Courtside Icons: Roger Federer

Strawberries and cream, Pimm’s and lemonade, green grass and all white outfits. Some things are synonymous with Wimbledon, like Roger Federer winning titles at the grand slam. With Wimbledon here, what better tennis icon to celebrate than the man with the most Wimbledon men’s singles titles.

Born on 8th August 1981 in Basel, Switzerland, Roger Federer has become one of the biggest names in tennis. He’s won eight Wimbledon titles, six Australian Opens, five US Opens and one French Open. But, like any of our icons, his story doesn’t start there.

Federer began playing tennis at the age of three, when he started going to the courts of the organisation his parents worked at. By the time he was eight, he had an obvious talent for the game which led him to being enrolled in an elite junior programme run by the Old Boys Tennis Club in Basel. By age 14, Federer was fully immersed in the sport, playing up to three tournaments a month, practicing for six hours a week, and doing three hours of conditioning too. This hard work and effort led him to becoming a national junior champion in Switzerland still only aged 14. He was subsequently chosen to train at the prestigious Swiss National Tennis Center in Ecublens. Federer’s rapid rise through the junior ranks culminated in 1998 when he became the Wimbledon Junior Champion.

Federer achieved so much as a junior, but it was only the start of his career. His success continued on his 18th birthday, when he won his first senior professional title, a doubles crown at the Open Castilla y León Challenger in Segovia, Spain. His first singles title came at the 2001 Indoor Milan tournament. The same year he caused sensation at Wimbledon by knocking out reigning singles champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round.

Federer’s first Wimbledon success came in 2003, when he became the first Swiss man to win a Grand Slam title. His wins came thick and fast after this. At the beginning of 2004 he had a world ranking of No. 2, and he went on to win the Australian Open, the U.S. Open, the ATP Masters and retained the Wimbledon singles title. Federer’s 2004 success led him to a World No. 1 ranking from 2004 into 2008. He was also named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year from 2005-08.

In 2008, it looked like his star may be falling. He lost to Rafael Nadal at both the French Open and Wimbledon, as well as Djokovic at the Australian Open, earlier that year. His ranking slid back to No.2 following these losses. It all changed in 2009 though when Federer went on to complete the career grand slam in winning the French Open. 2009 was also a big year personally for Roger, he married Mirka Vavrinec, a former professional tennis player, and in July the couple welcomed their identical twin girls, Myla and Charlene, into the world.

In 2012, Federer defeated Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final. This victory tied him with Pete Sampras for seven Wimbledon Men’s Singles titles. Federer’s success continued until 2013, when in the second round of the Wimbledon singles competition he was knocked out by Sergiy Stakhovsky. However, the following year he returned to the championship, just two months after his twin boys, Leo and Lenny, were born. He made it to the final of the 2014 tournament before being defeated by Djokovic in a five-set loss.

In 2016, Federer did not make the Wimbledon final, so when he made it to the 2017 final, tensions were high. He was on the cusp of his eighth men’s singles Wimbledon victory. Which he achieved in a thrilling victory over Marin Cilic. He finished the match 6-3, 6-1, 6-4. The victory also made him the oldest men’s champion of the tournament in the Open era.

After being knocked out in the quarterfinals in 2018 by Kevin Anderson following a five-set loss, Federer returned to the tournament in 2019, making the final once again. It looked like he would break his own record and achieve a ninth Wimbledon victory. However, in the fifth-set tiebreaker Djokovic soared to victory.

Following the pandemic, Federer announced his retirement from the ATP Masters and future grand slams on the 15th September 2022. After such a prolific career, Federer fans across the world were devastated knowing they would no longer see him compete amongst the best, but the fantastic grand slam moments Federer has brought us, especially those at Wimbledon, will live on in tennis history forever.

It’s safe to say reflecting on his career has made us even more excited to watch the best-of-the-best, along with the rising stars, compete in the 2025 Wimbledon championships!

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