Roger Federer..

I am running out of topics... lol.. sounds strange rt? (This being my 2nd post)

I have been pondering for a long tyme as to what i shud write next... Why write about my favourite sportsperson ?? As far as I'm concernd, i need not put a 2nd thought into who He is.
The man himself... Roger Federer

The man who has achieved almost everything on a tennis court..

Hailing from Switzerland,He was the world no:1 for 237 consecutive weeks from February 2, 2004 to August 17,2008..Federer's success has prompted a number of tennis critics, legendary players, and current players to consider him to be the greatest tennis player in history..
Till date, Federer has won 12 grandslam titles ( 5 Wimbledon,4 US Open,3 Australian Open) and has been runner up in 4 grandslam finals(3 French open,1 Wimbledon).. He also has 4 tennis masters cup titles and 14 ATP masters series titles ... He holds the open era record for consecutive wins on both grass courts (65) and hard courts (56). To add to his coveted list of achievements and mementos ... he was named Laureus World Sportsman of the year for a record 4th consecutive time..(2004-2007)

He representd Switzerland and participated in the 2000,2004 and 2008 olympics edition.. He was also the flag bearer for his country during 2004 and 2008... During 2000 edition, he reached quarterfinals in the singles category.. It was during the Sydney olympics tht he met his girlfriend Miroslava Mirka Vavrinec,who herself was a tennis player.. She retired from tennis in 2002 following a foot injury...

Playing style

Federer has a versatile, all-court playing style and can hit all of the fundamental shots with a high degree of proficiency. His versatility was epitomised when Jimmy Connors said "In an era of specialists - you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist or a hard court specialist... or you're Roger Federer". He is an adept volleyer and an excellent baseliner who can dictate play with precise groundstrokes from both wings. He uses an extreme eastern grip, which places the hand between eastern and semi-western for his forehand and finishes with his right arm around the shoulder, and he keeps his eyes on the moment of impact longer than other players. He also can generate extreme top-spin with the forehand shot, allowing him to open up cross-court angles while still hitting the ball with pace. Federer plays with a one-handed backhand, and has an excellent slice, and can also fire top-spin winning shots. Federer tends to hit his groundstrokes early, while the ball is still on the rise, much like Andre Agassi did. While this requires excellent reactions and footwork, it means that Federer hits his groundstrokes closer to the net than most of his opponents. This reduces the reaction time of his opponents and allows him to hit the angled winners that are a trademark of his game.

ATP Career :
2001
His first atp title came in Milan in February 2001.. This was considered as a pathbreaking year in his career where he reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time defeating 4 time defending champion and 7 time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras in the 4th round in an epic 5 setter match.. He finishd the year ranked 13th..

2002
He reached the first ATP Masters Series final at Miami(hard) where he lost to Andre agassi.. He won his first ATP Masters Series title at Hamburg(clay). Despite early-round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open and the untimely, devastating loss of his long-time Australian coach and mentor, Peter Carter, in a car crash in August, Federer reached No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race by the end of the year and thus qualified for the first time in the year ending Tennis Masters Cup. His run at the tournament was ended in the semifinals by then #1 seeded and ranked Llyeton Hewitt(who eventually went on to win the Cup).

2003
Federer reached the 4th round in the Australian Open.. He won 2 hard court tourneys in Marseille and Dubai..but faced early round exits in Indian Wells, California, Key Biscayne and Florida.. On clay Federer won the first tournament in Munich.. was runner up in Rome and lost in the 3rd round at Hamburg where he was defending champion.. Though seeded 5th at French Open, he lost in the first round to Luis Horna.. Moving on to grass, he won the Halle Berry Open defeating Nicolas Kiefer before winning his first grandslam title at Wimbledon.. He defeated Roddick in the semis and Mark Philippoussis in the finals and only lost 1 set in the tournament to Mardy Fish in the 3rd round..At US Open, Federer defeated Nalbandian in the 4th round.. He ended the year ranked 2nd.. Federer won the season ending Masters Cup at Shanghai for the first time defeating Agassi,Nalbandian and Ferrero in the round robin stage,Roddick in the semis and again Agassi in the finals.

2004
Federer had one of the most dominant and successful year in the Open era..He won three of the four GrandSlam singles tournaments, did not lose a match to anyone ranked in the top ten, won every final he reached, and was named the ITF Tennis World Champion.He won the Australian Open for the first time defeatin Marat Safin in straight sets..He reached no:1 in atp rankings for the first time in his career.He successfully defended his Wimbledon title defeating Andy Roddick in the finals and won his first US Open title by defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the finals.. Though he lost to Berdych in the 2nd round at Olympics,he won the season ending Masters Cup at Shanghai where he defeated Lleyton Hewitt.. His win loss record for the year was 74-6..

2005
Federer couldnt defend his title at Australian Open when he lost in semifinals to the eventual winner Marat Safin in an epic match which lasted more than 4 hours,5–7, 6–4, 5–7, 7–6(6), 9–7..
At French Open he capped one of his best performances reaching the semifinals losing to Rafael Nadal, the eventual winner in 4 sets..He successfully defended his title at Wimbledon agains Roddick in the finals..He also became the first player in AMS history to win 4 titles in one season(sweeping all AMS events).. He also successfully defended his US Open title defeating Andre Agassi in 4 sets in the finals.. He failed to defend his season ending Masters cup title losing to David Nalbandian in the finals,in a 4 and a half hour,5 setter... His year win-loss record was 81-4..tying John McEnroe's 1984 record of highest yearly winning percentage in open era..

2006
Federer won three of the 4 grandslam titles for the 2nd time in his career(after 2004).. He won the Australian Open defeating Marcos Baghdatis in the finals.. At French open,he reached the finals losing to Rafael Nadal..He successfully defended his Wimbledon title against Nadal in a 4setter.. He won the US Open for the 3rd consecutive time,defeating Andy Roddick in 4sets..In the season ending Masters cup,he defeated Nalbandian the defending champion in the round robin stage, Nadal in the semis and James Blake in the finals 6-0 6-3 6-4.. thereby winning his 3rd shanghai masters title..He ended the year no:1 for the 3rd consecutive year..

2007
Federer won Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same year for the 3rd time in his career... thereby becoming the first man in tennis history to win AO-Wimby-USO in the same year 3 times... He won the Australian Open without dropping a set,becoming the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win a grandslam title without dropping a set..He successfully defended his Wimbledon and US Open titles against Nadal and Djokovic...

By clinching Wimbledon for the 5th consecutive time,he tied along wid the great Bjorn Borg to win the wimbledon titles for the most consecutive years..Djokovic had earlier defeated him in the finals of toronto...but at USO Federer got the better of him beating him in straight sets..
In an exhibition match during november,Federer defeated Sampras former world no:1 6-3 6-4/...Two of the greatest players to have taken up tennis racket..
For the 4th time in his career,Federer won the season ending Shanghai masters cup defeating Nadal in semis and David Ferrer in the finals...


2008
One of the worst years of Federer's career after 2002..He cudnt win a single grandslam title or ATP masters title till date...Lost in the semis in Australian Open to the eventual champion Novak Djokovic..Later it was revealed tht Federer was suffering from mononucleosis at the start of the season. In French open Federer was humiliated by Nadal in the finals.. He cudnt defend his Wimbledon title wich he had held for 5 long years..losing to Nadal in an epic final 4-6 4-6 7-6 7-6 7-9..The rain-delayed match ended in near darkness after 4 hours, 48 minutes of play, making it the longest (in terms of elapsed time) men's final in Wimbledon recorded history, and 7 hours, 15 minutes after its scheduled start. The defeat also brought to an end Federer's 65 match winning streak on grass. John McEnroe described the match as "The greatest match I've ever seen." .. Entered Olympics with great expectations..and also being the flag bearer for Switzerland but lost in the quarterfinals to James Blake.. but partnering Stanislas Wawrinka, the swiss duo reached the finals of doubles competition and defeated Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 in a match lasting 2 hours and 48 minutes..thereby taking the doubles gold.. the only remarkable achievement for Federer in this calendar year..