Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swissprofessional tennis player. As of September 2009, he is ranked world number 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), having previously held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks.[6] Many sports analysts, tennis critics, and former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time.[7][8][9][10][11]
Federer has won 15 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other male player. He is one of six male players to have captured the career Grand Slam. Federer has appeared in an unprecedented 21 career Grand Slam finals, and as of September 2009, has reached the semi-finals or better of the last 22 Grand Slam tournaments, a streak that spans over five years.[12] Federer also holds the record of reaching 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals and has appeared in 17 of the last 18. As a result of his successes in tennis, Federer was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for four consecutive years (2005–2008).
At the start of the year, Federer hired former Australian player Tony Roche to coach him on a limited basis.[44] He reached the Australian Open semi-finals before falling to eventual winner Safin 5–7, 6–4, 5–7, 7–6(6), 9–7.[45] He rebounded to win the year's first two ATP Masters Seriestitles: 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.[46] 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.[47] 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.
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.[82] He then lost in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour 250 series tournament inDoha, Qatar to Murray 6–7(6), 6–2, 6–2. Federer won the AAMI Classicexhibition 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 Tomas 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.[83] Federer blamed the defeat on a lack of rhythm in his first serve.[84] 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".[85]
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