The Roger Federer Story
Written on September 28th, 2022 by {"login"=>"jcbphc21", "email"=>"f20181005@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in", "display_name"=>"Journal Club, BPHC", "first_name"=>"Journal Club", "last_name"=>"BPHC"}Roger Federer announced his retirement from professional tennis on September 15th 2022. The Swiss maestro’s professional career spans over 20 years, he has been part of some incredible storylines, tournaments and matches that have helped him evolve year on year. From a ball boy in his native city of Basel, to a prodigious amateur, winning the junior’s Wimbledon title in 1998, to a promising young star who seemed unable to fulfill his potential due to a poor temperament, to an all time great of the sport. Here is the Roger Federer story.
Federer’s professional career started at the 1998 Swiss Open Gstaad in his home country of Switzerland. Coming off the heels of a Junior’s Wimbledon singles and doubles title, the expectations were high for the Swiss teenager. Even through his interviews as a 16 year old, you could tell the guy was special. The curiosity and endearing persona he displayed then carries on till this day, you could tell he just loves tennis, perhaps more than anyone. Federer drew former world number 1 Andre Agassi at the 1998 Swiss Indoors and was beaten handedly with a scoreline of 2-6 3-6. But the story on the court was very different, it was as if we were watching a young Pete Sampras, the movement, the ground strokes, they were mesmerizing to watch. In the 3 year period from 1998 to 2000, you could see glimpses of brilliance from Federer, every match seemed like a showcase of what could become but he lacked consistency and identity in his game. He was mentally weak, he so often would just break emotionally and throw away matches that he should’ve won. All of this may seem so far-fetched now but Federer was almost like a cry baby, he shouted, threw tantrums and his rackets and allowed his emotions to get the better of him, he acted like what he really was, a teenager. He wasn’t like Nadal or Becker or Agassi, he wasn’t winning big decisive games and titles at the age of 17 or 18, it took him a while to piece everything together.
Federer’s first career breakthrough came in 2001, in February he won his first singles ATP title at Milan Indoors and made the quarter finals of the French Open, launching him into the top 15 in the world for the first time. Then came Federer’s first truly iconic milestone and match, a round 4 match-up at Wimbledon against the 4 time defending champion and then the greatest grass court player in the history of tennis, Pete Sampras. Sampras had long been an idol of Federer, in his own words, it felt unreal to share a court with Sampras, hitting balls across the net to Sampras on the center court of Wimbledon was something Federer could have only dreamed about. What followed was one of the most extraordinary matches of the year, a five set grand slam classic, a perfect showdown between the apprentice and the master. Federer won the match 7-6 5-7 6-4 6-7 7-5, ending the match with a signature forehand down the line. The baton in men’s tennis had been passed to a new generation, the moment was just too much for him, he was overcome with emotions, the 19 year old had just defeated the great Pete Sampras in an incredible match on his first appearance in center court. Federer lost in the quarter-finals to Tim Henman but the questions had been answered, could Federer’s talent translate itself to winning tennis at the highest level against the best opponents ? Yes.
In 2003, Roger Federer won his first grand slam title at Wimbledon, beating Andy Roddick in the semifinals and Mark Philippousis in the Final. The breakthrough lifted all the burden off of Federer’s shoulders at last, he was a grand slam champion, a Wimbledon champion, and no one could ever take that away from him. Both the mental and physical sides of the game were in sync, gone were the days of him acting out and breaking down mentally on the court. At just 21 years old, he was already one of the best in the world and his ascent to the throne of men’s tennis was only a matter of time. Federer finished 2003 with 7 ATP tour titles along with ATP Finals finishing the year as world number 2.
The period between 2004 and 2009 are sometimes called the ‘Federer Years’. During this span he won 14 of the 20 grand slams, 13 out of 15 grand slams held on grass and hard courts. Other rivals tried their best to compete with him but he was truly on another stratosphere compared to the competition. His game had fully developed now, and to devastating effect. Beauty isn’t the goal or objective of sport, but Federer managed to combine both beauty and excellence that is so incredible. He ushered in the most dominant stretch in the history of tennis but also managed to make it look effortless and magical. His ability to control time during the course of a rally gave him a huge advantage, taking away time from the opponent by taking the ball early and extracting extra time for himself on returns using his precise and efficient footwork. He moved like no other before him, he flowed like water on the court. The whip-like forehand, incredible hand skills, knifing slice and elegant backhand, his game was otherworldly during this time.
It was only with the arrival of his great rival Rafael Nadal that he found a foil to his outright dominance. He lost to Nadal in four consecutive years at the French Open from 2005 to 2008. It felt like as long as Nadal was around, no one, not even Federer could stop him at The French Open, or clay for that matter. Nadal defeated Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final and the 2009 Australian Open final, cementing Nadal as champion on all courts and ending Federer’s 237 week long reign as the world number 1. Federer finally won his first and till date only French Open title in 2009, finally winning all the grand slams and completing the career grand slam. He won the slam that had eluded him for so long thanks in part to Robin Soderling miraculously eliminating Nadal in the fourth round making Federer the overwhelming favourite, but the road to the finals still wasn’t easy. He came from 2 sets and a breakpoint down against Tommy Haas in the quarter-finals and another 5 set comeback win against a young Juan Martin del Potro in the semi-finals to set up a final against Soderling. Federer cruised to a straight sets win to capture the title and in the process tie Pete Sampras’ record of 14 grand slam titles.
Throughout 2010, 2011 and 2012, Federer still enjoyed great success by most player’s standards but his reign of dominance had come to an end. He still won 2 more Grand Slams reaching a tally of 17. His progress at a lot of tournaments was thwarted due to the emergence of young talent like Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and especially Novak Djokovic. With a record equaling 7th Wimbledon title in 2012, Federer returned to world number 1. 2013 was the worst year of his career so far, back injuries completely derailed the first half of his season from March to July and this was capped off by a famous second round elimination at Wimbledon by Sergiy Stakhovsky. He tried playing through these injuries but it only made the situation worse in some cases. At 32 years of age, fans and the media thought he was washed up. Federer came back healthy and in a lot better physical state in 2014 but major success was hard to come by. Federer was dominated by Djokovic throughout 2014 to 2016, losing to him in multiple semifinals and finals of major tournaments, including 2 grand slam finals. In 2016, Federer’s season was cut due to a knee injury that required surgery. The sudden withdrawal meant that 2016 was his first season since 2000 that he failed to win the title and the first time since 2002 that he’d be ranked outside that world’s top 10. All of this combined with the fact that his grand slam drought stretched over 4 years now led many analysts to believe that his career was coming to an end.
All of the doubts and speculations over the end of Federer led to one of the most amazing renaissance stories in sports history. In 2017, Federer entered the Australian Open as a mere 17th seed. He defeated Tomas Berdych, Kie Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka in a Cinderella run to the final, making him the oldest finalist in a grand slam since Ken Roswall in 1974. And what a dream final it ended up being, it was hard to believe that both the aging Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer made it to the final after both players having gone through season ending surgeries in 2016.The match was an instant classic, a five set thriller with both athletes at the top of their games. Despite being a clear underdog, Federer won the match and the title 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 after coming back from a break down in the 5th set, with a now famous piece of commentary by Mark Pechi echoing throughout tennis history, “In a career of extraordinary achievements, this might just be his greatest”. He then went onto win both Indian Wells and Miami Masters to cap off an incredible hard court season. His dominance on the hard courts was a product of tweaks in his approach, pretty much ditching his backhand slice, emphasising on taking the ball early on his backhand and hitting through the ball. With a win at Halle, Federer then went onto cruise to record breaking 8th Wimbledon title and record extending 19th grand slam title. The stats from the season are remarkable for sure, but this was so much more than that, the perfect prince of tennis was back on top when everyone wrote him off, he lifted the sport up once again, all of it felt unreal, he had instilled magic back into the sport. Federer would go on to win his 20th grand slam at the 2018 Australian Open.
Federer announced his retirement this year due recurring injuries and surgeries over the past 3 years, bringing an end to one of the most illustrious and distinguished careers in all of sports. 103 career titles, 20 of them being grand slams, a record 237 consecutive weeks as world number one and 8 Wimbledon titles. Even with these great many titles and records, perhaps his greatest achievement in the sport is the notoriety and recognition he brought to tennis. He is the greatest ambassador this sport has had. The grace and elegance with which he played the game has captivated fans all over the world, inspiring a whole generation of kids to pick up a tennis racket, I mean he is the reason why I fell in love with this sport. A genius of the game, the joy he played with was contagious. The universal adoration and admiration he garners from his peers is unparalleled. His funny, easy going and eccentric personality made him beloved by all. The outpouring of love and support given to him at the Laver Cup this is indicative of it. All of this has made Federer one of the most iconic and revered athletes of all time. Thank you for everything Roger, you’ll be missed.