60 Fun Facts About Roger Federer

Federer was born on 8 August of which year?

He was born in Basel and turned professional in 1998.

How many Grand Slam men's singles titles did Federer win?

At the 2018 Australian Open he became the first man to reach that number.

How many Wimbledon singles titles did Federer win, a men's record?

He also shares the Open Era record of five US Open men's titles.

For how many consecutive weeks did Federer hold the world No. 1 ranking, a record?

His total of 310 weeks at the top is second only to Novak Djokovic.

How many ATP Tour singles titles did Federer win in his career?

Only Jimmy Connors has won more since the Open Era began in 1968.

Whom did Federer beat in the final to win his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2003?

He beat Roddick in the semifinals and dedicated the title to his late childhood coach.

Which four-time defending champion did the 19-year-old Federer beat at Wimbledon in 2001?

It was his international breakthrough, ending the American's 31-match Wimbledon streak.

In which city did Federer win his first ATP singles title, in 2001?

He beat Julien Boutter in the final of the indoor event.

Federer completed the career Grand Slam at the 2009 French Open by beating whom in the final?

The Swede had earlier knocked out four-time champion Nadal, opening the door.

Federer broke Sampras's record of 14 majors at Wimbledon 2009, winning the fifth set by what score?

It was the longest Grand Slam final ever in games played; Andy Roddick was the opponent.

How many matches did Federer and Rafael Nadal play against each other between 2004 and 2019?

Nadal won 24 to Federer's 16, dominating on clay while Federer led on grass and hard courts.

What was the fifth-set score when Nadal beat Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final?

The 4-hour-48-minute match is widely called the greatest ever played.

How many consecutive Wimbledon titles had Federer won before losing the 2008 final?

The run from 2003 to 2007 equalled Björn Borg's record.

What was Federer's record grass-court winning streak, ended by the 2008 Wimbledon final?

It stretched back to June 2003 and remains the Open Era men's record.

With which illness was Federer diagnosed in early 2008, sapping his fitness that season?

He may have been suffering from it since December 2007.

Who was Federer's coach from age 10, whom he credited for his 'entire technique and coolness'?

The Australian died in a car crash in 2002, a loss Federer called a wake-up call.

Which veteran Czech coach gave Federer his first tennis instruction at the Old Boys club in Basel?

He said Federer picked up new skills in three or four tries while others needed weeks.

Federer's childhood idols Edberg, Becker and Sampras all shared which stroke that he adopted?

He later hired Edberg himself as coach in 2014.

At what age did Federer first play tennis, at his parents' company courts?

Both parents worked for Ciba-Geigy Pharmaceuticals in Basel.

From which country does Federer's mother Lynette come?

He holds dual Swiss and South African citizenship as a result.

Which champion handed the ball boy Federer a medal after the 1993 Swiss Indoors final in Basel?

Federer later won the tournament a record number of times himself.

Which sport did Federer give up at age 12 to focus solely on tennis?

He grew up supporting FC Basel and later unveiled the Swiss national team's World Cup jersey.

Whom did Federer beat in the 1998 Wimbledon boys' singles final?

He also won the boys' doubles that year with Olivier Rochus.

With whom did Federer win Olympic doubles gold at Beijing 2008?

The same pair led Switzerland to its first Davis Cup title in 2014.

Who beat Federer in the 2012 Olympic singles final, denying him a career Golden Slam?

Federer had beaten Murray in the Wimbledon final on the same courts a few weeks earlier.

Whom did Federer beat to clinch Switzerland's first Davis Cup title in 2014?

The final was played in Lille against France.

Whom did Federer beat in the 2017 Wimbledon final to claim a record eighth title without dropping a set?

At 35 he became the oldest man to win Wimbledon in the Open Era.

How old was Federer when he returned to the ATP world No. 1 ranking in February 2018?

He returned to the top 14 years after first getting there, becoming the oldest man to hold the ranking at that time.

How many times did Federer win the Australian Open?

His 2018 win equalled the then record shared by Roy Emerson and Novak Djokovic.

Federer and Djokovic met 50 times. What was Djokovic's winning margin in the head-to-head?

They are tied 4-4 on clay; Djokovic won all three of their Wimbledon finals.

What was Federer's head-to-head record against Andy Roddick?

Roddick himself said it was not much of a rivalry because it was so one-sided.

What does the acronym SABR stand for in Federer's game?

He charged forward on second serves to hit a half-volley return from the service line.

Which coach did Federer credit for encouraging him to develop the SABR?

Lüthi was on Federer's team from 2007 until his retirement.

Which former champion joined Federer's coaching team in early 2014, prompting a more attacking game?

That same season Federer switched to a bigger racket for the first time in his career.

In 2014 Federer switched racket head size from 90 square inches to what?

His rivals had long used more powerful frames of 95 to 100 square inches.

Which racket brand made Federer's signature Pro Staff RF97 Autograph frame?

He strung it with natural gut mains and polyester crosses.

Who originally designed Federer's famous joined RF logo?

It first appeared on a personalised Nike cardigan at Wimbledon in 2008.

Which clothing company signed Federer to a reported $300 million deal after his Nike contract ended in 2018?

Nike had reportedly paid him about $10 million a year.

Federer's minority stake in which Swiss shoe brand helped make him a billionaire, according to Forbes?

He became a shareholder in November 2019 and a lifestyle shoe named The Roger followed in 2020.

Where did Federer meet his future wife Mirka Vavrinec?

Both were competing for Switzerland; they married in Riehen in April 2009.

Federer and Mirka have four children born in which combination?

Identical girls arrived in 2009 and fraternal boys in 2014.

Why was Federer discharged from compulsory Swiss military service in 1999?

He was later ruled unsuitable and instead paid 3 percent of his taxable income.

What nickname did the US press give the Swiss star's all-black tuxedo-striped outfit at the 2007 US Open?

The tournament played The Imperial March when he walked on court.

In 2019 Federer became the first living person on a Swiss coin. What denomination was it?

A 50-franc gold coin with a different design followed in 2020.

Whom did Federer beat in a 2016 poll to be named the most recognisable Swiss person?

He received 916 votes to William Tell's 316 and Einstein's 204.

Which team competition, named after an Australian legend, did Federer help create?

His management company TEAM8 was one of the founders; the first edition was held in Prague in 2017.

Federer's final match in 2022 was a doubles loss alongside Nadal against which pair?

He said he would keep playing tennis, just not in Grand Slams or on the tour.

In which city was the 2022 Laver Cup, Federer's farewell event, held?

It was the first edition won by Team World.

Which billionaire partnered Federer in doubles at the 2018 Match for Africa in San Jose?

Federer famously won a point on his knees during the match.

How many ATP sportsmanship awards, named after a Swedish great, did Federer win, a record?

He also won a record 19 consecutive ATP Fans' Favourite awards from 2003 to 2021.

Which writer compared Federer's forehand to a 'great liquid whip'?

John McEnroe called the same shot the greatest in the sport.

What did the city of Basel launch in October 2021 in Federer's honour?

It was named The Federer Express and decorated with images of his career.

Federer's 'tweener' brought him triple match point against Djokovic in the semifinal of which event?

He went on to lose the final to Juan Martín del Potro.

Federer's parents both worked for which Basel company, whose private courts he first played on?

He and his sister Diana went there at weekends; his mother Lynette is an Afrikaner from Kempton Park, South Africa.

Where was the Swiss National Tennis Center, where Federer trained from 1995 to 1997, then located?

In that French-speaking setting he learned French at 14 and finished his compulsory schooling in commercial studies.

Federer lost his first ATP singles final, at Marseille in February 2000, to which fellow Swiss?

He entered the Top 50 the next month and ended 2000 ranked 29th in the world.

With whom did Federer win his only doubles Masters title, at Miami in 2003?

They beat Leander Paes and David Rikl in the final during Federer's breakthrough season.

Federer's 2004 triple of majors made him the first man to do it in one season since whom?

Wilander did it in 1988; Federer's first hard-court major that year came over Marat Safin in Melbourne and made him No. 1 for the first time.

Which Australian Open did Federer win without dropping a set, the first man to do so at a major since Borg in 1980?

He beat Fernando González in the final and then took a fourth Dubai crown to stretch his winning streak to 41 matches.

Which Croatian former world No. 3 replaced Stefan Edberg on Federer's coaching team from 2016?

Severin Lüthi stayed on as head coach; Edberg had originally signed for one season in 2014 but stayed for two.