A Short Biography of Tennis Star Roger Federer

Roger Federer has established himself as a successful tennis player–and an icon of the sport. He has earned more than $130,000 million in prize money throughout his 40-year-old’s portfolio of sponsors, which includes Mercedes-Benz, LVMH, and Switzerland Tourism, is unrivaled in the world of sport. In 2020, he was declared the highest-paid athlete in the world.

His success has attracted both fans and critics — all of whom are always curious about the famous yet private tennis player who has smashed and set remarkable records. Roger Federer was born in Basel, Switzerland, to a Swiss father and South African mother on August 8, 1981. Sports was an early interest for Federer, and he was already playing both soccer and tennis when he was just eight years old. By the time he was 11, he had claimed a spot among Switzerland’s Top 3 Junior Tennis Players.

A year later, by the time he was 12, he decided to focus squarely on tennis, where he was more proficient. While practicing or playing, he would imitate Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, his favorite players and idols. He put so much effort and time into the sport that by the age of 14, Federer was practicing about six hours a week plus an extra three hours of conditioning. He was playing about two, three tournaments a month at that rate. He soon became national junior champion in Switzerland at the age of 14 and joined the Swiss National Tennis Center in Ecublens for further training.

Before Federer turned pro in 1998, he won the Orange Bowl and the junior Wimbledon title. He also won the Wimbledon boys’ singles and doubles titles. Even the International Tennis Foundation recognized him as its World Junior Tennis champion in the same year.

After turning professional, Federer surprised tennis fans worldwide when he defeated Pete Sampras, the defending singles champion, in the fourth round at the 2001 Wimbledon event. Two years later, Federer returned to the Wimbledon arena and emerged winner of the Grand Slam title, becoming the first Swiss player to do so.

The following year was filled with many successes for Federer. In 2004, he occupied the second position on the world’s ranking list. He retained his Wimbledon singles title and went on to win the ATP Masters, the Australian Open, and the U.S. Open. By the beginning of the 2005 season, Federer had risen to the top of the list and ranked №1. And for three years in a row, Federer remained Wimbledon singles champion.

Federer was decorated Laureus World Sportsman of the Year from 2005 to 2008 to recognize his skill on the court. He maintained his top position on the world’s ranking list from 2004 to 2008. During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Federer collected the singles championship titles for Wimbledon, the Australian Open, and the U.S. Open.

In 2009, Federer won the French Open and completed the career Grand Slam. He won another Wimbledon title and surpassed Pete Sampras’ record with the 15 Grand Slam singles titles he amassed. By 2012, Federer’s career had established him as a maverick of the sport. He completed the season as №1 on the world’s ranking and yet again set a record for remaining number one on the world ranking for 302 weeks.

Federer is currently ranked 16 on the Association of Tennis Professionals world rankings. In his career, he has claimed 20 Grand Slam men’s singles titles, a record he set and now shares with Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. He has won about 103 ATP singles titles and the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award 13 times.