Paribas Masters, Federer reached the semifinals for the first time, where he lost to Gaël Monfils 6–7(7), 7–6(1), 6–7(4) despite holding 5 match points.
At the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals Federer was placed in Group B along with Andy Murray, Robin Soderling and David Ferrer. He defeated Ferrer in his first round robin match 6–1, 6–4. He then defeated Murray 6–4, 6–2 and defeated Soderling in his final round robin match 7–6, 6–3. These straight-sets wins marked for the first time Federer completed the round robin stage without dropping a set. He was the winner of Group B and qualified for the semi-finals. In the semi-final he beat Novak Djokovic, 6–1, 6–4 to advance to his sixth year end championship final where he faced his long time rival Rafael Nadal. Federer retained his unbeaten record against Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals by defeating the number one seed 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 in the final. Federer now has five season-ending championships to his name, tying Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl for the most ever. Federer ended the year ranked World No. 2 and will next play Nadal in two charity matches, one in Zurich and one in Madrid. The proceeds will benefit his own foundation as well as Nadal's.
2011
Federer began the year ranked as the World number two according to the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings. Federer once again started his year with an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi. He beat Robin Soderling in his opening match before losing to Rafael Nadal in his second match. Federer then got his competitive season under way in Doha. In the first two rounds Federer beat two qualifiers. The first match was memorable as Federer pulled off another 'tweener'. In the quarter finals Federer defeated Viktor Troicki and Jo Wilfried Tsonga in the semi finals, both in straight sets. Federer went on to beat Nikolay Davydenko for his third title in Doha and the sixty-seventh of his career in straight sets.
At the Australian Open, Federer beat Lukáš Lacko in the first round 6-1, 6-1, 6-3. In the next round, he faced Gilles Simon. Federer won the first two sets easily, 6-2, 6-3, but Simon fought back to win the next two sets, 6-4, 6-4, before Federer came back to win the last set 6-3. Against Xavier Malisse in the third round, Federer set another record as he defeated the Belgium man in straight sets. Federer had past Stefan Edberg's record for the number of matches won at the Australian Open in the open era, as he won his fifty-seventh match.In the fourth round, Federer beat Tommy Robredo, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, to equal Jimmy Connors' record of 27 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals. He defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinal 6-1, 6-3, 6-3. In a repeat of 2008 Australian Open semifinals, Djokovic once again defeated Federer in a tight and exciting match, 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-4. Since loosing at the 2011 Australia Open, this is the first time since winning his first Grand Slam that Roger Federer is not currently holding a Grand Slam title.
Next, he participated in the Dubai Tennis Championships, a tournament he had been absent from for 2 years. In the first round, he beat Somdev Devvarman in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3. In the second, he beat Marcel Granollers, also in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, he beat Sergiy Stakhovsky and in the semifinals, beat Richard Gasquet, successfully reaching his 2nd final of the season without dropping a set. He was then beaten by in-form Novak Djokovic in straight sets, 6–3, 6–3.
Federer's next tournament was the Indian Wells Masters in California. He received a bye in the first round and defeated Igor Andreev in the second round 7-5, 7-6. In the third, he beat Juan Ignacio Chela, again in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. In the fourth round, he faced American wildcard Ryan Harrison; he won in striaght sets yet again 7-6, 6-3. In the quarter finals he won in two sets from his fellow countryman and occasional doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka, 6-3, 6-4. Special was that just hours after this match he played the doubles semi final with Wawrinka (and won). Federer also entered the Mens Doubles at Indian Wells, partnering with Stanislas Wawrinka. In the first round, they defeated the number 2 seed, Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi in straight sets 6-1, 6-2- an impressive start. In the second round, they faced the French pairing of Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet, beating them 6-3, 4-6, 12-10. Up next was Mark Knowles and Martin Mertinak, whom them defeated 6-1, 7-5. In the semi-finals, Federer and Wawrinka defeated Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez, the defending champions (7-5, 6-3). In the final, they lost to Alexandr Dolgopolov and Xavier Malisse in three tight sets.
Federer next participated in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. He received a bye in the first round and defeated Radek Stepanek in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3. In the third round, he faced Juan Monaco and won in two tight sets, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4. In the fourth round, Federer beat Olivier Rochus in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. He advanced to the semi-finals when Gilles Simon retired at 3-0 down. He went on to face Nadal, but lost in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
His next tournament was the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters. After a bye in the first round, he defeated German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-1. He then faced Marin Čilić, whom he defeated 6-4, 6-3. He was then defeated in the quarterfinals by Austrian Jürgen Melzer 4-6, 4-6.
After receiving a bye in the first round at the Madrid Masters, he faced Feliciano Lopez in the second round, narrowly winning in three tight sets 7-6(13), 6-7(1), 7-6(7). He then beat Xavier Malisse and Robin Soderling without dropping a set before losing to eventual runner-up Rafael Nadal 7-5, 1-6, 3-6.
Federer next played in the Rome Masters. He was seeded third behind Nadal and Djokovic, and faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round, defeating him in straight sets, 6–4, 6–2. He next faced Richard Gasquet but fell to the Frenchman after a deciding third-set tiebreak, 6–4, 6(2)–7, 6(4)–7.
Federer next played in the French Open at Roland Garros, where he opened against Feliciano López in the first round and won in straight sets, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(3). He followed up this win with another win in straight sets over wildcard Maxime Teixeira, 6–3, 6–0, 6–2. He then went on to face the 29th seed Janko Tipsarević, and dispatched him with a 6–1, 6–4, 6–3 tally. He then faced compatriot and 14th seed Stanislas Wawrinka, and defeated him in straight sets with a 6–3, 6–2, 7–5 victory to stay as one of the few players left in the tournament that have not dropped a set. He next faced ninth seed and home favorite Gaël Monfils, whom he defeated in straight sets with a tie-break in the third set, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6(3). Federer would face Djokovic in the semi-finals where he ended Djokovic's perfect 2011 undefeated record in 4 sets, 7–6(5), 6–3, 3–6, 7–6(5). Federer faced Nadal in the final for a 4th time, but lost to him in 4 sets, 5–7, 6(3)–7, 7–5, 1–6. Nadal's win meant he held onto the number 1 position.
Federer was scheduled to play in the 2011 Gerry Weber Open in Germany, but withdrew, citing a need to rest ahead of Wimbledon. Federer next entered Wimbledon as the third seed for the first time since the 2002 championships. He defeated Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round in straight sets after Kukushkin brought him to a first-set tiebreak. He then dispatched Adrian Mannarino and David Nalbandian in the second and third rounds, respectively, in straight sets. He then faced Mikhail Youzhny, whom he had an undefeated record against. After losing the first-set tiebreak on an unforced error, he held his own as he broke Youzhny down in the next three sets to take the match. Federer entered his 29th straight Grand Slam quarterfinal match with a positive record against his opponent, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He started strong in the first set, locking up the set in less than half-an hour, but Tsonga began to show life as the two went to a tiebreak in the second, which Federer won. Tsonga then began to work his way around Federer and broke him down, taking the next three sets by breaking Federer and holding serve. Despite a statistically stunning game (64 winners to just 11 unforced errors), Federer simply could not respond, and lost a close match in five sets, making this the first time this year that Federer did not make a Grand Slam semifinal. It was also the first time in 179 matches (and only the third time overall) that Federer lost a match after winning the first two sets.
Federer participated in the Davis Cup Portugal vs. Switzerland match-up in Bern, where he and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka teamed up to qualify Switzerland for the World Group Playoffs by sweeping Portugal, 5–0. Federer first played Rui Machado in a singles draw. After dropping the first set, he won the next three to bring Switzerland's score to 2–0. He then teamed up with Wawrinka, also his gold-medal winning doubles partner at the 2008 Summer Olympics, to defeat Frederico Gil and Leonardo Tavares in straight sets, sealing a victory for Switzerland. His final match was scheduled to be a dead rubber against Frederico Gil, but the schedule was changed so that he would not have to play.
Federer then participated in the Rogers Cup in Montreal, where he finished as runner-up last year to Andy Murray. He moved through to the third round after defeating wildcard Vasek Pospisil 7–5, 6–3. In the third round, he lost his second consecutive match to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who had defeated him in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon Championships. Federer battled with Tsonga in the first set to a tiebreak, which Tsonga won by a 3–7 count. He then recovered by winning the second set 6–4 and levelling the match one-set all, but Tsonga broke him down quickly in the third set, 6–1, to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals. He now holds a slim 4–3 head-to-head count against Tsonga after losing their last two meetings. His early exit from the tournament left Novak Djokovic, the eventual champion, as the sole "Big Four" player left in the main draw, as Murray and Nadal were both upset in the second round by unseeded players.
Federer next participated in the Cincinnati Masters as the defending champion, winning the title last year over Mardy Fish. In the second round, he faces Juan Martín Del Potro, a player who won his last two meetings against Federer at the 2009 US Open final and the 2009 ATP World Tour Finals. Federer defeated Del Potro 6–3, 7–5 in a highly anticipated match. He then defeated James Blake, who had defeated him in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Summer Olympics in the next round, 6–4, 6–1. He faced Tomas Berdych, who had defeated him in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships and had won two out of their last three meetings, in the quarterfinals. After a shaky start and a plethora of unforced errors, Federer succumbed to Berdych, 2–6, 6–7, losing the chance to defend his title.
Federer next participated in the 2011 US Open, where he finished last year as a semifinalist after a momentous loss to Djokovic. He started off in the first round with a solid 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 win against Santiago Giraldo, and breezed past Dudi Sela in straight sets, 6–3, 6–2, 6–2. He next faced 27th-seeded Marin Čilić, his first major challenge in the tournament. After winning the first set and dropping the second after Čilić took a break in the otherwise tight set, Federer cruised through the remainder of the match and defeated Čilić with a 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 tally. He cruised past Argentina's Juan Mónaco in a late night match in straight sets, dropping only three games during his 6–1, 6–2, 6–0 victory. He was set up to meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, whom he has a 1–2 record against this season and who defeated him in a close five-set quarterfinals match at Wimbledon in their last Grand Slam meeting, in a highly anticipated quarterfinal match after Tsonga defeated American Mardy Fish in the fourth round. Federer went through the first two sets rather smoothly and held a resurgent Tsonga at bay in the third, defeating him in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3. In defeating Tsonga, he prevented a repeat of his Wimbledon loss from two sets to love and avenged his losses to Tsonga at Wimbledon and at Toronto. He played Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in a rematch of their Roland Garros semifinal match, where Federer snapped Djokovic's 43-match winning streak and perfect season start. It was also rematch of their previous year's US Open semifinal match, where Djokovic upset Federer in five sets and ensured that Federer would not win a second major in 2010. Federer started strong, winning the first two very close sets in dramatic fashion, but began to show small cracks in his game and lost the next two sets. Both players traded excellent points and service games in those sets. In the deciding set, both Federer and Djokovic held serve until Federer managed to break Djokovic and go up 5–3. He had two match points in his service game, but, in an unfortunate repeat of last year's US Open match, where he gained two match points but lost the match, he failed to convert on those match points. As a result, Djokovic was able to gain momentum and won four games in a row to defeat Federer in a very close match. Federer recorded his fourth season loss to Djokovic with a 7–6, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6, 5–7 tally, losing yet another opportunity to win his first major since the 2010 Australian Open. His loss to Djokovic also marked the second time this season and in his career that he lost a match after winning the first two sets, an inauspicious amalgam of his previous losses to Djokovic at last year's US Open and to Tsonga in this year's Wimbledon.
Federer lead the Swiss team and play in the World Group Play-offs Australia vs. Switzerland match-up in Sydney. Switzerland enters the match-up with an 0–4 win-loss record versus the Australians. Federer played Lleyton Hewitt in the second rubber, following Stanislas Wawrinka's surprising loss to Bernard Tomic. Federer dropped the first set after Hewitt capitalized on the only break of serve in the set, but Federer regained momentum after winning a second set tiebreak and finished the match strong, winning with a 5–7, 7–6, 6–2, 6–3 tally and levelling the match-up score at 1–1. In the doubles rubber, Federer and Wawrinka faced off against Hewitt and Chris Guccione and started off strong with a first set win, but in a surprise upset, Hewitt and Guccione ran away with the match, gaining momentum after winning the second set on a contested break point that was won by the Australians earlier in the set. Federer dropped to 11–6 in Davis Cup doubles with the 6–2, 4–6, 2–6, 6–7 loss to Hewitt and Guccione. Federer played Bernard Tomic in the fourth rubber, which might have decided the match-up in favor of the Australians. Federer jumped out to a two-set lead after a closely fought second set, but Tomic took the third set to extend the match to four sets. Federer eventually prevailed, winning with a score of 6–2, 7–5, 3–6, 6–3 and levelling the match-up at 2–2. The deciding rubber between Wawrinka and Hewitt played to five sets and over four hours, decided the matchup in favor of the Swiss, and Switzerland advance to the 2012 Davis Cup World Group.
Federer pulled out of the 2011 Shanghai Masters, citing nagging injuries. As a result, he lost 600 ranking points, which indirectly contributed to his drop from world no. 3 to no. 4. This marked the first time that he was outside of the top 3 since the 2003 Wimbledon Championships.
Federer's next tournament was the Swiss Indoors Basel, which opened nearly one and a half months after his last major tournament at the Davis Cup and two months after his last ATP tournament, the US Open. As the defending champion and the world no. 4, Federer was seeded third behind Djokovic and Murray, and faced Italian Potito Starace. After a shaky start, he dispatched Starace in straight sets, 7–6, 6–4. He then faced Jarkko Nieminen, who was fresh off a victory over Thomaz Bellucci. Federer blew through the first set, but a few mistakes in the second allowed Nieminen to take the set, bringing it to a tiebreak set. Federer eventually closed the match out with a 6–1, 4–6, 6–3 tally. He then played against Andy Roddick, whom he has a prolific rivalry with, and routed him quickly in a 6–3, 6–2 win. In the semifinals, he met compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka for the fourth time in the season. Wawrinka brought Federer to a first-set tiebreak, but Federer won the tiebreak and then took the second set to win the match, 7–6, 6–2. Federer played Kei Nishikori in his eighth Basel final, after Nishikori upset the no. 1 seed in the tournament, Djokovic, in the semifinals. Federer pulled a quick victory over Nishikori, with a score of 6–1, 6–3, to claim his second consecutive title, his fifth title at Basel, and his second title of the year.
After Basel, Federer won the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris for the first time in his career. He opened up against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino and finished the match in under an hour, winning with a score of 6–2, 6–3. He next played against Frenchman Richard Gasquet, whom he played last in the Rome Masters, and made short work of him as well, winning with a score of 6–2, 6–4. Federer faced Juan Mónaco, whom he had last met at the US Open, in the quarterfinals. After a tight second set, he sealed the match with an ace with a 6–3, 7–5 tally, and won his 800th career match. He next faced Tomáš Berdych in the semifinals, and avenged his loss in Cincinnati with a 6–4, 6–3 win in 80 minutes. His win over Berdych made him the first man in the Open Era to reach the final of each of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments. He recorded a straight sets win in 86 minutes over the hometown favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6–1, 7–6 in the final to hoist his first Paris Masters 1000 trophy. It was his fourth season win over Tsonga, his third title of the year and his second title in two weeks. With his straight sets win, he became the fourth person in history to finish the Paris Masters without dropping a set.
Federer ended the season by participating in the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals. He was the fourth player to qualify to the Finals this year, and has qualified for the tenth time. He was drawn into Group B, which included Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, debutant Mardy Fish, and arch-rival Rafael Nadal. In his opening round robin match against Tsonga, Federer opened the match with a quick first set. Tsonga came back to life in the second set and evened things out by winning the second set, forcing a deciding set. Federer, who had never won a deciding third set against Tsonga, found a break opportunity at 5–4 and converted it to win his seventh season match against Tsonga with a 6–2, 2–6, 6–4 score. In his next match against Nadal, Federer won 10 of the last 11 games in the match to rout him 6–3, 6–0, in exactly one hour, securing his spot in the semifinals in his 26th meeting with Nadal. Federer added a win to his rivalry against Nadal, bringing his win-loss record against Nadal to 9–17 and his indoor record against Nadal to 4–0. In his final round robin match, Federer played Fish for the first time in the season. He defeated Fish after dropping the second set, winning with a final score of 6–1, 3–6, 6–3. Federer faced the runner-up from Group B, David Ferrer, and defeated him soundly in a straight sets win, 7–5, 6–3. Federer advanced to his 100th career final with his win over Ferrer. In the final, he played Tsonga for the eighth time this season in their second consecutive final. After skating past Tsonga with a break in the first set, he was unable to serve out the match at 5–4 in the second, giving up a break to Tsonga. He then held match point at 6–5, but Tsonga saved it with a forehand winner and brought the match to a tiebreak. Federer held a slight lead at 6–5 in the tiebreak, but ended up dropping the set due to backhand errors. Federer then rebounded by picked up a break in the deciding set and wrapped up the match with a 6–3, 6–7, 6–3 tally, claiming his 70th career title and a record 6th ATP World Tour Finals title. He finishes the season with a 17-match win streak, which includes three titles won in a matter of four weeks.
Federer began his ATP World Tour season at the Qatar Open, where he was defending his title. After straight set victories over 2011 finalist Nikolay Davydenko and qualifier Grega Žemlja, Federer won a hard fought, error-prone match over eighth-seeded Andreas Seppi. Federer was scheduled to play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a rematch of the previous year's semifinal, but was forced to withdraw due to a back spasm problem. This marked only the second time in Federer's career (after the 2008 Paris Masters) that he withdrew from a tournament because of injury.
Federer next traveled to Melbourne for the first Grand Slam of the season, the Australian Open. The Swiss advanced through the first four rounds without the loss of a set, starting his campaign by defeating qualifier Alexander Kudryavtsev, receiving a walkover into the third round when Andreas Beck withdrew with a lower back injury prior to their second round match, and beating Ivo Karlović to improve to a 10–1 head-to-head record against the Croat. Federer then faced Australian teenager Bernard Tomic and downed him in less than two hours to extend his record streak of Grand Slam quarterfinals consecutive appearances to 31. In the quarterfinals, Federer faced world no. 11 Juan Martín del Potro in his 1000th career match. It was their first meeting in a major tournament since Del Potro defeated Federer in five sets in the 2009 US Open men's final. As the tight match slowly progressed, Federer took control and flew by del Potro in straight sets. With his win, Federer becomes the first player at age 30 and over to reach the Australian Open semifinals since Andre Agassi, and extends his match winning streak (started in September 2011) to 24 consecutive victories. Federer played world no. 2 and archrival Rafael Nadal in the semifinals. He opened up the match by winning the first set, but ultimately lost momentum and dropped the next three sets after a failed attempt to get back in the match by taking the third set, committing 63 unforced errors. Federer's loss to Nadal saw his winning streak of 24 consecutive matches end and his record against Nadal slip to 9–18.
Federer returned to Switzerland to represent his country for their first round Davis Cup meeting with the United States. He played his first rubber at Fribourg against John Isner after Mardy Fish had beaten his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in the first rubber. After taking the first set, Federer struggled to capitalize on break points and lost the next three sets to Isner, giving the Americans a 2–0 advantage. He next played with Wawrinka in the doubles rubber against top doubles player Mike Bryan and Fish. Federer and Wawrinka won a tight first set, but were run over by Bryan and Fish in the next three sets, losing the rubber and the match-up. The Americans advance to the quarterfinals, while Switzerland is relegated to the World Group Play-offs. Federer was scheduled to play Mardy Fish in the first of the reverse singles rubbers, but Federer and Fish were taken off the schedule, as the Americans had already won the match-up.
Federer went to the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam for the first time since he won in 2005. He faced Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the first round and defeated him in straight sets. He then received a walkover against Mikhail Youzhny, and then defeated Jarkko Nieminen in the quarterfinals in two tight sets. In the semifinals, Federer dropped his opening set to an agressive Nikolay Davydenko, but rallied to win the match in three sets. He beat Juan Martín del Potro in the final 6-1 6-4 to clinch his second title in Rotterdam.
Federer next played in the Dubai Tennis Championships. He played Frenchman Michaël Llodra in the first round, and defeated him in straight sets after a tight second set went to a tiebreak. He then faced Feliciano López and, after a slow start, defeated him in straight sets. He next played Mikhail Youzhny, and flew to a straight sets victory after dropping only fourteen points on serve. In the semifinals, he defeated Juan Martín del Potro in two tight tiebreaks. He beat Andy Murray in the final to clinch his fifth title in Dubai, his second consecutive title, and his second title of the year. He also finished the tournament without dropping a set.
Immediately following his win at Dubai, Federer began his trip to the United States with an appearance at the BNP Paribas Showdown, playing an exhibition match against Andy Roddick. After two very tight sets, Federer was defeated by Roddick in the second-set tiebreak.
Immediately following his win at Dubai, Federer began his trip to the United States with an appearance at the BNP Paribas Showdown, playing an exhibition match against Andy Roddick. After two very tight sets, Federer was defeated by Roddick in the second-set tiebreak.
Federer next played at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Federer had come down with flu-like symptoms prior to his opening match due to a virus that had spread around the players at the beginning of the tournament. After receiving a bye into the second round, he faced American qualifier Denis Kudla, and dispatched him in straight sets. He next faced young up-and-coming Canadian Milos Raonic. Raonic grabbed a tight first set after winning the set tiebreaker, but Federer came back strong with two break points in the second set to level the match. Federer found a break point late in the third set, and held to secure a close three-set win over Raonic. Still recovering from his illness, Federer played Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci, who had received a walkover from the third round, the next day. Bellucci took advantage of a shaky Federer to win the first set, but Federer found his rhythm and fought back to win the next two sets and the match with two crucial break points, one of which was also match point. Federer then played Juan Martín del Potro for the fourth time in the season in the quarterfinals. After winning three break points throughout the match, Federer defeated del Potro in 69 minutes, earning his 250th career Masters 1000 win. He then faced archrival Rafael Nadal, whom he had last played in his loss in the Australian Open semifinals. Rain delays kept the two rivals off the court for a few hours, but when they began playing, Federer got off to a fast start, securing two break points to win the set with ease. He then capitalized on two more break points to give himself a big lead. After fending off a late comeback by Nadal and waiting out a short rain delay after drawing match point, Federer sealed the match with an ace, recording his tenth career win over Nadal. In the final, Federer met American John Isner, who had beaten him in their last meeting in the Davis Cup, and defeated him in straight sets, clinching a record-tying 19th Masters 1000 title.
Federer next played at the Sony Ericsson Open. Federer opened in the second round against wildcard American Ryan Harrison after taking a bye in the first round. Federer controlled much of the match and avoided a late comeback by Harrison to win in straight sets after a second set tiebreak. He next played perennial rival Andy Roddick in the third round. Federer dropped the first set tiebreak, but came back strong with three break points in the second set. The third set saw Roddick save four break points in the second game and pull momentum from Federer, who gave up a break in the next game. Federer's serve faltered, and Roddick held his next four service games to win the match and defeat Federer for only the third time in his career, the first time since he last defeated Federer at the 2008 Miami Masters. This loss ended Federer's 16-match winning streak.
Federer will next open his clay court season with the Mutua Madrid Open. He received a bye to the second round, where he faced Milos Raonic. After dropping the first set, Federer saved seven break points in the next two sets to hold off Raonic and win the match in the third-set tiebreak. Federer then played Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the third round, and flew to a win in less than an hour, winning in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Federer defeated Spaniard David Ferrer in straight sets, losing only six points on his serve, and extended his undefeated record against Ferrer. He defeated Janko Tipsarević in the semifinals in straight sets in just over an hour, and also extended an undefeated record against him. In clinching a spot in the final, Federer broke Ivan Lendl's record for the most combined Championship Masters Series finals, which includes his finals appearances at Masters 1000 events, and stands alone at thirty-two finals reached. In his 104th career final, he defeated Tomáš Berdych in three sets after dropping the first set. With his win, he regained the World No. 2 ranking from Spaniard Rafael Nadal. He also won his third Madrid Masters title and tied Nadal's record of 20 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles.
Federer next plays at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. He received a bye into the second round where he met and comfortably beat Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in straight sets. In the third round, he played 2001 champion Juan Carlos Ferrero and defeated him in three sets after Ferrero had won the second set by converting a break. Federer then faced hometown favorite Andreas Seppi in the quarterfinals, but defeated him by a comfortable margin, dropping only three games en route to a straight sets win. Federer next lost to first-seeded Novak Djokovic in the semifinal in straight sets, after failing to gain enough momentum to overcome Djokovic in the second-set tiebreak. As Nadal ultimately won the tournament, Federer dropped back down to the world no. 3 ranking.
Federer will end his clay court season with the French Open in Paris, his 50th career major championship. He played German Tobias Kamke in the first round, and won in straight sets. With his win, Federer recorded his 50th match win at the French Open and tied Jimmy Connors' record for most career Grand Slam match wins at 233 wins. He next played Adrian Ungur of Belgium, and defeated him in four sets after dropping a third-set tiebreak on a backhand error. With this win, Federer broke Connors' record for the most career Grand Slam match wins, earning his 234th win. He next played against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, who took the second set from Federer before Federer rallied to win the match in four sets. Federer then faced David Goffin, who made his Grand Slam debut as a lucky loser, the seventh to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam. After dropping the first set due to unforced errors, Federer fought back and won the next three sets to reach his thirty-second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. He next faced Juan Martín del Potro for the fifth time in the season. After del Potro broke Federer in the first set and won a set tiebreak to take a two set lead, Federer capitalized on a waning del Potro to win the next three sets and take the match in three hours and fourteen minutes. Federer advanced to his thirty-first Grand Slam semifinal with his seventh career win from two sets down and his third at the French Open. He next played first-seeded Novak Djokovic. In a match with constant breaks of serve, Federer lost in straight sets due to inconsistent play and copious errors, which included failing to convert on an early second-set lead.
Federer began his 2012 grass court season at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, where he is a five-time champion and was the second seed. He received a bye in the first round, and defeated Florian Mayer in the second round, firing 11 aces to kick-start his grass court season with a straight sets win. Federer then played Canadian Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals, and, after losing a first set tiebreak, won in a third set tiebreak to secure three consecutive wins against Raonic. In the semifinals, he cruised past Mikhail Youzhny, dropping only five games en route to a win in one hour. However, Federer succumbed in the final to an inspired Tommy Haas in straight sets due to untimely errors.
Federer finished his grass court season at the Wimbledon Championships, where he is the third seed and a six-time champion. He is bidding to equal Pete Sampras' record of seven Wimbledon titles won. Federer faced Spaniard Albert Ramos in the first round, and swept past him in less than an hour and a half, dropping only three games en route to his straight sets victory. He next played Italian Fabio Fognini, and dispatched him in similar fashion, winning in straight sets after losing only six games. The match was attended by The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, both of whom met Federer following his win. In the third round, Federer faced Frenchman Julien Benneteau, whom he had lost to in their last encounter at the 2009 Paris Masters. He found himself down two sets to love after Benneteau's brilliant play won a break point in the first set and a tiebreak in the second set. However, Federer steeled himself and won the third set in less than half an hour. He then held off a comeback by Benneteau in a fourth-set tiebreak to level the match at two sets all. Federer broke Benneteau in the fifth set and held his lead to close the match out in three and a half hours. Federer's win over Benneteau marked the second time in the season and the eighth time in Federer's career that he came back from two sets down to win the match. Federer played Belgian Xavier Malisse in the fourth round, and recorded his 850th match win over four sets. Federer was down a break in the first set but broke Malisse back to force a tiebreak, which he won handily. After dropping only one game en route to winning the second set. Federer found his serve broken in the third set, which allowed Malisse to take a set off of Federer. Federer then broke Malisse in the middle of the fourth set to secure the lead, which he held to win the match in just over two hours. He faced Mikhail Youzhny, whom he has an undefeated record against, in the quarterfinals. In a match attended by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Rod Laver, and Andre Agassi and his wife Steffi Graf, Federer steamrollered over Youzhny in just over one and a half hours, dropping only five games in his victory. He played Novak Djokovic in the semifinal for the second consecutive Grand Slam, and managed to hold a break in the middle of the first set to jump out to a one set lead. Djokovic struck back with a break in the opening game of the second set, and held the lead to even out the game. In the third set, after Federer and Djokovic traded mistakes and missed opportunities, Federer found two set points, and converted his second to take a two sets to one lead. Federer made a strong start to the fourth set, winning the first three games and serving with great accuracy. He ultimately clinched the match in one of his service games, winning in two hours and twenty minutes. In his record eighth final appearance at the All-England Club, Federer won in four sets against hometown favorite Andy Murray, securing his seventh Wimbledon title and tying William Renshaw's and Pete Sampras' record of most Wimbledon titles won. Federer fought back from a one set love deficit, created by Murray when he closed up the set after breaking Federer's serve late in the set. Federer and Murray both held serve in the second set until Federer converted a set point in the final game of the set by breaking Murray's serve. After the players started the third set, play was suspended after a rain delay forced the Centre Court roof to be closed. After play resumed, Federer dominated play, winning a crucial break point in a game that stretched out for 20 minutes and saw 26 points played. Federer held the break to win the set and take the lead. The fourth set also saw Federer outserve Murray and win the only break point of the set to eventually win the match after three hours and fourteen minutes. Federer was the oldest finalist since Jimmy Connors in 1984 and the oldest winner since Arthur Ashe in 1975. With his win, Federer also extended his record of most Grand Slams won to seventeen and regained the World No. 1 ranking, which he last held two years ago. Federer's return to World No. 1 also sees him tying Pete Sampras' record of 286 weeks as World No. 1.
Federer next played at the 2012 Summer Olympics, representing Switzerland in the men's singles and doubles tennis tournaments.
In the singles tournament, Federer first played Colombian Alejandro Falla, who took him to five sets at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships. Federer took the first set with ease, but lost a few match points and his serve late in the second set, allowing Falla to make a comeback and level the match at one set all. Federer regained control over the match, however, and closed out the third set to advance to the second round. Federer then played Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who had also taken him to five sets at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships just over a month ago. Contrary to their previous matchup, Federer faced no challenge from Benneteau, and flew past him to a straight-sets win in less than an hour. Federer next played Uzbek Denis Istomin in the third round, and clinched a tight first set after a short rain delay. He then took command in the second set and defeated Istomin. In the quarterfinals, Federer faced American John Isner, and secured the first set after a break of Isner's serve allowed him to serve for the set. Federer then battled with Isner to reach a tiebreak in the second-set, which ended when a return of Isner's serve clipped the top of the net and dribbled over to win the match. In the semifinals, Federer faced Juan Martín del Potro for the sixth time this season. He found himself in a one-set deficit after del Potro broke him in the middle of the first set and held to win the set. Federer, however, fought back in the second set, and after losing two opportunities to serve for the set, won the tiebreak with an ace on his second set point. Federer and del Potro then began a third set which saw del Potro creating a one-game lead and Federer matching it in his service games. Federer managed to break del Potro after twenty games, but was unable to convert the break, and del Potro broke back to continue the pattern. Eventually, Federer engineered another break at seventeen games all, and held serve to win the match on his second match point. The match, which stretched over four hours and twenty-six minutes, broke the record for the longest best-of-three-sets system match in the Open Era, surpassing the 4 hours and 3 minutes in Rafael Nadal’s victory over Novak Djokovic in the 2009 Madrid Masters. Federer, who secured his first Olympic medal and Switzerland's first medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics with his semifinal win, played Briton Andy Murray in the final. Federer was unable to find a way to control the match, and saw his serve broken five times en route to a loss in straight sets, which resulted in earning him a silver medal. Federer’s finals finish, along with World No. 2 Novak Djokovic's semifinals finish, guaranteed that he would retain his World No. 1 ranking.
In the doubles tournament, Federer teamed up with Stanislas Wawrinka to defend their gold medal from the 2008 Summer Olympics. They first faced the Japanese duo of Kei Nishikori and Go Soeda, and dropped the first set tiebreak to them. However, Federer and Wawrinka rallied to win the next two sets and the match, successfully beginning their medal defense. The pair next played Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel, and grabbed a one-set lead after winning the first set in less than half an hour. However, they were edged by Erlich and Ram in the second-set tiebreak, and fared poorly in the third set, giving up a break of serve which ultimately lost them the match.
Federer was scheduled to open this season's US Open Series by participating in the Rogers Cup in Toronto, but he withdrew from the tournament, citing a need for rest.
Federer opened his US Open Series at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where he finished in the quarterfinals last year. Federer first faced Alex Bogomolov, Jr. of Russia, and found little trouble in his first match, dropping only five games en route to a win in one hour. In the third round Federer faced Australian Bernard Tomic, defeating the 19-year-old while only dropping six games. Federer next faced American Mardy Fish in a rematch of the 2010 Cincinnati final. His quarterfinal against Fish was a high quality match with Federer closing it out in a second set tiebreaker. His semifinal match was an all Swiss affair as he faced friend and doubles partner Stan Wawrinka. Wawrinka pressed Federer to a tiebreaker but ultimately succumbed to the world number 1 in straight sets. With his victory over Wawrinka, Federer secured the number ranking going into the US Open. He faced world number 2 Novak Djokovic in the final, and started the match strong, winning six straight games to open with a one-set lead in 20 minutes. He then played a tight second set with Djokovic, and won the set and the match in a tiebreaker. With his win, Federer won his record fifth title at Cincinnati without losing a serve or dropping a set for the entire tournament.
Federer next played at the US Open in Flushing Meadows, where he finished in the semifinals last year. Federer faced American Donald Young in the first round and defeated him in straight sets in just over an hour and a half. He next faced German Björn Phau, and faced little resistance, breaking Phau five times en route to a straight-sets victory in exactly an hour and a half. Federer then played Fernando Verdasco of Spain, and won again in straight sets, winning in just over two hours. He was scheduled to play American Mardy Fish in the fourth round, but Fish withdrew, citing health concerns. Federer played Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinal, and dropped the first two sets before regaining some momentum and winning the third set. However, Berdych forced a break of Federer's serve, and served out the match, handing Federer his first loss in eight matches. Federer's loss also ended his eight consecutive semifinal appearances at the US Open since 2004.
Federer represented Switzerland in the World Group Play-offs against the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Federer played Thiemo de Bakker in his first singles rubber, and he won the match in straight sets, giving Switzerland its first point. After compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka secured a four-set victory over Robin Haase in the second singles rubber, Federer and Wawrinka teamed up to play the doubles rubber against Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer. Because of strong play by Haase and Rojer, Federer and Wawrinka found themselves in a two-set to love deficit, but they fought to win the third set. However, Haase and Rojer continued to break the Swiss pair's serves and won an upset in four sets, preventing Switzerland from clinching the match-up on the second day of play. Federer then played Haase in the first of the reverse singles rubbers, and found little trouble in winning the match in straight sets, fending off various opportunities for Haase to break his serve. Federer's win clinched the match-up, which meant that Switzerland would play in the World Group in 2013.
Federer's first post-US Open tournament is the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Federer received a bye into the second round, where he played Lu Yen-hsun and won the match in straight sets after securing one break point in each set. In the third round, Federer faced off against compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka. He dropped the first set to Wawrinka, but won a crucial second-set tiebreak and finished the match by winning six straight games in the third set. Federer's win over Wawrinka guaranteed him the world No. 1 ranking for a 300th week. Federer's next match in the quarterfinals, against Marin Čilić, saw him taking control of the match from the start, winning in straight sets in just over eighty minutes. Federer next played Andy Murray in the semifinals, but a few anomalies in his service gave breaks of serve to Murray in the first and second sets, resulting in a straight sets loss.
Federer's next tournament was the 2012 Swiss Indoors, where he was seeded first and was a two-time defending champion. He played Benjamin Becker in the first round, and won in straight sets after overcoming Becker in a tight first set. He then faced Thomaz Bellucci in the second round, and won the first set before dropping a tight second set tiebreak. He then fought off a comeback by Bellucci, and won the match with a break of Bellucci's serve in just over two hours. Federer played Benoît Paire of France in the quarterfinals, and swept past him in straight sets, dropping only one point on serve en route to a win in less than an hour. In a tougher semifinal, Federer dispatched Paul-Henri Mathieu in straight sets, advancing to his ninth Basel final and equalling John McEnroe's 875 career match wins. Federer played Juan Martín del Potro in the final, and found himself one set down after del Potro broke his serve in the middle of the first set. Federer fought back in the second set, saving a break point late in the set to force a tiebreak, which he won. However, he was not able to keep his seven-match win streak against del Potro, dropping the match in a third-set tiebreak after failing to convert break points earlier in the set.
Federer was scheduled to play at the BNP Paribas Masters, where he was the defending champion, but elected to withdraw, citing a need to rest ahead of the World Tour Finals. Federer's withdrawal, coupled with his loss in the final of the Swiss Indoors, will lead to the loss of his World No. 1 year-end ranking to Novak Djokovic.
Federer will next play at his eleventh ATP World Tour Finals, where he is the two-time defending champion. He was drawn into Group B, which included David Ferrer of Spain, Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina, and Janko Tipsarević of Serbia. He first faced Tipsarević, and dropped only eight points on serve en route to defeating him in straight sets in an hour and nine minutes. With his win over Tipsarević, Federer recorded his fortieth ATP World Tour Finals win, surpassing Ivan Lendl's record of ATP World Tour Finals win. Federer then played Ferrer, and beat him in a tight second-set tiebreak after Federer clinched the first set on a break of Ferrer's serve. Federer's win marked his fourteenth consecutive win over Ferrer and also qualified him for the semifinals. Federer played del Potro to wrap up the round robin, and found himself one set down after del Potro clinched a first-set tiebreak. Federer broke del Potro early in the second set, and held the lead to level the match at one set all. However, del Potro responded by breaking him early in the third set, and Federer's unforced errors ultimately cost him the game and the match. Federer's loss meant that his streak of 12 matches won at the ATP World Tour Finals was broken. Even with the loss, Federer finished first in the group, and advanced to the semifinals, where he faced Andy Murray, who he had last played at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Murray started out strong, breaking Federer in the first game of the set, but Federer recovered by breaking Murray later in the set. The first set eventually went to a tiebreak, and Federer found himself with two set points, converting the second to take a one-set lead. Federer then flew through the second set, breaking Murray twice en route to winning the match in just over an hour and a half. With his win, Federer advanced to his eighth final, where he played Novak Djokovic. Federer held an early lead in the first set, but Djokovic managed to level the set and ended up pulling out to a one-set lead after winning a very tight first-set tiebreak. In the second set, Djokovic was able to convert a break point on Federer's serve late in the set that won him the match, denying Federer a chance to tie Ivan Lendl's record of three consecutive ATP World Tour Finals titles. Federer's loss also cost him a chance at tying John McEnroe's record of 77 career titles won.
2013Federer kicks off his 2013 season with an appearance at the Australian Open, where he finished in the semifinals last year. Federer began his campaign against Frenchman Benoît Paire in the first round, and swept him in straight sets. He defeated long-time rival Nikolay Davydenko in the second round in straight sets, and faced Australian Bernard Tomic in the third round. After Federer converted on a break point in the first game and held to win the set, Tomic attempted to level the game, saving six break points and bringing the second set to a tiebreak, in which he had an early lead, but Federer overcame the deficit and won the tiebreak. Federer then broke Tomic twice and gave up only one game in the third set, winning the match in under two hours. Federer defeated big serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the fourth round in straight sets, having not dropped neither a set nor a service game through the fourth round. With the win, he also extended his record of consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal appearances to 35, a run which extends back to the 2004 Wimbledon Championships. Federer faced Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, where he and Tsonga traded breaks in the first set and brought the set to a tiebreak, which he won. Tsonga took advantage of Federer's unforced errors in the second set, breaking his serve and holding to level out the match at one set all. The third set saw Federer and Tsonga again trading breaks and playing a tiebreak, which Federer won. Tsonga recovered from a triple break point in the fourth set, and broke Federer's serve and held the lead to bring the match to a fifth set, where Federer broke Tsonga and won the match after four match points and three and a half hours. With his win, Federer advanced to his tenth straight semifinal at the Australian Open. Federer played Andy Murray in the semifinals, and found himself down one set after Murray took advantage of Federer's poor first serves to break Federer's serve and hold for the lead. The second set went to a tiebreak, which Federer won after capitalizing on some mistakes from Murray. Murray then came back in the third set, and, with the help of two line calls that went in his favor, broke Federer and held to regain a one-set lead. Federer held an early lead in the fourth set after breaking Murray, but Murray broke back on an unforced error from Federer. Momentum then shifted in favor of Murray, who came close to winning the match, but Federer forced the set to go to a tiebreak, which he won. In the fifth set, Federer was unable to respond to aces and winners from Murray, giving up two break points and losing the match in four hours.
Federer next played at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. He played Grega Žemlja of Slovenia in the first round, and blew past him, winning in straight sets in less than an hour. He next played wildcard Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands, and defeated him in straight sets in just over an hour. He played Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the quarterfinals, and found himself down one set after unforced errors led to his serve being broken. Federer then fought to secure the second set, but ultimately failed after missing a break point opportunity.
Federer next played at the Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai. He faced Tunisian wildcard Malek Jaziri in the first round, and dropped the first set after Jaziri secured his first and only break point in the match. Federer then took charge of the match, winning twelve of the next fourteen games to secure a win. In the second round, Federer played Marcel Granollers of Spain, and broke Granollers' serve once in each set en route to a straight-sets victory. Federer then played perennial rival Nikolay Davydenko in the third round, and flew past him in less than an hour to a second straight-sets victory. He lost to Tomáš Berdych of the Czech Republic in the semifinals in a close match.
Federer next played at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. After receiving a bye in the first round, he faced Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the second round and defeated him in straight sets, completing the match in just under an hour. He played Croatian Ivan Dodig in the third round and advanced again in straight sets, dropping only four games en route to a victory in just over an hour. Next for Roger was Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka. Roger won the match in three tight sets, nearly losing the match after Wawrinka broke in the third set, however Roger held on to win the last set 7-5, to find perennial foe Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. Federer, however, developed back issues that hindered his performance in the match against Nadal, meaning he lost in straight sets 6-4 6-2, although he refused to account any of the loss on his faulty back. He then continued with his pre-planned decision to take a two month break from the sport, skipping the mandatory Masters 1000 tournament in Miami under the ATP's rules allowing older players to relax their schedules and the non-mandatory Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo.
Federer next competed on clay at the Mutua Madrid Open, where he was the defending champion. Federer played Radek Štěpánek of the Czech Republic in the second round after a bye in the first round, and defeated him in straight sets. Federer then met Kei Nishikori of Japan in the third round. In the first set, Federer allowed Nishikori to convert on a break point opportunity, and Nishikori held the advantage to take the set. Federer came back in the second set, relying on strong shot-making to win five straight games and level the match at one set all. Federer's serve faltered in the third, and uncharacteristic errors from Federer, as well as strong play from Nishikori, meant that the Japanese number 1 defeated Federer for the first time in his career. This was Federer's earliest exit at the event since 2003, when the event was held as the Stuttgart Masters.
Federer played at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, where he finished in the semifinals the previous year. After a bye in the first round, Federer played Italian Potito Starace in the second round, and swept past Starace in straight sets, dropping only seven points on serve and breaking Starace four times en route to a victory in 51 minutes. He faced Gilles Simon of France in the third round, and raced past Simon in similar style, winning in just over an hour after again dropping only three games. Federer played Jerzy Janowicz of Poland in the quarterfinals. In the first set, Federer and Janowicz traded games until Federer found a late break point, which he converted to take the set. Janowicz broke Federer in the first game of the second set, and held to serve for the set, but Federer broke back and won the tiebreak to clinch the match. He played Benoît Paire of France in the semifinals. Paire held an early lead in the first before Federer broke back and won a tight tiebreak. Federer then broke early in the second set and held to win in straight sets. He played Rafael Nadal in his first final of the year, but fell short against a hot-handed Nadal, committing multiple unforced errors and having his serve broken five times en route to a loss in straight sets in just over an hour.
Federer next competed at the French Open, where he finished in the semifinals the previous year. He played qualifier Pablo Carreño-Busta of Spain in the opening round, and won in straight sets, converting all seven of his break points to move into the second round, where he swept past qualifier Somdev Devvarman of India, dropping only five games en route to a victory in straight sets. He faced Frenchman Julien Benneteau, who had beaten him earlier in the year, in the third round. After a break of serve by Benneteau to start off the match, Federer rebounded and took the first set. Benneteau tried to make inroads on Federer's serve, but Federer continued to dominate, winning the next two sets to move to the fourth round, where he faced Frenchman Gilles Simon. Federer won the first set comfortably, but Simon began to fight back. Federer lost his rhythm after he fell on the baseline in the second set, and Simon capitalized to take the set and level the match at one set all. Simon took advantage of more unforced errors from Federer and won the third set, but Federer found his rhythm again and broke Simon's serve in the fourth, holding to level the match. Federer then secured an early break in the fifth and held to win the match, becoming the fourth person to have 900 wins on the ATP World Tour. He played Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, where, after a decent start, Federer lost an early break advantage to Tsonga, and Tsonga broke again to take the first set. The next two sets saw Tsonga take a foothold on the match as numerous uncharacteristic errors plagued Federer. Tsonga eventually won the match in straight sets.
Federer will next play at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, where he was the finalist last year. He played German wildcard Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in the second round. Though Federer struggled with his serve and made quite a few errors, including one in the first set which allowed Stebe to break his serve, Federer dominated most of the match and won in straight sets, marking his fortieth win at the Gerry Weber Open. He played German wildcard Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinals and swept past Zverev, not allowing him any games and breaking him a total of six times en route to a victory in forty minutes. Federer achieved his second double bagel of his career, his first since he double-bageled Gastón Gaudio at the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup. He then faced defending champion Tommy Haas in the semifinal. In a tight first set, Federer gave up a break point in the sixth game of the set, and Haas held the lead to win the set. The second set saw Federer win an early break point and level the match at one set all. Federer then broke Haas to love and held the lead to win the match. In the final, Federer played Russian Mikhail Youzhny. After wasted break point opportunities and unforced errors led to Youzhny edging Federer in the first set tiebreak, Federer improved his game and won the match to claim his first title of the season, tying John McEnroe for the third-most number of ATP titles won by a male player in the Open Era.
Federer played at the Wimbledon Championships, where he was defending champion. Federer played Victor Hănescu of Romania in the first round, and dropped only five games en route to a straight-sets win in just over an hour. He played 116th-ranked Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine in the second round, and had a one-set lead before dropping the next three sets and losing the match, unable to hold leads and convert on crucial points. The loss ended Federer's record streak of 36 consecutive Grand Slam quartefinal appearances. This also marked his earliest loss at a Grand Slam tournament since the 2003 French Open, his first loss to a player ranked outside of the top 100 since losing to Richard Gasquet in 2005 (ranked 101st at the time). With Rafael Nadal's loss in the first round, this also was the first time ever that, when both of them were entered in a Grand Slam, that neither have made it to the second week. All of this, coupled with a slew of other player withdrawals, retirements, and upsets have led that day to be referred to as Black Wednesday.
Federer added two outdoor clay events to his schedule before the US Open hard court season begins.
Federer played at the bet-at-home Open – German Tennis Championships in Hamburg as a wildcard. Federer won the title in Hamburg four times when it was an ATP Masters Series event, but did not play there since 2008, when he was a finalist. Federer announced before his first round match in Hamburg that he was changing his racquet for the second time in his career (the first change occurred in 2002 just prior to the tournament in Hamburg of that year), upgrading from a 90 inch frame to a 98 inch frame. His first match was against German Daniel Brands, and he earned his first victory with his new racquet, rallying against strong play by Brands after dropping the first set. He next played Jan Hájek of the Czech Republic, and defeated him in straight sets after wasting many break and match points. He played Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals, and dropped his first set against Mayer in a tough three-set victory. In the semifinals, he played qualifier Federico Delbonis of Argentina for the first time, but lost in straight set, failing to convert break and set points as Delbonis took advantage to win both set tiebreaks.
Federer next played at the Crédit Agricole Suisse Open Gstaad. It was the first time Federer had participated in the Swiss Open since 2004. The tournament honored Federer's return by presenting him with a Swiss cow named Desiree. Despite the excitement over his return to the event, he was defeated in his opening match by Daniel Brands, his first opening match loss since Rome in 2010. After the loss Federer revealed that he had suffered a serious back injury several days before in Hamburg, and that he had been forced to take anti-inflamatories and had been unable to practice.
After withdrawing from the Rogers Cup, Federer played at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where he was the champion last year. Following a first-round bye, Federer played German Philipp Kohlschreiber in the second round. After speeding through the opening set, Federer found some trouble against Kohlschreiber in the second set, but managed to convert his second match point during the set tiebreak, keeping his winning streak against Kohlschreiber alive with a straight sets win. He played Tommy Haas in the third round, and came close to losing after Haas held a one-set, one-break advantage. Federer rallied to force a third set and won the match in under two hours. Federer next played Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. He broke Nadal late in the first set, playing fast and aggressive tennis with sharply angled, clean and powerful groundstrokes off both wings and frequent attacks at the net. He had opportunities to threaten Nadal on Nadal's serve in the second set, but this went awry, as Nadal continued to fight and as Federer began to rack up unforced errors. Federer's serve folded at the end of the second set and the start of the third, but he saved four match points on Nadal's serve before a wide forehand from Nadal on match point went unchallenged by Federer. Federer fell down the rankings again to No. 7, his lowest in over a decade.
At the US Open in New York Federer played Slovenian Grega Žemlja in the first round, and won in straight sets after a lapse of concentration resulted in a drop of his serve in the third set. He next played Carlos Berlocq of Argentina in the second round, and swept him in straight sets, dropping only six games en route to a win in just over one and a half hours. He next played Adrian Mannarino in the third round, and won in similar fashion, holding his serve and dropping only five games in the match. In a surprise, Federer then lost to Tommy Robredo, a player he had beaten ten straight times.
Federer's first post-US Open tournament was at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. He defeated Andreas Seppi in the second round in straight sets, but dropped his next match in the third round against Gaël Monfils in three sets. The loss marked only his second defeat against the Frenchman.
Federer next played in the Swiss Indoors Basel. He defeated Adrian Mannarino in the first round in straight sets, and then came back from a one-set deficit against Denis Istomin in under two hours. In the quarterfinal, Roger Federer faced Grigor Dimitrov, nicknamed "Baby Federer", for the first time. Dimitrov was defeated in straight sets, but Federer had to recover from a service break down and force a tie-break decision in the second set. In the semifinal round, Federer defeated Vasek Pospisil in a very tight three-setter. After winning the first set comfortably by breaking Pospisil's serve twice, Federer served for the match in the second set but squandered the opportunity. Then, Federer's serve was broken early in the deciding set, but he managed to return the service break and was able to serve for the match successfully at his second chance. Federer faced Juan Martín del Potro for the title, in a repeat of the previous year's final that saw del Potro emerge again victorious. He fell short again in another three-set battle against the Argentine. Despite the loss, the match saw Federer display significant improvement in form.
Federer next played in Paris at the BNP Paribas Masters, knowing that he would qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals if he won his opening match against Kevin Anderson. With his win over Anderson, he became the sixth player to qualify (seventh if including the injured Andy Murray) for the Finals. He made it to the semifinals by subsequently beating Philipp Kohlschreiber and Juan Martín del Potro, the latter whom he faced less than a week earlier in the final in Basel. His win over del Potro was only his second of the season over a top-10 player, first since January, and only top-5 win thus far. Federer met Novak Djokovic in the semifinals for their 30th career meeting, where he ultimately lost in three sets.
Federer entered the ATP World Tour Finals as the No. 6 seed and was drawn in group B with Novak Djokovic, Juan Martín del Potro and Richard Gasquet. Before the tournament began, Federer received three ATP World Tour Awards: the Fans' Favourite Award for a record eleventh consecutive time, the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship award for a record ninth time, and the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for a record-tying second time. Federer played his first round-robin match against Djokovic, only 3 days after their last match in Paris, and he again lost in three sets. Federer had not lost an opening match in the World Tour Finals since 2008, when he lost to Gilles Simon. Federer then played and defeated Gasquet swiftly in straight sets. With Novak Djokovic having won the group just after two round-robin matches, Federer played his last round-robin match against del Potro as a straight knockout match. It was the third consecutive match between them in the last three weeks of the season. Federer's serve was broken twice very early in the match, one of them in the opening game, and he found himself four games down in the first set. He managed to return one of the breaks with a love game while del Potro was serving to close the first set, but he could not do it again despite having two breakpoint opportunities. Federer again found himself down a break early in the second set, but he fought back to return the break shortly after with a love game. The second set would ultimately be decided in a tie-break which Federer comfortably won by a margin of 5 points. The third and deciding set started no different from the previous two and Federer's serve was broken in his first service game. As he found himself three games down, he fought back with three consecutive games to tie the set. Federer's breakthrough came very late in the third set. When the score was tied at 5 games all, Federer broke del Potro's serve and found himself leading the match for the first time while serving to win it. He successfully held serve to win the match, but not without saving a breakpoint, and booked a place in the semifinals against Group A winner Rafael Nadal, who had won all his three round-robin matches and successfully clinched the No. 1 ranking for the 2013 season. Federer lost the semifinal match in straight sets to Nadal, only managing to break Nadal's serve once in the first set. It was Federer's fourth consecutive defeat against Nadal in the 2013 season. At the end of the tournament, Federer overtook Tomas Berdych in the singles rankings and finished the season as world No. 6, his lowest since 2002, when he finished as No. 6 as well.
Federer opens his season at the Brisbane International in Brisbane. His first match was in the second round against Jarkko Nieminen of Finland. Though Nieminen challenged Federer in the first set with some aggressive play, Federer ultimately won the first set and went on to win the next set, and the match, handily, continuing his undefeated record against Nieminen. He next played Marinko Matosevic of Australia in the quarterfinals, and swept him in straight sets under an hour, allowing only two games to Matosevic. Federer next played Jérémy Chardy of France, whom he had defeated in doubles earlier in the tournament, for the first time in singles in the semifinals. Federer won the first set after breaking Chardy, but Chardy matched Federer in the second set, forcing a tiebreak during which Chardy pulled away from Federer to even the match. The third set looked to be close, but Federer found a break near the end of the set and closed out the match in just under two hours. He lost to Lleyton Hewitt of Australia in the final, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Federer will next contest the men's singles event of the 2014 Australian Open in Melbourne. His appearance at the 2014 Australian Open marks a record-breaking 57 straight Grand Slam appearances. He finished in the semifinals last year, losing to Andy Murray in five sets. Federer will be the sixth seed in the tournament, and began his tournament by playing Australian wildcard James Duckworth in the first round, breaking him four times en route to a straight-sets win. He then played Blaž Kavčič of Slovenia in the second round. Federer swept through the first two sets, but errors in the third set allowed Kavčič to force a tiebreak, which Federer won to close out the match. Federer broke him six times in total and won seven of the last eight points in the tiebreak to win his seventieth match in Melbourne. Federer played Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia in the third round for the first time in six years. He saved five break points and broke Gabashvili's serve five times en route to a straight-sets victory. Federer played Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the fourth round, and won in straight sets. Federer found breaks in each set, including one at the beginning of the first set, and dictated at the net, using aggressive play to keep Tsonga at bay. With his win, Federer reached his eleventh consecutive Australian Open quarterfinal, and has now reached 41 Grand Slam quarterfinals, tying the all-time record held by Jimmy Connors. Federer faced Andy Murray in the quarter-finals and defeated him in four sets after missing several break opportunities and squandering two match points in the third set tiebreak. Federer lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, in straight sets.
After playing in the Davis Cup tie against Serbia in Novi Sad, to which Federer contributed with a singles rubber win to give Switzerland a 3–2 away victory, Federer took a three-week break and returned to competition in Dubai. Federer won his opening match against Benjamin Becker in the opening round with ease, and faced Radek Štěpánek in the second round. After a solid first set by Federer, Štěpánek tied the match after winning the second-set tiebreak. Federer then climbed out of a three-game deficit in the third set, winning five straight games to seal the match. In the quarterfinals, Federer played his first match against Lukáš Rosol of the Czech Republic. After having his serve broken in the first game, he won the next six games to clinch the first set and held his serve in the second to win the match in straight sets in just under an hour. Federer faced defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, and dropped the first set to Djokovic. After a rain delay in the second set, Federer converted breaks in the second and third sets against Djokovic and won his first match against Djokovic in 18 months. Federer then played Tomáš Berdych, who had beaten him in the semifinals last year. The two exchanged breaks in the first, but Berdych secured another break and won the first set. In the second set, Berdych broke Federer again, but Federer took advantage of errors on Berdych's part to get two breaks and level the match at one set all. Federer claimed a crucial break in a tighter third set, and held the lead to win in just under two hours. Federer won a record sixth Dubai title and won his 78th career title, surpassing John McEnroe for the third-most titles won in the Open Era. The win also ensured that he would continue his streak of winning at least one title per year since 2001.
Federer next played at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. After a bye in the first round, Federer played Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, and defeated him in straight sets, winning three break points and a second-set tiebreak. He then played Dmitry Tursunov of Russia in the third round. Federer and Tursunov both won two break points against each other, and Tursunov forced tiebreaks in both the first and second sets. Federer, however, won both of the tiebreaks, taking the match in straight sets. He then met Tommy Haas in the fourth round, and won in straight sets, though Haas kept the match close. Federer played Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the quarterfinals. In the first set, Anderson held off Federer on numerous break point opportunities, but Federer broke in the last game of the set to take the lead. Federer then jumped out to a five-game lead in the second set, and won the match in straight sets. Federer then played first-time semifinalist Alexandr Dolgopolov in the semifinals, and raced through the match, winning four break points and allowing Dolgopolov only four games en route to a win in just over an hour. Federer was narrowly defeated in the final by Novak Djokovic in a final set tie-break.
Federer next played the Sony Open Tennis in Miami. He played Ivo Karlović in the second round after a bye in the first round. Federer broke Karlović early in the first set and, after holding to take the lead, defeated Karlović in the second-set tiebreak. Federer then cruised into the quarterfinals, beating Thiemo de Bakker and Richard Gasquet both in straight sets. However, in one of the tours biggest upsets, Kei Nishikori would improve his FedEx Head2Head against Federer to 2-1, beating Federer 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Unfortunately, Nishikori would retire before his semifinal match, most probably sustaining a groin injury during their quarterfinal meeting.
After the shaky performance by Stanislas Wawrinka during the first two rubbers he was involved in, Federer won both his singles rubbers, being credited for the Swiss advance to the Semifinals.
Federer began his clay season at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, where he will play for the first time since 2011 as a wildcard. Federer experienced great success during his second and third round meetings against Radek Štěpánek and Lukas Rosol, defeating both in straight sets. He then defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga from a set down for the first time in his career, in a match where he failed to convert any of his first 15 break points. He ousted world no. 2 and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, ending the Serb's unbeaten run in Masters 1000 tournaments dating back to the 2013 Shanghai Masters. He lost his fourth Monte Carlo final, this time to compatriot Stan Wawrinka.
Federer was seeded 4th, but withdrew from the tournament to be with his pregnant wife, Mirka. On May 6th, he announced that they became parents to twins again, this time boys - Leo and Lenny.
Federer next played in Rome at the Italian Open, where he was a three-time finalist, including in 2013. He was seeded 4th. He suffered a shock defeat to Jeremy Chardy in a final-set tiebreaker in the second round.
Federer started his 2014 French Open campaign with a comfortable straight sets victory over Lukas Lacko. He followed this up with a another straight sets victory over Argentine qualifier Diego Sebastien Schwartzman in the second round. Federer defeated Dimitry Tursunov in the third round in four sets, in their first meeting on a clay court. Federer was upset in the fourth round by Ernest Gulbis, who leveled their head to head record with a victory in five sets. The loss snapped Federer's streak of nine straight French Open quarterfinals.
Following a first round bye, Federer came from a set down to defeat Joao Sousa. After receiving a walkover in the quarter finals, Federer defeated the fourth seed Kei Nishikori to reach his ninth singles final at the Halle Open. Federer won a record seventh Halle Open singles title beating Alejandro Falla in the final in two tiebreaks. It was Federer's 14th grass court title, extending his open era record, and his 79th career singles title.
Federer dispatched Paolo Lorenzi, Gilles Muller, Santiago Giraldo, and Tommy Robredo without dropping a set or losing serve. In doing so, he reached his 42nd major quarterfinal, surpassing the previous all-time record of 41 set by Jimmy Connors. He defeated compatriot Stan Wawrinka in four sets in the first all-Swiss Wimbledon men's quarterfinal in history, then defeated Milos Raonic in a record 35th major semifinal. This extended Federer's record in Wimbledon semi finals to 9-0, and 27-1 in sets. In the final, he was defeated by Novak Djokovic in a five set epic match by 7-6(9-7), 4-6, 6-7(4-7), 7-5, 4-6.
Federer would participate in this years Canadian Open for the first time since 2011. The two-time champ was seeded second due to Rafael Nadal's injury and would be given a bye into the second round. Federer would have a speedy dispatch of Canadian wildcard Peter Polansky, advancing to the round of sixteen where he faced off Marin Cilic. He defeated Cilic in a three set thriller match and went on to beat David Ferrer in the quarter-final in three tight sets. In the semi-final, he defeated Lopez easily in straight sets. In his 37th final at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level Federer was defeated by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and remained one match shy of becoming the first man to win 300 matches at the masters 1000 level.
Roger Federer was seeded second at Cincinnati Masters. He faced off Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the second round and defeated in three sets and with that win, he became the first man to win 300 matches at the masters 1000 level. In the third round, he played the Frenchman Gael Monfils where he defeated him in three sets. In the quarter final, he played Andy Murray and defeated him in straight sets after recovering from double-break down in the second set. The victory drew Federer even with Murray head-to-head at 11–11. He easily beat Milos Raonic in the semi final with a comfortable straight sets victory over the Canadian 6-2,6-3. In the final, Federer defeated Spain's David Ferrer 6-3,1-6,6-2 to capture his sixth Cincinnati crown and his 22nd ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title. It was also his 80th ATP singles title, behind only Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (94). He also improved to a perfect 6-0 in Cincinnati finals and to a 16-0 ATP Head to Head record against the 32-year-old Ferrer and with that win, he qualified for the season ending championship and will return to the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals for record 13th Straight Year.
Roger Federer has been seeded second at US Open, due to Rafael Nadal's withdrawal, at Flushing Meadows and will be looking to win the title for the sixth time. He started his bid for an 18th Grand Slam championship crown against Marinko Matosevic with a straight sets victory, his 50th in this season, and faced off another Australian Sam Groth in the second round where he managed to beat the big-serving player in straight sets despite a few exchanges of breaks. In the third round, he was tested by the Spaniard Marcel Granollers as he dropped the first set of the tournament but got the better of him in four sets. He battled another Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in fourth round and defeated him in straight sets. In the quarter final, he defeated Frenchman Gael Monfils after fought back from a two-sets deficit for the ninth time in his career, saving two match points in the fourth set. Federer then fell in straight sets in his semifinal match to a resurgent Marin Cilic, who went on to win the tournament. With the loss, it became the first time since the 2005 Australian Open that neither Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic featured in the final.
Switzerland played against Italy in semifinals. Both Federer and Wawrinka won their respective singles rubbers on the first day against Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini in straight sets. Having a 2-0 lead over Italy, Federer elected not to play the doubles rubber where Wawrinka and Marco Chiudinelli lost in five sets. Federer would secure a place in the Davis Cup final with a straight sets victory over Fabio Fognini. Switzerland will next play against France in the Davis Cup finals in November, hoping to improve upon their best Davis Cup result as Finalists in 1992.
In his second round match at Shanghai Rolex Masters, Federer beat Argentinian Leonardo Mayer winning in three close sets after being down 2–5 in the third set tiebreak, saving 5 match points, the first two being saved at 4–5 15–40 in the third set, and the other three being saved in the third set tiebreak. He played Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and defeated him in straight sets in the third round and went on to beat Frenchman Julien Benneteau in the quarterfinal. He beat Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, ending the Serb's 28-match unbeaten run on Chinese soil. He battled Frenchman Gilles Simon in his second Shanghai final, defeated him in two tiebreak sets and collected his 23rd Masters 1000 title of his career. This was the first time Federer had won the Shanghai Masters and the first tournament he had won in China since the Masters Cup in 2007. As a result of his victory Federer passed Rafael Nadal for number two in the world rankings, marking his highest ranking since May 2013.
Federer defeated Gilles Muller in the first round of Swiss Indoors at Basel. In the second round Federer came back from a set down to defeat Denis Istomin. In the quarterfinals Federer defeated Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets to reach his twelfth semifinal at the Swiss Indoors. In the semifinals, Federer defeated Ivo Karlović and reached an eleventh final (and ninth consecutive) at the Swiss Indoors, setting an all-time record for the most finals reached at a single tournament. In the finals, Federer defeated David Goffin to win a record 6th title.
Federer began the Paris Masters with a tight three set victory over Jeremy Chardy, then defeated qualifier Lucas Pouille. His run ended in the quarterfinals, when he lost to Milos Raonic for the first time in seven meetings.
Federer began his record-setting thirteenth consecutive ATP World Tour Finals with straight-sets victories over Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori in round-robin play. He continued this streak, breezing past Andy Murray, winning his first ever bageled set against him in his 250th indoor court victory. With this win Federer took a lead in their head-to-head matchup 12–11 for the first time since 2005 when they first met. He also became the first of the Big Four to win a 6–0 set against all three rivals. With the win, Federer advanced to the semifinals of the Tour Finals for a record-tying twelfth time. He defeated his friend and compatriot Stan Wawrinka in a highly competitive three-set semifinal, coming from a set down and saving four match points, in order to make his ninth final at the year-end championships. Due to injury, he withdrew before the final; this was only the third time in his career that he had withdrawn from a tournament.
Federer arrived in Lille for the Davis Cup final but was unable to practice for most of the week because of the back injury he suffered at the World Tour Finals just days before. Following Stan Wawrinka's victory in the first rubber, a rusty Federer could not overcome a sensational performance by Gael Monfils and was defeated in straight sets. Federer and Wawrinka played the doubles rubber against Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau and recorded their first win together in doubles since 2011 to give Switzerland a 2-1 lead heading into the final Sunday of the season. Federer played the fourth rubber against Gasquet, who was a late substitution for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and emerged victorious to deliver Switzerland its first Davis Cup victory in history.
Brisbane International
Federer defeated John Millman from a set and 1-3 down in his first tour match of 2015. He dropped only one game in a 39-minute victory over James Duckworth , then defeated Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals in under an hour to set up a final against Milos Raonic, which he won in three sets, thereby becoming only the third man in the Open Era to have 1000 or more wins, joining Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl, as well as the first man in the Open Era to win at least one title in each of 15 consecutive years.
Australian Open
He opened his campaign for his fifth crown at the Melbourne Park with wins against Yen-Hsun Lu and Simone Bolelli, but was upset in the third round by Andreas Seppi.Therefore he ended his previous holding record of playing at least in Australian Open Semi-final for eleven consecutive years.
Dubai Tennis Championships
Federer opened his campaign in Dubai with a straight sets victory against Mikhail Youzhny, and then defeated Fernando Verdasco after coming back to win in straight sets after a 1-4 deficit in the first. Federer passed through the quarter and semi-finals with relative ease, dropping only 4 games in two matches. In the final against Novak Djokovic, Federer elevated his head-to-head against Djokovic 20-17 and 15-13 on hard courts with a straight sets victory for a record 7th Dubai crown. During the final match, Federer hit 12 aces and surpassed the 9,000 aces mark in his career total, joining Goran Ivanisevic, Ivo Karlovic and Andy Roddick as the only players to achieve the mark since aces totals are recorded.
Indian Wells Masters
As the no. 2 seed, the Swiss started his quest for the fifth title at the BNP Paribas Open with a victory over Argentinian Diego Schwartzman and avenged his earliest Australian Open defeat against Italian Andreas Seppi by beating him in windy conditions before claiming his 50th milestone win at the event by defeating American Jack Sock in straight sets. He then breezed past Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals. He extended his winning streak to 10 matches after battling hard in the semi-final against Milos Raonic and defeated him in straight sets to reach a sixth final in the desert. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the final in three sets.
Monte Carlo Masters
Federer began his clay season at the Monte Carlo Masters. He opened up against Jeremy Chardy who had beaten him on clay last year in Rome. However this time Federer beat him in straight sets. He then played Gaël Monfils in the third round and lost in straight sets.
Istanbul Open
Federer next played at the inaugural Istanbul Open. In his opening match he beat Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets, improving his record against Nieminen to 15–0. The win also gave Federer his 200th clay court win. He then defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the quarterfinals in three sets. In the semifinals, he won in three sets again against Diego Schwartzman to advance to the final, continuing his streak of making at least one clay final a season since 2001. He defeated Pablo Cuevas in the final to claim his 85th career title. It was his first title on clay since he won the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open on blue clay and his first on red clay since he won the 2009 French Open.
Madrid Open
Federer next played at the Mutua Madrid Open as the top seed. He lost his opening match to Nick Kyrgios in three tiebreak sets, despite being up a set and a break and squandering two match points.
Italian Open
Federer won his second and third round matches against Pablo Cuevas and Kevin Anderson in straight sets. He cruised through Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals and Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals, winning both matches in straight sets after being down a break in the first set. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the final in straight sets.
Frecnh Open
Federer entered the French Open as the second seed. He beat lucky loser Alejandro Falla in the first round and Marcel Granollers in the second round, before reaching the fourth round by beating Damir Dzumhur in straight sets. He next played against Gael Monfils but the match was interrupted due to darkness, when they were tied one set each. The match continued the next day with the unusual 2-sets-out-of-3, but in the end Federer prevailed in four sets and advanced to his 44th major quarterfinal, where he lost to his compatriot and eventual champion Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.
Halle Open
Due to the tournament being upgraded to a 500 event, Federer was not given a first round bye. As the top seed and defending champion, Federer beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round in three tight sets after being down 3–5 in the third set tiebreak. Federer then beat Ernests Gulbis, Florian Mayer, and Ivo Karlovic, all in straight sets, to make his 10th Halle final, where he defeated Andreas Seppi to win a record 8th Halle title. By winning he became the third man in the open era to win a tournament eight times after Guillermo Vilas and Rafael Nadal.
Wimbledon
Federer entered Wimbledon as the second seed. He beat Damir Dzumhur, Sam Querrey and Sam Groth in the first three rounds, losing just one set (a tiebreaker) against the Australian to reach the second week of the tournament. He easily beat Roberto Bautista-Agut in the fourth round in straight sets to advance to his 13th Wimbledon quarterfinal and 45th overall. He then beat Gilles Simon in straight sets to advance to his 10th Wimbledon semifinal. He then played a flawless match to defeat Andy Murray in straight sets and advance to his 10th Wimbledon final in a repeat against Novak Djokovic, becoming the first man to reach 10 Grand Slam finals at a single event in the Open Era. Federer would lose the match in four sets. It marked the first time Federer had lost two back to back finals at Wimbledon, and denied him the chance to win a record 18th Grand Slam and a record 8th Wimbledon title to break his shared record of 7 Wimbledon titles with Pete Sampras.
Cincinnati Masters
Federer began his summer hard court season at the Cincinnati Open as the second seed and defending champion. He defeated Roberto Bautista-Agut in the second round in straight sets before crushing Kevin Anderson in the third round to advance to the quarterfinals. He beat Feliciano López in straight sets to set up a semifinal clash against Andy Murray. In the semifinal he beat Murray in two tight sets to advance to the final. In the final, he met world No. 1, Novak Djokovic and defeated him in straight sets to win a record 7th Cincinnati title. The win saw Federer regain the No. 2 ranking. It also marked the second time that Federer did not lose a set or have his serve broken at a Masters 1000, having achieved this record at the same tournament back in 2012. This was also the first time that Federer had beaten the Top 2 players in the world at the same tournament, where it should be noted that this feat hadn't been possible during the years that Federer was ranked in the top 2 himself.
US Open
Federer entered the US Open as the second seed. He easily beat Leonardo Mayer and Steve Darcis in the first two rounds. He then beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets to advance to the fourth round where he defeated John Isner in three close sets that included two tiebreaks and finally breaking Isner's serve for the first time in the since the 2013 US Open. He then dominated Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals to advance to his 38th Major semifinal. Facing Stan Wawrinka, Federer triumphed in straight sets to advance to his 7th US Open final since 2009, where he played against Novak Djokovic for the sixth time this year for the championship. In their 42nd meeting overall, Federer lost to Djokovic in four sets, who once again leveled their rivalry to an even 21-21 head-to-head.
Davis Cup World Group Play-offs
Switzerland played against the Netherlands in the play-offs. After Wawrinka won his match in five sets, Federer won his match against Jesse Huta Galung in straight sets to put Switzerland at a 2–0 lead against the Netherlands. He then played with Marco Chiudinelli in the doubles, but the pair lost to Matwé Middelkoop and Thiemo de Bakker in five sets. The loss did not tire Federer as he went on to beat Thiemo de Bakker in straight sets to put Switzerland back in the World Group.
Shanghai Masters
Federer played at the Shanghai Masters as the second seed and defending champion. He lost to qualifier Albert Ramos-Viñolas in the second round in three sets.
Swiss Indoors
Federer started his indoors season at the Swiss Indoors. As the defending champion, he easily beat Mikhail Kukushkin. He then defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber and David Goffin in three sets to advance to the semifinals. He then beat Jack Sock in straight sets to advance to his 10th straight Swiss Indoors final. He became the first man in the Open Era to achieve this record. Federer faced his archrival Rafael Nadal in their 34th career head-to-head meeting overall and their 21st finals meeting. Federer won in three sets giving him a record-extending 7th Swiss Indoors championship and his sixth title of the season. This was also his first win over Nadal since the 2012 BNP Paribas Open.
Paris Masters
Federer's next tournament was the Paris Masters where he was seeded third. He easily beat Andreas Seppi before losing in the third round to American giant John Isner in three sets without ever losing serve.
ATP World Tour Finals
Federer began his fourteenth consecutive year-end championships tournament with a straight sets victory over Tomáš Berdych. He then beat the defending champion, Novak Djokovic in straight sets, handing him his first loss at the year-end championships since 2011. The win over Djokovic also snapped the Serb's 38 match winning streak on indoor courts. With the win, Federer advanced to the semifinals for a record-breaking thirteenth time. He then won a tight three-setter against Kei Nishikori despite being up a set and a break to go undefeated in the round robin stage. In the semifinals, he defeated his compatriot Stan Wawrinka in straight sets after being down a break in the first set to advance to a record-breaking tenth final at the year-end championships, setting up a rematch against Djokovic. He lost to Djokovic in straight sets, which saw their head-to-head rivalry an even 22 matches each by the end of 2015.
2016
Brisbane International
Federer opened his season at the Brisbane International for the third consecutive year after winning the title in 2015. He received a bye as the top seed in the first round. Though suffering with the flu, in the second round he beat Tobias Kamke in straight sets. He next defeated Grigor Dimitrov in three sets. In the semifinals, he beat Dominic Thiem in straight sets to advance to his third consecutive final at the tournament. He faced Milos Raonic in a repeat of last year's final and lost in straight sets. Due to contracting the flu, Federer's performance was hindered throughout the tournament.
Australian Open
Federer entered the Australian Open as the third seed. He defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili and Alexandr Dolgopolov, both in straight sets to advance to the third round where he beat Grigor Dimitrov in four sets. The win gave Federer his 300th match win at a Grand Slam, becoming the first man in the Open Era to reach the milestone. It also put him second overall behind Martina Navratilova who won 306 matches. He reached the quarterfinals with an easy straights set win over David Goffin in the fourth round. He then defeated Tomáš Berdych in straight sets to advance to his twelfth Australian Open semifinal where he faced Novak Djokovic in their first match of the year and their 45th meeting overall. Federer lost the match in four sets. The loss put Djokovic ahead in their rivalry for the first time.
Knee injury
The day after his loss to Djokovic, Federer sustained a knee injury. In early February he underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus, and he will miss the tournaments in Rotterdam and Dubai in February. Later in the month Federer announced he would miss the tournament in Indian Wells. In March, it was confirmed that Federer would make his return at the Miami Open.
Miami Open
Federer withdrew after a first round bye due to contracting a stomach virus, thus prolonging his time on the sidelines.
Monte Carlo Masters
Federer returned after a ten week hiatus in Monte Carlo. He received a first round bye and won his first match since January by beating Guillermo García-López to advance to the third round. He then beat Roberto Bautista Agut to advance to the quarterfinals where he lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three sets despite being two points away from the win.
Madrid Open
It was announced that Federer would be returning to Madrid, Spain to compete in the Madrid Open, but he withdrew from the tournament citing back problems.
Italian Open
Upon pulling out of Madrid, Federer confirmed that he would participate in the Italian Open. Federer stated that he almost withdrew prior to his opening round due to lingering fitness issues. However, after his Wednesday morning practice he decided to play and beat rising teenage star Alexander Zverev in straight sets. Federer decided in the last minute to play his 3rd round match against Dominic Thiem, but was beaten in straight sets as the back injury continued to hamper his speed and movement. It casted further doubt on Federer's participation of the upcoming French Open.
French Open
After a disappointing start to the season due to injury, Federer decided to withdraw from the French Open not wanting to further aggravate his recent back injury before the start of the grass season. This ended his all-time record run of 65 consecutive appearances in grand slams, dating back to the 2000 Australian Open.
Stuttgart Open
Federer took advantage of the expanded grass season, first instituted in 2015, by playing the newly minted grass court tournament in Stuttgart. He defeated young American Taylor Fritz in a rainy match played over two days. In the quarterfinals he defeated German veteran Florian Mayer in straight sets. In the semifinals he fell to Dominic Thiem after holding two match points in the second set tiebreaker; this was the first time in his career that he had lost a grass-court match after having a match point.
Halle Open
Federer entered Halle as the eight-time champion and the three-time defending champion. He defeated Jan-Lennard Struff, Malek Jaziri, and David Goffin to reach the semifinals without the loss of a set. There he lost to 19-year-old Sasha Zverev in three sets. This marked the first time since 2002 that Federer had been defeated before the final in Halle.
Wimbledon
Federer began the tournament by defeating Guido Pella, home favorite Marcus Willis, Daniel Evans, and Steve Johnson, all in straight sets. In the quarterfinals he came back from a two-set deficit to win against Marin Čilić in five sets to advance to the semifinals, saving three match points. He lost the semi-final to Milos Raonic in 5 sets.
Out for rest of the season
On July 26, Federer announced that he would not play anymore in 2016, due to a knee injury, he missed the 2016 Summer Olympics, not being able to defend his title at Cincinnati and runner up position at the 2016 US Open. As a result, Federer will drop out of the top 5 for the first time since March 2014. Federer's ranking will also drop out of the top 10 for the first time since 2002, ending a streak of 14 years. This will also be the first time that Federer does not win a title since 2000.
Hopman Cup
After returning from the injury, prior to Australian Open, Federer paired with Belinda Bencic to compete in the Hopman Cup. They were knocked out in the round robin stage after winning 2 out of 3 ties.
Australian Open
In his first Grand Slam tournament of the year, Federer progressed all the way to the final, winning over top 10 players Tomáš Berdych, Kei Nishikori, and fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka, facing his archrival Rafael Nadal in the final. Nadal had won in all six matches between the two in Major tournaments since the Wimbledon final of 2007, including all three of their encounters in the Australian Open. Federer ultimately triumphed after being a break down in the fifth set, winning a record-breaking and historic 18th men's singles Grand Slam title and becoming the first man to win at least five singles titles at three different major tournaments each, while denying Nadal's second opportunity to become the first man in the Open Era to win each major in men's singles twice. Federer's campaign winning the Australian Open 2017 title saw three of his matches going to five sets (fourth round against Nishikori, semi-final against Wawrinka, and final against Nadal) and the five-set Slam final was the 7th in Federer's career, which broke the record tie with Björn Borg of a career count of 6 five-set Grand Slam men's singles finals. With the Australian Open 2017 title, Federer's ATP ranking rose from No. 17 to No. 10 and marked his first win over Nadal in a Grand Slam match outside the grass courts of Wimbledon.
Dubai
Upon his return to Dubai, Federer beat Benoît Paire in the first round, but was upset in the second round by world No. 116 and qualifier Evgeny Donskoy in three sets, despite holding three match points in the second set, being up a break in the third set, and ahead by four points in the third set tiebreak.
Indian Wells
Federer began his campaign by defeating Stéphane Robert and Steve Johnson in straight sets to set up a meeting with Nadal. Federer won in straight sets marking the first time he had ever achieved three consecutive wins over the Spaniard. He reached the semifinals with a walkover from Nick Kyrgios due to food poisoning and reached final after beating Jack Sock in straight sets. He defeated fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka, in two sets in the final, to win a record-equaling 5th title in Indian Wells and the 90th title of his career. With this title, Federer's ranking rose from No. 10 to No .6. This was the seventh time Federer won a Masters 1000 title without dropping a set, and was only broken once in the entire tournament. At the age of 35, he became the oldest Masters 1000 finalist and winner ever, ahead of Andre Agassi who won the Cincinnati title in 2004 at the age of 34.
Miami Open
After receiving a bye in the first round, Federer won his first match in Miami in two years against teenager Frances Tiafoe. He defeated Juan Martin del Potro and Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, he edged Tomáš Berdych in a close match, saving two match points in a third-set tiebreak and successfully avenged his fourth round loss to Berdych at this tournament in 2010. In the semi-final, he defeated Australian Nick Kyrgios in three tie-break sets to set up the final against Rafael Nadal. Federer won the match in two sets, capturing his third Sunshine Double, his fourth consecutive victory over Nadal, and his third Miami title but first since 2006. Federer's ranking improved to World No. 4.
Stuttgart Open
In his first tour match after winning the Miami final, Federer lost to Tommy Haas in the second round in three sets, having won the first set and held a match point in the second-set tiebreak. This was the first time since 2002 Wimbledon that he had lost in the opening round of a grass-court event.
Halle Open
Federer defeated Yūichi Sugita, Mischa Zverev, Florian Mayer, and Karen Khachanov to reach the final without dropping a set. In the final he defeated Alexander Zverev, securing a record-extending ninth Halle title, and the third which he won without the loss of a set. This made him one of just two men in the Open Era, along with Rafael Nadal, to win the same tournament more than eight times. This title victory also saw Federer equal Nadal's all-time record of 18 ATP 500 titles won.
Wimbledon
During the first round, Federer advanced when his opponent, Alexandr Dolgopolov, withdrew mid-match due to injury. Still, Federer hit and surpassed the 10000 aces mark in his career during his shortened first round match. He then topped Dušan Lajović, Mischa Zverev, and Grigor Dimitrov, reaching an all-time record 15th Wimbledon quarter-final without the loss of a set. Against Milos Raonic whom he had lost to in last year's semifinal, Federer won the match in straight sets with a tiebreaker in the 3rd set to move onto his all-time record 12th Wimbledon semifinal, where he dispatched Tomáš Berdych in straight sets to advance to his 11th Wimbledon final, subsequently setting the record for the highest number of men's singles finals made at a single major. In the final, Federer defeated Marin Čilić to win a record 8th Wimbledon title, breaking his previous tie with William Renshaw and Pete Sampras, and his 19th Grand Slam singles title overall. He became the second male player in the Open Era to win the Championships without dropping a set, after Björn Borg in 1976. Following his victory, he also qualified for the ATP Finals for a record 15th time along with Rafael Nadal where he's won a record six titles.
Montreal
Federer announced that he would return to Montreal for the first time since 2011. Due to the absence of Andy Murray, he was seeded 2nd behind Rafael Nadal, making this the first tournament since 2011 Monte Carlo Masters where Nadal and Federer were the top two seeds. Federer started his campaign by beating Canadian Peter Polansky in straight sets in the second round. He went on to beat David Ferrer in the third round in 3 sets after recovering from a slow start, improving his career record against Ferrer to 17-0. However, his loss of the first set in that match broke his winning streak of 32 consecutive sets. He defeated Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinals in straight sets, improving to 7-0 against Bautista Agut. He defeated Dutchman Robin Haase in the semifinals to book his 6th final of the year. Federer suffered from a recurring back injury in the final, where he lost to Alexander Zverev in straight sets.
Cincinnati
After losing the Montreal final, he traveled to Cincinnati only to pull out of the event due to a recurring back injury, missing a chance to return to World No. 1.
US Open
Federer would make his return to New York after a back injury he suffered in Montreal. He was seeded third and drawn in the same half as Rafael Nadal, with both chasing the No.1 spot after the tournament. He faced American teenager Frances Tiafoe in the first round and defeated him in five sets; the first time he was taken to five sets in the opening round at the US Open since 2000. He went on to beat Russian Mikhail Youzhny in 2R by playing another five set match and improved to 17-0 in head-to-head matches. It is the first time in his career that he has played five-setters in both the first and second rounds of a major tournament. He easily dispatched Spaniard Feliciano López in the 3R with a straight sets win to improve his record against him to 13-0. During his victory, Federer moved into second place in the all-time aces list surpassing Croatian Goran Ivanisevic's 10,131 tally. He went on to improve to 12-0 in head-to-head matches by beating German Philipp Kohlschreiber in 4R in straight sets to set up an encounter with Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro in the QF, which he lost in 4 sets. After the encounter with Del Potro, Federer reiterated that his back was healthy, but stated that he was "not in a safe place" going into the match and explained that his shot accuracy throughout the tournament had not been reliable enough.
Shanghai Masters
Federer began his campaign in Shanghai by defeating Diego Schwartzman, Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Richard Gasquet in straight sets. After prevailing in a 3-set semifinal match against Juan Martin del Potro, Federer defeated Rafael Nadal in the final in their fourth encounter of the season to equal Ivan Lendl for the second-most titles of the open era with 94. He beat his great rival for the fifth consecutive time. He also extended his own record as the oldest male player ever to win a Masters 1000 tournament. The win over Nadal was Federer's 350th match won at a Masters 1000 tournament.
Basel
Upon his return to Basel, Federer defeated Frances Tiafoe and Benoît Paire in straight sets. With this win Federer moved to the quarterfinals where he defeated Adrian Mannarino in three sets, then beat David Goffin in the semis to set up a final clash with Juan Martin del Potro. In the final Federer came from a set down, after losing a closely contested tiebreaker, to win in three sets. It was his 95th career title and his 8th in Basel.
ATP Finals
Federer qualified for the ATP finals as the number 2 seed and won all three of his round-robin matches against Jack Sock, Alexander Zverev, and Marin Cilic. At the semifinals, he was defeated by David Goffin in three sets despite being a set up, ending his 2017 season.
Hopman Cup
As in 2017, Roger Federer paired with Belinda Bencic at the Hopman Cup, representing Switzerland. Federer defeated Yūichi Sugita, Karen Khachanov and Jack Sock, from Japan, Russia and United States respectively, all in straight sets, to help Switzerland advance to the final. With Federer defeating Alexander Zverev in three sets, they beat Germany 2-1 in the final to clinch Federer's second and Switzerland's third Hopman Cup title overall.
Australian Open
Federer began his participation in the first major tournament of the year by defeating Aljaž Bedene, in three sets, in the first round. In the second round, He defeated Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets to advance to the third round, where he defeated his first seeded opponent, Richard Gasquet, also in straight sets, advancing to the fourth round. Another straight set victory over Márton Fucsovics booked his spot in the quarter-finals, where he faced Tomáš Berdych and knocked him out in three sets for the 9th straight time, advancing to the semi-finals. There, he defeated Hyeon Chung to reach his 30th major final and his 7th at the Australian Open, where he eventually defeated Marin Čilić in a five-set match to win his 20th Grand Slam trophy, extending his all-time record, and sixth Australian Open title, matching the all-time record of Roy Emerson and Novak Djokovic. At 36 years, 173 days, he became the third man in the Open Era (since April 1968) to win four Grand Slam championship trophies after turning 30 years old. This was the first time since 2008 US Open that he was able to successfully defend a Grand Slam title, and overall marked a historic record 10th Grand Slam title defense.
Rotterdam
Federer was given a wild card to play the Rotterdam Open, where he defeated Ruben Bemelmans and Phillip Kohlschreiber in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals. There, he defeated Robin Haase in three sets, which guaranteed him a return to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings the following week. At 36 years and 195 days of age, he surpassed Andre Agassi to become the oldest ATP World No. 1 by more than three years and broke the ATP record for the longest period between two stints at World No. 1 with 5 years and 106 days having elapsed since he last held the No. 1 ranking on 4 November 2012, as well as the record for the longest timespan between the first and most recent dates that he has held the No. 1 ranking: 14 years and 17 days. In the semi-finals, he defeated Andreas Seppi in straight sets before beating Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets in the final to win his second title of the year and his third title in Rotterdam, tying him with Arthur Ashe for most titles at this event. This victory also marked Federer's 97th tour level title and a record 20th ATP Tour 500 level title.
Indian Wells Masters
Federer proceeded to play in the first Masters 1000 tournament of the year, the Indian Wells Masters, knowing that he needed to reach the semifinals in order to keep his world No. 1 ranking. He received a first round bye and was victorious over Federico Delbonis and Filip Krajinović in rounds two and three. He then proceeded to defeat Jérémy Chardy in the fourth round and Chung Hyeon in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals, thus retaining his world No. 1 ranking. With a close semifinal victory over Borna Ćorić in three sets, Federer compiled a career-best 17–0 start to his season. However, in the final, he fell to Juan Martín Del Potro in a close three set match, despite having three match points in his own serve.
Miami Open
Federer entered the Miami Open as the defending champion, knowing that he needed to reach the quarterfinals in order to preserve his world No. 1 ranking. However, after receiving a first-round bye, he was upset by Australian qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round. At world No. 175, Kokkinakis was the lowest ranked player to defeat a world No. 1 since Francisco Clavet defeated Lleyton Hewitt at the same tournament in 2003. With this loss, he lost the world No. 1 ranking back to Rafael Nadal. Federer then announced that he would skip the entire clay court season, including the French Open, for the second consecutive year. Despite this, he spent one more week as world No. 1 - the week of 14 May 2018 - as a result of Nadal's quarterfinal loss in the Madrid Open. Nadal went on to regain the ATP Rankings' top position the following week, by winning the Italian Open.
Stuttgart Open
Federer returned to the ATP tour to play the Stuttgart Open, which marks the beginning of the grass court season. After a bye in the first round, he proceeded to defeat Mischa Zverev in three sets to advance to the quarterfinals, ending his streak of 30 consecutive sets won on grass. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Guido Pella in straight sets. He advanced to the final with a three-set victory over Nick Kyrgios, thereby reclaiming the ATP No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal in the following week, and defeated Milos Raonic in straight sets to win the Stuttgart Open for the first time and the 98th title of his career.
Halle Open
Federer advanced to the Halle Open, bidding for a tournament-record tenth title. He defeated Aljaž Bedene in straight sets in the first round, setting up a second round match against Benoît Paire which he won in a third set tiebreak after saving two match points. He defeated Matthew Ebden in the quarterfinals and qualifier Denis Kudla in the semifinals, both in straight sets, to reach the final. He faced Borna Ćorić in the final, but lost in three sets despite having a set point in the first set. This loss also meant that he dropped to world No. 2 after one week on top of the rankings. Nevertheless, the match saw an improvement in form from Federer, after a difficult run to the final.
Wimbledon
Federer moved on to play the Wimbledon Championships, looking to defend his 2017 title. He was seeded first in a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2012 US Open. During his first-round match, Federer walked onto Centre Court wearing Uniqlo sportswear, officially ending his 20-year relationship with Nike and confirming the rumoured ten-year $300 million contract with the Japanese clothing company. He went on to defeat Dušan Lajović, Lukáš Lacko, Jan-Lennard Struff and Adrian Mannarino, all in straight sets, to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, he surprisingly lost to Kevin Anderson in a long five-setter (lasting 4 hours and 14 minutes), with a result of 11-13 in the fifth set, despite having led by two sets to love and having held a match point in the third set.
Cincinnati Masters
On July 23rd, Federer announced the withdrawal from his previously scheduled Canadian Open, citing his career longevity strategy. This way, he began the North American hard court season in the Cincinnati Masters. He started his campaign by defeating Peter Gojowczyk and Leonardo Mayer in straight sets, setting up a clash with countryman Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals. He defeated Wawrinka in three sets, advancing to the semifinals to face David Goffin. Federer won the first set and Goffin was forced to retire in the second set with a shoulder injury. This set up a final between Federer and Novak Djokovic, which Federer lost in straight sets, adding the 46th chapter to their storied rivalry approximately two and a half years after their last meeting.
US Open
Federer moved on to play the US Open, the season's last major, as the No. 2 seed. He did not drop a set in the opening three rounds, defeating Yoshihito Nishioka, Benoît Paire and Nick Kyrgios in the first three rounds. However, Federer proceeded to lose in the fourth round against John Millman in four sets, having missed set points in the second and third sets before losing a fourth-set tiebreak. He committed 77 unforced errors, including 10 double faults, and only hit 49% of first serves in what was widely regarded as one of the worst serving performances of his career. However, Federer assured the amount of points needed to qualify for the ATP Finals for the sixteenth time in his career.
Shanghai Masters
Federer started the Asian swing by playing the Shanghai Masters, the eighth Masters 1000 tournament of the season. Due to the absence of his rival Rafael Nadal, the No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings, he was the first seed. As a top-eight seed, he earned a first round bye. In the second round, he defeated Daniil Medvedev in three sets, advancing to the third round, where he defeated Roberto Bautista Agut - also in three sets. In the quarterfinals he encountered No. 8 seed Kei Nishikori, defeating him in straight sets and advancing to a semifinal clash with the No. 13 seed, Borna Ćorić. It was their third meeting of the season, with one victory for each in the previous two. Federer ended up losing to Ćorić in straight sets and dropped to No. 3 in the ATP Rankings at the following week.
Swiss Indoors
Federer then moved on to play his home tournament, the Swiss Indoors, in Basel, as the defending champion. In an interview, Federer shared that he had sustained a hand injury in training prior to the grass court season that had caused severe pain in his forearm. He stated that this injury significantly hindered his play, particularly his forehand, from the Stuttgart Open until the US Open. In the first two rounds of the tournament, Federer defeated Filip Krajinović and Jan-Lennard Struff, in three and two sets respectively, advancing to the quarterfinals. There, he defeated Gilles Simon in a tough three-set match, reaching his 200th career semifinal. Federer then bested Daniil Medvedev and Marius Copil in straight sets in the semifinal and final respectively, claiming a record-extending ninth Basel title and the 99th title of his career.
Paris Masters
Although at the beginning of the season Federer was not expecting to play, he was featured in the draw of the Paris Masters, the last Masters 1000 tournament of the year, as the No. 3 seed. At October 30, he confirmed his presence in the tournament. After getting a bye in the first round, he was supposed to face Milos Raonic in the second round. However, Raonic was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to an elbow injury. Federer then advanced to the third round, where he defeated No. 13 seed Fabio Fognini in straight sets to set a quarterfinal clash with Kei Nishikori. In the quarterfinals he defeated Nishikori, also in straight sets, to set a semifinal match with Novak Djokovic, who was on a 21 match winning streak. In their 47th encounter, Federer lost to the red-hot serb in three very close sets, despite having a set point in the first set.
ATP Finals
Having qualified for the ATP Finals, Federer was drawn in the group Lleyton Hewitt with Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem and Kei Nishikori. In his first match, he lost in straight sets to Nishikori for his ninth defeat of the season. He then defeated Thiem and Anderson, both in straight sets, to ultimately win the group and secure a semifinal place in the tournament. However, in his fifteenth tournament semifinal, Federer lost in straight sets to eventual champion Alexander Zverev to finish the season.
Hopman Cup
As in the past two seasons, Roger Federer paired with Belinda Bencic at the Hopman Cup, representing Switzerland. Federer defeated Cameron Norrie from Great Britain, Frances Tiafoe from the United States and Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece, all in straight sets, to help Switzerland advance to the final. The tie against the United States was remarkable for staging the first-ever meeting between Federer and Serena Williams, arguably considered one of the best female tennis players of all time, in a mixed doubles match also involving Bencic and Tiafoe.
With Federer defeating Alexander Zverev in straight sets, and like in the previous year, they defeated Germany 2–1 in the final to clinch Federer's third and Switzerland's fourth Hopman Cup title overall. The mixed doubles title match was decided in the final point, with Bencic forcing an error from Zverev to help Switzerland win the match and the tournament.
Australian Open
As the two-time defending champion, Federer entered the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, the Australian Open, as the No. 3 seed. His first match was a straight-sets victory over Denis Istomin, followed by another one against Daniel Evans. In the third round he defeated Taylor Fritz, again in straight sets, but was upset by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round, losing in four tight sets.
Being the defending champion and as a result of losing in the fourth round, he dropped out of the Top 5 in the ATP Rankings. In a post-tournament interview, he admitted that he plans to play the clay court season in 2019, after two years of skipping it.
Dubai Tennis Championships
After skipping the tournament in 2018, Federer returned to Dubai to play the Dubai Tennis Championships. Having dropped to No. 7 in the world two weeks before, he was the tournament's No. 2 seed. In the first two rounds, he defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber and Fernando Verdasco in three sets, advancing to a quarterfinal match against Márton Fucsovics. Federer defeated Fucsovics in straight sets, booking his place in the semifinals to face the 22-year-old and No. 6 seed Borna Ćorić. He defeated Ćorić, also in straight sets, to set a final against another youngster, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in a rematch from their Australian Open encounter in January - which Federer lost. By defeating Tsitsipas in straight sets, Federer won the tournament and made history by becoming the second male tennis player in history to reach 100 singles titles. With his victory, he returned to No. 4 in the ATP Rankings.
Indian Wells Masters
Fresh off his victory in Dubai, Federer began his participation in the Indian Wells Masters by defeating Peter Gojowczyk in straight sets on the second round, after getting a first round bye. He then defeated his fellow countryman Stan Wawrinka in dominant fashion, also in straight sets, to book his first ever meeting with Kyle Edmund in the fourth round. He defeated Edmund in straight sets to secure a place in the quarterfinals, setting up another first ever encounter with Hubert Hurkacz. Federer defeated Hurkacz, again in two sets, to set a blockbuster semifinal with Rafael Nadal, which would have been the thirty-ninth meeting in their famous rivalry. However, Nadal was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to a knee injury sustained in his last match - and therefore, Federer reached a record-breaking ninth tournament final. In the final, he was defeated by the No. 7 seed Dominic Thiem in a three-set match.
Miami Open
Federer next played in the Miami Open as the No. 4 seed, following the withdrawal of Rafael Nadal. This was the first edition of the tournament following the location change from Key Biscayne to the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. After the usual first round bye, he defeated Radu Albot, Filip Krajinović and the No. 13 seed Daniil Medvedev in succession to advance to a quarterfinal match with the No. 6 seed Kevin Anderson. With a bagel in the first set, he defeated Anderson in straight sets to advance to a semifinal first meeting with the 19-year-old Denis Shapovalov. Federer ended up easily defeating Shapovalov to reach his third final of the season. He also became the first player to reach 50 Masters 1000 tournament finals, breaking the tie with Rafael Nadal. In the final, he defeated John Isner in straight sets to win the 28th Masters 1000 title of his career.
Madrid Open
For the first time in three years, Roger Federer committed to play the spring clay court season. His first tournament was the Madrid Open, a Masters 1000 tournament, which he played as the No. 4 seed. In his first clay court match since 2016, and after a first round bye, he defeated Richard Gasquet in straight sets - on the twentieth meeting between the two - in under an hour of play. In the third round, he defeated Gaël Monfils in three sets, with the final set decided in a tiebreak after saving two match points. Therefore, he reached the quarterfinals, where he lost to Dominic Thiem in three sets - this time squandering two match points himself in the second set tiebreak.
Italian Open
Following the loss at the Madrid Open, Federer confirmed his presence at the Italian Open on the week after. After a first round bye, and due to a rain delay on the day before, Federer defeated João Sousa - in straight sets - and Borna Ćorić - in a third set tiebreak, saving once again two match points - on the same day, in the second and third rounds, respectively, to qualify for the quarterfinals. However, he was forced to withdrew before the match against Stefanos Tsitsipas due to a right leg injury.
French Open
For the first time in four years, Federer played the season's second and only clay court major, the French Open. He entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed and made a successful return by defeating Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets. He advanced to the quarterfinals without losing a set, defeating lucky loser Oscar Otte, 20-year-old Casper Ruud, and Leonardo Mayer, to set up an encounter with compatriot and 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, who defeated him the last time he entered the tournament. After four tight sets, Federer defeated Wawrinka to set up a semifinal clash with Rafael Nadal, resuming their storied rivalry at the French Open for the sixth time. Federer ended up losing in straight sets to Nadal, ending his French Open run in the semifinals.
Halle Open
Federer opened his grass court season at the Halle Open, where he was a nine-time tournament winner, as the No. 1 seed. In the first round he defeated John Millman, who defeated him in the fourth round of last year's US Open. He then survived consecutive three-set battles against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Roberto Bautista Agut to advance to a fifteenth semifinal in Halle. There, he easily defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert to reach a record-extending thirteenth final, where he bested David Goffin in straight sets to capture a record-extending tenth Halle title and No. 102 overall.
Wimbledon
Due to his victory in Halle, Federer advanced to Wimbledon - the third Grand Slam of the season - as the No. 2 seed. He started the tournament with a four-set victory over Lloyd Harris. In the next three rounds, he defeated Jay Clarke, No. 27 seed Lucas Pouille and No. 17 seed Matteo Berrettini, without losing a set. In a quarterfinal clash with the world No. 7 Kei Nishikori, Federer won in four sets, advancing to his thirteenth Wimbledon semifinal and becoming the first man in history to win 100 matches at a Grand Slam tournament. Eleven years after their epic 2008 final, he defeated his rival Rafael Nadal in the semifinals after four sets. It was a remarkable fortieth encounter in their rivalry. Federer then faced Novak Djokovic in the final, against whom he lost in a five set thriller lasting four hours and fifty seven minutes, despite having two championship points on serve in the fifth set. The match also marked the first time in that a fifth set tiebreaker was played at 12 games all and was the longest men's final in Wimbledon history.
Cincinnati Masters
Federer made his first appearance since the Wimbledon final at the Cincinnati Masters, the season's seventh Masters 1000 tournament, as the No. 3 seed, after withdrawing from the Canadian Open played the week before. After a first round bye, he defeated Juan Ignacio Londero, in the second round, on his opening match. In the third round, however, he lost in straight sets to Andrey Rublev.
US Open
Federer moved on to New York City to play the US Open, the season's last Grand Slam, as the No. 3 seed. He opened his participation with a four-set win against qualifier Sumit Nagal, booking a second round encounter with Damir Džumhur. With this first round win, he qualified for a record-extending seventeenth ATP Finals. Despite losing the first set again, he defeated Džumhur in four sets. Then, Federer easily defeated Daniel Evans in the third round and David Goffin in the fourth round, both in straight sets, in 80 and 79 minutes, respectively, to advance to the quarterfinals. This marked the thirteenth time that Federer has reached the quarterfinal stage at the US Open, tying Andre Agassi and only trailing Jimmy Connors' seventeen times. He lost to Grigor Dimitrov in a five-setter, despite having taken a two-sets-to-one lead.
Shanghai Masters
Federer's return to the ATP Tour level tournaments happened in Shanghai, for the Shanghai Masters. He was the No. 2 seed and therefore had a bye in the first round. In the second and third rounds, he defeated Albert Ramos Viñolas and David Goffin, both in straight sets, to advance to a quarterfinal meeting against Alexander Zverev. Then, and despite having saved five match points in the second set, he ended up losing in three sets to Zverev.
Swiss Indoors
Federer advanced to his hometown tournament, the Swiss Indoors, as the two-time defending champion. His first round match, against Peter Gojowczyk, is remarkable for being the 1500th match of his career. He easily defeated Gojowczyk, in the first round, and Radu Albot, in the second round, both in straight sets, to reach a quarterfinal match against Stan Wawrinka. However, due to a back injury, Wawrinka was forced to withdraw from the match - and therefore, Federer advanced to the semifinals. In the semifinals, he defeated the world No. 7 Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, earning his fiftieth win of the season and successfully advancing to the tournament final. In the final, he defeated Alex de Minaur in straight sets to win a record-extending tenth Swiss Indoors title without dropping a set.
ATP Finals
The last official tournament of the season, for Federer, was the ATP Finals in London. As the No. 3 seed, he was drawn in the group Björn Borg along with Novak Djokovic, Dominic Thiem and Matteo Berrettini. His first match was a straight-set loss to Thiem, followed by a victory in straight sets against Berretini to keep him alive in the group standings. His last group match was a straight-set win against Djokovic, his first victory against him since the 2015 edition of the tournament. Therefore, he finished the group in second place and advanced to the semifinals. There, he lost in straight sets to Stefanos Tsitsipas, in the match that officially ended his season.
2020
Australian Open
Unlike in the previous years, Roger Federer officially started his season in the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, the Australian Open. He went through the first two rounds without any major challenge, defeating Steve Johnson and Filip Krajinović in straight sets. In the third round, he defeated John Millman in a fifth-set tiebreaker after four hours and three minutes of play. At the Australian Open, the deciding set tie-break is played to 10 points, instead of the more common 7 points; at one point Millman led 8-4, after which Federer won six consecutive points to claim the match. "Thank God it was a Match Tie-break, otherwise I would have lost this one", said Federer after the match.
In the fourth round, he defeated Márton Fucsovics in four sets. In the quarterfinals, he defeated Tennys Sandgren, saving seven match points in the fourth set and coming back from two sets to one down to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, he reignited his long-standing rivalry with the world No. 2 Novak Djokovic for the fiftieth time. He lost in straight sets, ending his participation at the tournament.
Legacy
Federer has been regarded by many pundits, coaches, past and present players as the greatest tennis player of all time. He dominated the game at his peak and has more grand slam titles than any other men's singles player. He is also the first ever men's singles player to have reached 10 consecutive grand slam finals and a total of 31 grand slam finals. He spent the most amount of time - in the open era - at the top of the ATP Rankings (310 weeks). He also holds the record of the most titles (6) at the year-end tournament, where only the year-end 8 highest ranked players participate.
Federer has won the ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favourite Award a record 16 times straight and the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award (voted for by the players) a record 13 times, both being awards indicative of respect and popularity. He also won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award twice in 2006 and 2013. He was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record four consecutive years (2005-2008). Federer is at times referred to as the Federer Express, shortened to Fed Express or FedEx, and the Swiss Maestro, or just Maestro.
Playing style
Federer's versatility was summarised by Jimmy Connors: "In an era of specialists, you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist, or a hard court specialist...or you're Roger Federer."
Federer is an all-court, all-round player known for his speed, fluid style of play, and exceptional 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 powerful, accurate 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 compared the brute force of Federer's forehand motion with that of "a great liquid whip", while John McEnroe has referred to Federer's forehand as "the greatest shot in our sport." Federer is also known for his efficient movement around the court and excellent footwork, which enables him to run around shots directed to his backhand and instead hit a powerful inside-out or inside-in forehand, one of his best shots.
Federer plays with a single-handed backhand, which gives him great variety. He employs the slice, occasionally using it to lure his opponent to the net and deliver a passing shot. Federer can also fire topspin winners and possesses a 'flick' backhand with which 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 also accomplished at serve and volleying, and employed this tactic frequently in his early career.
His speciality is a half-volley from the baseline which enables him to play close to the baseline and to pick up even the deeper shots very early after they bounce, giving his opponents less time to react. Later in his career Federer added the drop shot to his arsenal, and can perform a well-disguised one off 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 triple match point, on which he capitalised for a straight-set victory over the Serb. Federer is one of the top players who employs successfully the "squash shot", when he gets pushed deep and wide on his forehand wing. Since Stefan Edberg joined his coaching team at the start of the 2014 season, Federer has played a more offensive game, attacking the net more often, and improved his volley shots. In the lead up to the 2015 US Open, Federer successfully added a new unique shot to his arsenal called SABR (Sneak Attack by Roger), in which he charges his opponent, while receiving the serve, and hits a return on the run. Employed selectively, it allows Federer to rob his opponents of crucial time and heaping pressure on that first shot after the serve.
Equipment, apparel, and endorsements
Federer currently plays with the Wilson Prostaff RF97 Autograph, a 97 square inch tennis racquet with 21.5 mm beam, 360g weight, 8.5 pts HL, 68 Flex, 331 swing weight and 16x19 string pattern (all strung with overgrip). Previously, Federer played with a customised Wilson Pro Staff 6.1 90 BLX tennis racquet, which is characterised by its smaller hitting area of 90 square inches, heavy strung weight of 364 grams, and thin beam of 17.5 millimeters. His grip size is 4 3/8 inches (sometimes referred to as L3). Federer strings his racquets at 21.5 kg mains/20 kg crosses pre stretched 20%, utilizing Wilson Natural Gut 16 gauge for his main strings and Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power Rough 16L gauge (polyester) for his cross strings. When asked about string tensions, Federer stated "this depends on how warm the days are and with what kind of balls I play and against who I play. So you can see - it depends on several factors and not just the surface; the feeling I have is most important."
Federer has a contract with Nike footwear and apparel. For the 2006 championships at Wimbledon, Nike designed a jacket emblazoned with a crest of three tennis racquets, symbolising the three Wimbledon Championships he had previously won, and which was updated the next year with four racquets after he won the Championship in 2006. In Wimbledon 2008 and again in 2009, Nike continued this trend by making him a personalised cardigan. He also has his own logo, an R and F joined together. Federer's contract with Nike expired in March 2018, and he later signed a deal with Uniqlo.
Federer is one of the highest-earning athletes in the world. He is listed at number one on Forbes World's Highest Paid Athletes list. As of 2013 he remains the top earner in tennis with ten endorsement deals. He makes 40 to 50 million euros a year from prize money and endorsements from Nike and the Swiss companies Credit Suisse, Rolex, Lindt and Jura Elektroapparate. In 2010 his endorsement by Mercedes-Benz China was extended into a global partnership deal. His other sponsors include Nationale Suisse, Gillette, Wilson and Moët and Chandon. Previously, he was an ambassador for NetJets, Emmi AG and Maurice Lacroix.
Awards
1998
- ITF World Junior Champion
2003
- ATP European Player of the Year
- Swiss Sportsman of the Year
- Swiss of the Year
- Michael-Westphal Award
2004
- ATP European Player of the Year
- ATPTennis.com Fans' Favourite award
- ITF World Champion
- Sports Illustrated Tennis Player of the Year
- Swiss Sportsman of the Year
- Reuters International Sportsman of the Year
- BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
- International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year
- Golden Bagel Award
- European Sportsman of the Year
2005
- Ambassador of United Nations' Year of Sport and Physical Education
- Goldene Kamera Award
- ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2004)
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite
- Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2004)
- Michael-Westphal Award
- International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) Player of the Year
- International Tennis Writers Ambassador for Tennis
- Most Outstanding Athlete by the United States Sports Academy
- Freedom Air People's Choice Sports Awards International Sportsperson of the Year
- ITF World Champion
- ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
- La Gazzetta dello Sport named him World Sportsman of the Year
- European Sportsman of the Year
- The 'Prix Orange' Award
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 (for the year 2005)
- 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
- EFE's Sportsman of the Year
- Golden Bagel Award
- Most Outstanding Athlete of the Year by The United States Sports Academy
- European Sportsman of the Year
- La Gazzetta dello Sport named him World Sportsman of the Year
- The 'Prix Orange' Award
- Baccarat Athlete of the Year 2006
2007
- Time magazine named him as one of the 100 most important people in the world.
- 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 (for the year 2006)
- ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
- ESPY Best Male International Athlete
- ITF World Champion
- BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
- Tennis magazine's 2007 player of the year
- La Gazzetta dello Sport named him World Sportsman of the Year
- Swiss Sportsman of the Year
- The 'Prix Orange' Award
- Marca Leyenda
2008
- L'Equipe Magazine's Champion of Champions (for the year 2007)
- European Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2007)
- Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2007) – First ever winner of four Laureus World Sports Awards
- ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2007)
- Men's Doubles gold medalist partnering Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing, China
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- ATPTennis.com Fan's Favourite
- ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
- Swiss Team of the Year (with Stanislas Wawrinka)
- The 'Prix Orange' Award
2009
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- ATPWorldtour.com (formerly ATPTennis.com) Fan's Favourite
- Talksport Hall of Fame
- ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
- Ehrespalebaerglemer award. An award given to outstanding citizens of the city of Basel.
- ATPWorldtour.com Player of the Decade
- ITF World Champion
- European Sportsman of the Year
- One of Sports Illustrated's Athletes of the Decade
- Listed at #27 on the Forbes Celebrity 100
- European Sportsman of the Year
- The 'Prix Orange' Award
- Best Match of the Year
2010
- International Tennis Writers' Association's Ambassador of the Year
- ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
- ATP Player of the Year (for the year 2009)
- ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favourite
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- MARCA magazine's Sportsman of the Decade
- Listed at #29 on the Forbes Celebrity 100
- Compeed Elegance Award
2011
Special thanks to RF Official, ATP, Getty Images, Reuters, AP- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- ATPWorldtour.com Fans' Favourite
- Listed at #25 on the Forbes Celebrity 100
- Best Grand Slam/Davis Cup Match of the Year
- Listed at #1 in 100 Greatest of All Time by Tennis Channel
- Listed at #31 on the Forbes Celebrity 100
- Listed at #5 in Forbes list of 100 richest athletes of world.
- Men's Singles Silver medalist at 2012 Olympic Games held in London, England.
- ATPWorldtour.com Fans' Favourite
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- Swiss Sportsman of the Year
- Hello Magazine's Most Attractive Man of 2012
- Jean Borotra CQS Sportsmanship Award
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- ATPWorldtour.com Fans' Favourite
- Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year
2014
Source: Wikipedia
- US Open Sportsmanship Award
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- ATPWorldtour.com Fans' Favourite
- Swiss Sportsman of the Year
- Swiss Team of the Year (with Stanislas Wawrinka, Marco Chiudinelli, Michael Lammer, Severin Lüthi)
- Best Grand Slam Match of the Year
- Davis Cup Most Valuable Player (shared with Stan Wawrinka)
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- ATPWorldtour.com Fans' Favourite
- International Tennis Writers' Association's Ambassador of the Year
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- ATPWorldtour.com Fans' Favourite
- Most Stylish Man of the Year by GQ
- Comeback Player of the Year
- Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award
- ATPWorldtour.com Fans' Favourite
- Swiss Sportsman of the Year
- BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year
- ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
- AIPS Athletes of the Year
- L'Equipe Magazine's Champion of Champions
- Best Grand Slam match of the year
- Best ATP World Tour match of the year
- La Gazzetta dello Sport named him World Sportsman of the Year
- Eurosport International Athlete of the Year
- International Tennis Writers' Association's Ambassador of the Year (for the year 2017)
- European Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2017)
- Laureus World Sportsman of the Year (for the year 2017)
- Laureus World Comeback of the Year (for the year 2017)
- ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
- ATPWorldtour.com Fans' Favourite
- Best Record-Breaking Performance ESPY Award
- Best ATP World Tour match of the year
- ESPY Best Male Tennis Player
- Best Grand slam match of the year
- ATPWorldtour.com Fans' Favourite
- Most Stylish Man of the Decade by GQ
Source: Wikipedia
Federer is a maestro! He is the best ever tennis player the world could see. What a man he is yaar! No one can replace his position. Hats off to his all records.............
ReplyDeleteno one imagine tennis without roger federer
ReplyDeleteRoger Federer has no equal. The GREATEST TENNIS PLAYER IN HISTORY! Also a great man as well. Federer is tennis. Comfortable on all surface, great server, great aray of skills, one of the best shot makers in the game and also his backhand is not bad either. Lets hope he win a few more grand slams.
ReplyDeleteMAN I WISH MY SON ONE DAY CAN PLAY LIKE FED. GREAT PLAYER AND SPORTSMAN.
ReplyDelete