The “Swiss Maestro Roger Federer” a legend of tennis known for winning 20 Grand Slam singles titles, decided to retire at the age of 41 in September-2022 after the Laver Cup in London O2 Arena. Because of his professionalism, adaptability, and cool manner both on and off the court, he rose to prominence in tennis history. Federer is nicknamed “Federer Express” (“Fed Express” or “FedEx”) and is sometimes referred to as “King Roger”.
Federer has reportedly amassed a net worth of $5.5 billion after competing professionally for more than a couple of decades. In terms of tennis income, Federer reached his zenith in 2008 when he broke through and earned a staggering $10.1 million, thus setting the record at the time.
Budding Career Of Federer
Father Robert Federer (Swiss-German) and his mom Lynette Federer (South African) welcomed Roger Federer into the world on 8 August 1981 in Basel, Switzerland.
In the opening round of the 1999 Swiss Open Gstaad, he made his debut against Lucas Arnold Ker.
To go to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2002, 19-year-old Federer defeated 4 times defending champion and all-time Grand Slam leader Pete Sampras in a five match.
He defeated Australian Mark Philippoussis in the Wimbledon 2003 finals to win his maiden Grand Slam singles championship. Federer played during an era where he dominated men’s tennis along with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic collectively considered the Big Three.
Success And Memorable Moments
At age 27, he surpassed Pete Sampras’ record of 14 major men’s singles titles at Wimbledon in 2009 and later became the first male tennis player to win 20 Grand Slams.
The legendary tennis player grabbed a silver medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games losing gold to Murray after winning the doubles gold at the Beijing Games in 2008.
Federer’s year did not get off to a good start in 2008 because of a persistent case of mononucleosis that hampered his performance in the first few months of the year. He also sustained a back injury after 2008.
In 2009, Federer accomplished another historic feat when he defeated Swedish player Robin Soderling to win the French Open singles title. With that accomplishment, he attained the “Career Slam” by winning all 4 majors at minimum once.
Except for his victory at the 2010 Australian Open singles final against Andy Murray of Great Britain, Federer had never won a major tournament until his victory over Julien Benneteau of France at Wimbledon in 2012.
Hard Knocks: Drop-In Rankings, Resurgence
Due to his troubles with injuries in the years that followed, Federer was unable to claim any significant victories.
When he defeated Nadal to win the 2017 Australian Open, he caught his second wave.
He then defeated Croatian Marin Cilic in the 2017 Wimbledon final to win his seventh Wimbledon championship.
In the 2018 Australian Open final, when Federer prevailed and won his twentieth Grand Slam championship, the two adversaries again faced off.
Roger Federer reached his 12th Wimbledon final and won 1,201 matches in 2019, yet he was unable to win any major championships.
Again, battling ailments in the latter stages of his career, he occasionally skipped big competitions until, at age 41, he eventually announced his retirement on Twitter on September 15, following the Laver Cup in the same month.
Federer did not compete after Wimbledon 2021 and fell out of the top 50 on June 13, 2022. On July 11, 2022, he was not ranked for the first time since his professional debut.
Achievements & Awards
He was ranked No. 1 in the world by the Association of Professional Tennis (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and five times he closed the year at the No.1 position.
He has won 103 ATP singles titles, the second most of all time, including 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a record eight men’s singles Wimbledon titles, and an Open Era record-tying five men’s singles US Open titles.
- The Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award 13 times
- The Laureus World Sportsman of the Year award was a record five times.
- In 2007, the Swiss Post in Basel issued a special edition stamp for Federer.
- The Laureus World Comeback of the Year award once, after his 2017 comeback season.
- As of November 2020, Federer holds the second highest number of Guinness World Records within one discipline, a total of 37, which include 26 performance-based records
- Federer also became the first living person to be commemorated on Swiss coins in December 2019.
- In December 2019, Federer was voted the Most Stylish Man of the Decade (2010–2019) by GQ readers.
- In 2020, Federer crowned Forbes`s listing of the world’s highest-paid athletes, with a total earning of $106.3 million from salary, winnings, and endorsements.
- He is consistently one of the ten highest-paid athletes in all of the sports and ranks first among all athletes with $100 million in endorsement earnings in 2020.
- In October 2021, a tram named after him, the “Federer-Express”, opened in Basel.
Federer is one of the founders, via his management company TEAM8, of the Laver Cup in honor of tennis legend Rod Laver and the inaugural edition was played in 2017. The annual team tennis tournament pits Europe against the rest of the world.
Philanthropy And Outreach
Roger Federer was an active philanthropist. He founded the Roger Federer Foundation, which targets underprivileged children in South Africa, and has raised funds in part through the Match for Africa exhibition series and other sources.
Response To His Retirement
His statement, which marks the end of a stellar tennis career, elicited a wave of genuine feelings from the tennis community in appreciation of his significant commitment to sports. It also sparked a lot of responses from his rivals throughout the years. Since Federer posted his remark on social media, the tennis legend’s 24-year career has been the subject of a frenzy of congratulations on Twitter.
