The 21st century
Switzerland · born Basel, 1981 · eight times Wimbledon champion · ten times winner at Halle
All playersBack to the rankings
8
Wimbledon singles titles, 2003 to 2017
12
Wimbledon singles finals
105-14
Wimbledon singles match record
192-29
Career match record on grass
10
Halle singles titles
Born in Basel on 8 August 1981, Federer was a ball boy at the Swiss Indoors in his home town before winning the Wimbledon boys' singles and doubles in 1998, the year he turned professional. He won 20 major singles titles: six Australian Opens, the 2009 French Open, eight Wimbledons and five US Opens in a row from 2004 to 2008. He spent 310 weeks at world No. 1, a record 237 of them consecutive, and won 103 tour singles titles. He took Olympic doubles gold with Stan Wawrinka in 2008 and singles silver at Wimbledon in 2012, and in 2014 led Switzerland to its first Davis Cup. He helped create the Laver Cup, retired on 23 September 2022, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport in August 2026.
| Major singles titles | 8: Wimbledon (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2017) |
|---|---|
| Major singles finals lost | 4: Wimbledon 2008, Wimbledon 2014, Wimbledon 2015, Wimbledon 2019 |
| Other grass singles titles | 11: Halle 10 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019); Stuttgart (2018) |
| Other grass doubles titles | 1: Halle (2005) |
| Wimbledon juniors | 1998: boys' singles, beating Irakli Labadze in the final, and boys' doubles with Olivier Rochus |
| Breakthrough | 2001 fourth round: beat the holder Pete Sampras 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5, aged 19, ending his 31-match Wimbledon run |
| Wimbledon singles record | 105-14 in matches; 65 grass wins in a row from Halle 2003 to the 2008 Wimbledon final |
| Finals to remember | 2008: lost to Rafael Nadal 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 7-9. 2009: beat Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14. 2019: lost to Novak Djokovic 6-7, 6-1, 6-7, 6-4, 12-13, the fifth set settled by a tiebreak |
| Olympics on grass | London 2012 at Wimbledon: singles silver, losing the final to Andy Murray |
| Other grass finals | Halle doubles title 2005 with Yves Allegro. Halle singles finals lost 2010 (Lleyton Hewitt), 2012 (Tommy Haas), 2018 (Borna Ćorić) |
| Wimbledon | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Men's singles | |
| 2004 | Men's singles | |
| 2005 | Men's singles | |
| 2006 | Men's singles | |
| 2007 | Men's singles | |
| 2009 | Men's singles | |
| 2012 | Men's singles | |
| 2017 | Men's singles | |
| Halle | ||
| 2003 | Men's singles | |
| 2004 | Men's singles | |
| 2005 | Men's doubles | with Yves Allegro |
| 2005 | Men's singles | |
| 2006 | Men's singles | |
| 2008 | Men's singles | |
| 2013 | Men's singles | |
| 2014 | Men's singles | |
| 2015 | Men's singles | |
| 2017 | Men's singles | |
| 2019 | Men's singles | |
| Stuttgart | ||
| 2018 | Men's singles | |
Leading grass titles only: the grass majors, tour-level grass events since 1968 and the leading grass championships before 1968. †single source; ‡ sources disagree. Roll of champions
"I didn't think I was going to be this successful after beating Pete here."
The person behind the player.
Basel, 1992 and 1993
Before he played at the Swiss Indoors he worked there, as a ball boy in his home town in 1992 and 1993. After the 1993 final he was presented with a medal by the champion, Michael Stich. As a junior he struggled to control his temper on court, something few who watched his later Wimbledon years would have guessed.
Source: WikipediaWimbledon 2001 · Fourth round
Ranked 15th, the 19-year-old beat Pete Sampras 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5, ending a reign of seven titles in eight years. It was their only meeting. "I lost to a really, really good player today," Sampras said. Federer lost his next match to Tim Henman.
Source: Tennis MajorsGstaad 2003
Days after his first Wimbledon title he arrived at the Swiss Open in Gstaad to a standing ovation and a gift from the organisers: a cow. "It is a great idea, very funny," he said. Juliette later had a calf, Edelweiss, and Gstaad gave him a second cow, Desirée, in 2013.
Source: The Star; Tennis365Wimbledon 2009 · Final
Federer beat Andy Roddick 16-14 in a fifth set of 95 minutes to pass Pete Sampras with a 15th major. Sampras was in the Royal Box. Roddick turned to him in his runner-up speech: "Sorry, Pete, I know I tried to hold him off."
Source: Maclean'sWimbledon 2013 · First round
The six-time champion opened his defence on Centre Court in Nike shoes with bright orange soles. The All England Club told him they broke the rule that clothing be almost entirely white, and he was advised to change them before his second-round match against Sergiy Stakhovsky.
Source: Sports IllustratedCentre Court 2022
Recovering from knee surgery and absent from the draw, he walked out in a suit for the centenary of Centre Court, the last of the champions to be called. "The knee has been rough on me," he told Sue Barker, adding: "I hope I can come back one more time." He retired that September.
Source: Tennis MajorsFree membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
Join freePage updated 3 November 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.
.jpg){kind=link}