You don't often see professional tennis players smiling at their own shots, but Roger Federer couldn't
resist a grin when he flicked a half-volley backhand passing shot - from just inside the baseline - down
the line for an outright winner on his way to victory over James Blake in the final of the
Masters Cup. "I had to laugh at one stage at how well I was playing, I always came up with a great answer,
you know," he revealed afterwards. "I was in control pretty much all the time. Everything I wanted to do
worked. To come to this point in my career where I feel so happy with my game, it's come such a long way,
you know, that I also am out of words really to describe this performance." It's a wonder he can play
without laughing himself silly these days. His third Masters Cup success in four years - and he might also
have won last year, had he not been hampered by an ankle injury - took him so far ahead in the world rankings
that he will break Jimmy Connors' record of 160 consecutive weeks as world number one next February even
if he doesn't hit another ball between now and then.
The winner's cheque took Federer past $8 million in prize money for the year. No one has ever
earned as much in a single season. In just nine years, he has accumulated a staggering $29,576,458 and that
excludes the money he earns from endorsements. Extending his latest winning streak to 29 matches, the Swiss
swept imperiously to his record-equalling 12th title of the year, leaving the hapless Blake grasping at
thin air during the rallies and grasping for appropriate words in the post-match interviews. "I've probably
run out of adjectives to describe him on the court, to talk about his excellence," said the shell-shocked
American. "He's just unbelievable. He steps it up even more in finals. I definitely think I could have
played a little better, but to be perfectly honest, I don't know if it would have mattered."
At the age of twelve, Federer decided to focus on tennis - he was keen on football too - and went on
to enjoy outstanding success as a junior, finishing top of the world junior rankings in 1998. He made his
debut for the Swiss Davis Cup team the following year and finished 1999 as the youngest player inside the
ATP top 100. The following year, he reached the semi-finals at the Sydney Olympics and was runner-up in
Basel and Marseille. His first title came in Milan in February 2001. He raised a few eyebrows at Wimbledon
that year, defeating four-time defending champion Pete Sampras. However, 2002 was a difficult year for him. He
suffered early-round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open and was upset by the untimely
loss of his long-time coach and mentor, Peter Carter, in a car crash. On July 6 2003, he overcame big-serving
Australian Mark Philippoussis in the Wimbledon final to clinch his first Grand Slam title. The French
Open title has so far eluded him, but he has now won each of the other three tennis majors at least twice.
Since 2005, he has worked part-time with Aussie coach Tony Roche.
Off-court, Federer enjoys playing card games, table tennis and other sports. He is a fervent fan of his
hometown soccer team FC Basel. He launched the Roger Federer Foundation in December 2003 with the object of
promoting sport for young people, particularly disadvantaged children in South Africa (his mother, Lynette,
is South African). In January 2005, he galvanised efforts to raise funds for the victims of the Indian Ocean
tsunami and, earlier this year, he was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He is a cultured, multilingual
man who speaks English, German, Swiss German, French and some Swedish and Italian. He plays a little piano
and likes classic rock and classical music. Few players look as composed and unflappable as Roger
Federer, but he was emotional on court as a boy and ruffled quite a few feathers with his frequent
tantrums.
Here is a list of some of Roger Federer's achievements in the game so far:
- Longest ever winning streak - 35 matches (2005).
- Longest ever winning streak on grass - 48 and counting!
- Longest winning streak (29) in Masters Series events (2005-6).
- Longest winning streak (56) on hard courts (2005-6).
- Longest winning streak in finals (24 titles between October 2003 and September 2005).
Federer is the only player to win at least 10 titles in a season without losing in a final.
- Longest winning streak (26) against top ten ranked opponents (from October 2003 to January
2005).
- The first man in the open era to reach six consecutive Grand Slam finals.
- One of only two players (along with Ivan Lendl) to appear in 10 consecutive Grand Slam
semi-finals.
- One of only four players (along with Stefan Edberg, Pat Cash and Bjorn Borg) to win Wimbledon
at both junior and senior level.
- First player to win four Tennis Masters Series titles in one season.
- The only player to win the first two Masters Series events of the year two years in a
row (2005, 2006).
- One of only two players (along with Andre Agassi) to win the seven major hardcourt titles (4
Masters Series events plus the Australian Open, the US Open, and the year-end Tennis Masters
Cup).
- Inflicted the first "double bagel" in a Masters Cup match when he defeated Gaston Gaudio 6-0 6-0
in 2005.
- One of only three men in the open era to win four consecutive men's singles titles at Wimbledon
(the other two were Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras).
- The only man to win both Wimbledon and the US Open in the same year for 3 consecutive years
(2004-6).
- The first player since Rod Laver in 1961-62 to reach six consecutive Grand Slam finals (2005-6).
- The first man in the open era to win his first four Grand Slam finals (eventually this became
seven before he lost to Rafael Nadal in the 2006 French Open final).
- The first player since Bjorn Borg in 1979 to win consecutive tournaments on three different
surfaces (Wimbledon on grass, Gstaad on clay, followed by Toronto on hard court - in 2004).
- The second best ever winning percentage in a season (95.3 in 2005) (John McEnroe's 82-3 record
in 1984 puts him ahead with a percentage of 96.5).
- The fifth player since the advent of ATP computer rankings to rank No. 1 every week during a
calendar year (along with Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras, and Lleyton Hewitt). Federer
accomplished this feat in both 2005 and 2006.
- The first player in history to make more than $8m in a season (2006).
Federer recorded 70 wins or more in four consecutive seasons (2003: 78-17, 2004: 74-6, 2005:
81-4, 2006: 92-5). He has won 94 percent of his matches in the last three years and
captured 67 percent of the tournaments he has entered (33 titles in 48 tournaments,
including 8 of 12 Grand Slams). He failed to reach the final in just one tournament in 2006.
Exhausted after winning the Toronto Masters just four days earlier, he slipped to defeat at
the hands of 19-year-old Briton Andy Murray in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters.
Only Murray and Rafael Nadal posted wins against the world number one this season. Nadal
actually managed the feat on four occasions, three times on clay and once on a hard court,
but Federer has started to re-establish his authority over the Spaniard by winning their last
two encounters.
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