Roger Federer Tennis
13 Grand Slam singles titles, 4 Tennis Masters Cup titles, 14 ATP Masters Series titles and an Olympic Gold Medalist; Roger Federer is every inch a fine athlete. He currently holds many noteworthy titles in the tennis world. He had appeared in 10 consecutive Grand Slam single men’s finals of the Wimbledon Championships in 2005 through the 2007 US Open. He managed to secure 19 consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals and holds outstanding records for the most consecutive in over 65 grass courts and 56 hard courts. For 237 consecutive weeks dating from February 2, 2004 to August 17, 2008, he was the number 1 tennis player in the world. He was even given the honor of the prestigious Laureus World Sportsman of the Year from 2005 to 2008. Today, Roger Federer ranks as world no. 2.
Roger Federer was born in August 8, 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. He spent most of his childhood in Munchenstein, Switzerland near the French-German boarders with his parents- Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and was even given the honor of meeting Pope Benedict XVI while playing at the 2006 Internazionali BNL d’ Italia tournament held in Rome. Although Federer considers French-Germa as his native language, he can speak German, French and English fluently.
From very early on, Federer seemed destined for athletic success. At age nine he began tennis lessons and moved up to a private tutor by the following year. He was also an accomplished football and cricket player as a youth; Federer continues to play cricket in his spare time. Despite his skill in a number of different sports, it is tennis where Federer decided to make his career. While only fourteen, he won all of the national championships he was eligible to compete for and was invited to train at the Swiss National Tennis Center in Ecublems. In 1996, he would join the ITF Junior Tennis Circuit and turn professional by 1998. In 1998, he won the ITF Junior Tennis championship, the Orange Bowl and the Junior Wimbledon championship – impressive, even for Roger Federer.
All successful athletes have their own style in court. For Federer, his versatility in all types of tennis courts is definitely an advantage. As a sports critic once said, in the ear of specialists, tennis players can be a clay court specialist, grass court specialist, hard court specialist or be like Roger Federer. He manages to dictate the play with his precise groundstrokes. In addition, he is also an excellent volleyer and baseliner. He makes use of a hybrid grip or the grip that is between the eastern and semi-western stroke. He manages to reduce the reaction time of his opponents by delivering powerful angled groundstrokes.
Roger Federer has earned an incredible 57 singles titles in his career and has been named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people (in 2007). Federer is active in charity work, having established the Roger Foundation in 2003; the group works to help the disadvantaged and to promote sports to youth. We have yet to see the best years of Federer’s career; it is easy to forget that he is only 27 when you consider how much he has already achieved.