Roger Federer announced the end of his illustrious career in a lengthy letter, saying he was finally hanging up his racket after 24 years on the Tour, with next week’s Laver Cup in London set to be his final match.
Federer was the first player to win 20 Grand Slam titles, but his record has since been surpassed by Rafa Nadal (22) and Novak Djokovic (21) as the ‘Big Three’ fought epic battles on court that dominated the sport in the twenty-first century.
He holds the second-most ATP singles titles of all time, with 103, including 20 Grand Slam singles titles, a record eight men’s singles Wimbledon titles, an Open Era record-tying five men’s singles US Open titles, and a record six year-end championships.
Here are some of the records that Roger Federer holds –
• Won 20 Grand Slam titles, only behind Rafa Nadal (22) and Novak Djokovic (21).
• Claimed 103 titles, second only to Jimmy Connors’ Open Era record of 109.
• Won 1,251 singles matches, second in the Open Era behind Connors’ 1,274.
• Most consecutive weeks at world number one (237).
• Oldest player to hold the number one ranking (36 years, 320 days).
• Most Wimbledon titles for a men’s singles player (8).
• Oldest men’s player to win Wimbledon (35 years, 342 days in 2017).
• Never retired from a match in his career, having played 1,526 singles (W 1,251) and 223 doubles (W 131) matches.
• Only player to win two Grand Slams five consecutive times – Wimbledon from 2003-07 and the U.S. Open from 2004-08.
• Only player to reach 10 straight men’s Grand Slam finals (2005-06). He played 31 finals in all, one behind Novak Djokovic’s record tally of 32.
• Only player to reach all four Grand Slam finals in the same calendar year three times (2006, 2007 and 2009).
• Holds the Open Era record for the longest winning streak on grass (65) and the all-time record on hard courts (56).
• Only men’s player to win at least 10 titles on clay, grass and hard courts.
• Won 24 straight finals on the ATP Tour (2003-05).
• Holds the record for most titles (6) at the year-end Tour Finals, which only features players ranked in the top eight.
Sachin Tendulkar, the legendary Indian cricketer, congratulated Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer, who announced his retirement from competitive tennis on September 15.
“What a career, @rogerfederer. We fell in love with your brand of tennis. Slowly, your tennis became a habit. And habits never retire, they become a part of us. Thank you for all the wonderful memories,” tweeted Sachin, who is a big fan of tennis himself.
