Roger Federer  
 

  • Roger lost his first junior match to Reto Schmidli, 6-0, 6-0. It was the one and only time Roger was shutout in his life.
  • After going 4-6 in finals from 2000 to 2002, Roger went 18-2 in 2003 and 2004.
  • Roger’s 11 victories in 2004 were the most by a #1 player since Ivan Lendl won 11 in 1985.
  • Roger finished 2004 with a 13-final winning streak, establishing a new all-time record. He won his first final of 2005, in Doha, to extend this streak.
  • Roger’s $6.3 million in earnings in 2004 rank second all-time. Pete Sampras, with $6.4 million in 1997, is still first.
  • After losing seven of nine pro matches to fellow junior sensation Lleyton Hewitt, Roger destroyed him in 2004, going 6-0. He beat the Aussie on every surface, and defeated him in each of their Grand Slam meetings.
  • Roger’s 6-0, 7-6, 6-0 win over Lleyton Hewitt in the 2004 US Open marked the first time a player had been double-bageled in the U.S. final.
  • The only players besides Roger to win three Grand Slam tournaments in the same year during the Open era are Rod Laver, Jimmy Connors and Mats Wilander.
  • Roger is the first Swiss man to win a Grand Slam singles title.
  • Roger lost his first 11 professional matches on clay.
  • Roger played only one Davis Cup tie under Peter Carter before Carter died. He beat Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov in singles, but Switzerland lost 3-2.
  • In 2002, Roger decided against building a home in Switzerland. Instead, he went in 50-50 with his parents on a hillside mansion in the Basel suburb of Bottmingen.
  • Swiss officials presented Roger with a gigantic Alphorn after he won Wimbledon in 2004.
  • Roger carried the Swiss flag during the opening ceremonies for the Summer Games in Athens in 2004.
  • After the 2004 season, Roger flew to the UN and joined Kofi Annan to proclaim 2005 as the International Year of Sport and Physical Education.
  • Roger was voted the ATP Tour’s most popular player in 2004.
  • Roger travels with trainer Pierre Paganini and Pavel Kovac. He went to most tournaments in 2004 without a coach.
  • Roger hired Aussie legend Tony Roche as a part-time coach early in 2005.
  • Roger is a huge fan of American professional wrestling.
  • One of Roger’s best non-tennis friends is NHL star Ziggy Palffy.
  • Roger’s favorite athlete is French soccer star Zinedine Zidane. His favorite team is FC Basel.


 

 


Ivan Lendl, 1986 Sports Ilustrated


Mats Wilander, 1993 NetPro


Ziggy Palffy, 1992 Classic

 

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