Roger Federer: Top Male Tennis Player and Top Charity Worker

Roger Federer is currently world number one male tennis player. Many believe that he could become the greatest tennis player of all time. With 9 Grand Slam trophies, he is considered one of the greatest players.

The great Swiss right hander was born on 8 August 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. His father, Robert Federer is Swiss and mother Lynette is South African. Both of them worked in a chemical company. They took him to the tennis court as they played. He loved sports. In fact, tennis is a passion in their family. When he was 8 years old Roger joined the Old Boys' Tennis Club in his hometown. His childhood idol was Boris Becker- the legendary German player.

At the age of twelve Federer decided to dedicate him solely to tennis and forget other sports. At the club his coach was Seppli Kacovsky and he also took private instructions from Peter Carter of Australia from 1991 to 1995. Peter helped him to acquire flawless techniques and control his outburst in the court. Gradually Roger was becoming better player, stronger and more polite.

Federer became junior tennis champion of Switzerland in 1995. In 1996 he joined the ITF junior tennis. After completing high school he started playing more international tournaments for juniors. In 1998 he became the ITF World Junior Tennis champion. He won the Wimbledon Junior singles title and doubles title and Orange Bowl. This is also the year he turned pro and joined the ATP tour.

In 1999, he played in the Swiss Davis Cup team for the first time. He became the youngest member of the ATP Tour's Top 100. In 2000, Federer reached final at two ATP tournaments though he was beaten in both the matches. In Sydney Olympic he lost the Bronze medal match to Arnaud Di Pasquale of France.

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He won the first ATP tournament in 2001 at Milan. He also won 3 matches for his country at the Davis Cup. Federer defeated four times defending champion Pete Sampras and reached the quarterfinal of the Wimbledon and this stunned the tennis world. It was a turning point in his career. At the end of the year his ranking was 13.

In 2002 Federer was beaten at the final of his first ATP Masters Series at Miami Masters by Andre Agassi. He won his first ATP Masters series in Hamburg. In Davis Cup two singles matches Federer had to play against two former world number ones and became victorious. This was also a sorrowful year for him as he lost his former coach and mentor Peter Carter in a car crash. He became number 6 in the ATP champion's race and played in the Tennis Masters Cup but lost in the semifinal to Leyton Hewitt.

Roger started 2003 winning ten matches and achieving titles in Dubai and Marseille. He could not go beyond 4th round in the Australian open this time but did extremely well in Davis cup. He won four matches which took Switzerland to the Semifinal. In French Open he lost in the first round. But at the Wimbledon he got his first Grand Slam title. He became the first Swiss male player to win the Grand Slam singles title after defeating Mark Philippoussis; he dropped only one set in the entire tournament. At the end of the year he won Tennis Masters cup and was ranked number 2 in the ATP tour race.

2004 was the most successful year for Roger as he won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments. Since Mats Wilander in 1988, he is the first male player to do so. By defeating Marat Safin in straight sets he achieved his first Australian open men's singles title. Roger retained his Wimble title by defeating Andy Roddick. At the U.S open he also became victorious by beating Lleyton Hewitt. Like last year he also won the Tennis Masters Cup. He won 74 matches and 11 titles this year. In 6 matches he was defeated. He was named Laureus World Sportsman of the year in early 2005. Tennis Magazine named him the Player of the year. It is interesting to note that he played without having a coach.

In 2005 Roger reached the Australian open semifinal but lost to Marat Safin in a five set match which lasted more than five hours. He won Indian Wells and Miami titles. For the third times he got Hamburg clay court title. At the French open he lost to Rafael Nadal in the semifinal. But he could defend his Wimbledon title by defeating Andy Roddick. After the victory in Cincinnati he got his fourth ATP Masters series title and became the first player in ATP Masters history to win four titles in one season. He defeated Agassi and retained his U.S open title and became the first man in the open era to win Wimbledon and U.S. open title back to back in consecutive years

Roger was so close to win the French open in 2006 but in the final he lost to Rafael Nadal in four sets. This is one Grand Slam title he still could not capture. But he won his fourth straight Wimbledon title by defeating Rafael Nadal, 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2) and 6-3. This achievement matches that of Pete Sampras. Bjorn Borg won 5 Wimbledon singles titles. Roger defeated Andy Roddick and could defend his U.S open title. He also won the Australian open title by defeating Marcos Baghdatis. This year till now he lost to only two players Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. Besides the big events he also won ATP Masters Series Canada, ATP Masters Series Indian Wells, ATP Masters Series Miami, Doha, Halle and Tokyo.

Roger holds the third longest consecutive stay in the World number 1. He made a history in the tennis world by winning both the U.S. Open and Wimbledon singles titles in three consecutive years. Since Bjorn Borg, Federer is the first player to win consecutive tournaments on three different surfaces. His versatile and all court playing style make him very strong in the court. His powerful serve is also difficult to read. Excellent footwork, balance and court coverage are also the skills that that he had mastered in the best way.

Swiss-German is his main language. But he is also skilled in French and English. He can speak Spanish too. That is why I feel that after retiring he should become a linguist.

Federer likes to play card games, table tennis and other sports. Sitting on a beach is also his favorite pastime activity. At present he resides in Oberwil, Switzerland. He launched a fragrance and cosmetic line named RF Cosmetics.

Chairty Works

Recently I have browsed and read some sites about Roger Federer. As he is holding the number 1 position in WTA ranking in men's tennis, there is no lack of sites featuring him. No doubt, they are colorful and full of achievement information about the hero. His biography, career, family, pictures, tour, dating- almost everything is described in detail. He himself has got a website. Everyday numerous visitors and fans hit these sites to get a glimpse of his glamorous life and also to know his personal life.

One thing that really attracted and impressed me about Roger was his humanitarian act.

Previously I went to some other celebrities' sites but Roger was among the very few who not only bothers about the deprived but also has done some charitable works especially after 2004 tsunami disaster. With ATP and UNICEF he worked together and encouraged other tennis players for raising fund. He played as many matches as possible and also auctioned his autographed bats to raise more money. Roger earns a lot of money from prize money and advertisements and sponsorship. Despite living in a luxurious world, he never forgets the less fortunate people.

His off court humanitarian work is really remarkable. He always wanted to do something for the distressed and poor especially for the children who are deprived of many things. Whenever he got chance he helped people. In 2003, Roger Foundation was established and its aim is to help disadvantaged children. It is providing food and schooling facilities to some of the South African children. He also participated and encouraged charity games and work in every possible way to help the tsunami victims. In 2006 UNICEF appointed him Good Will Ambassador to improve the lives of children through out the world. We hope that he will shine both in court and off court.

Related articles:

Official website of Roger Federer

Wikipedia

Yahoo sports

Sportsline

Tennisrulz

ATP Tennis