Roger Federer was born August 8, 1981.
In a 17-year professional career, Federer boasts a 1,036-234 overall record in singles matches, and his 17 titles in Grand Slam singles events are the most for any male tennis player.
Born in Switzerland, Federer turned pro as a 17-year old in 1998. As American superstars Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi entered the twilights of their careers, Federer grew to be the new face of the sport, entering the ATP World Top 10 in 2002 and having remained there for the 13 years since.
Entering 2003, Federer had already won four individual ATP events, but was still short of his first Grand Slam title until breaking through that year at Wimbledon. Aided by No. 1 seed Lleyton Hewitt being upset in the round of 128, Federer cruised to the semifinals, where he swept America's Andy Roddick and Australia's Mark Phillippoussis in straight sets.
The Wimbledon title was a sign of things to come for the 6-1 right-hander, as Federer proceeded to dominate the sport in the mid-2000s. In early 2004, Federer won his first Australian Open to become the ATP World No. 1 ranked player, and he maintained that spot for an all-time record 237 straight weeks until losing it to Spain's Rafael Nadal in 2008. From 2004 to 2007, Federer won a ridiculous 11 of the 16 major events at the men's singles level -- 11 of the 12 that weren't contested on the clay courts at the French Open, where Nadal reigned supreme.
In 2008, Federer returned to Earth somewhat, only winning one of the four Grand Slam events (the U.S. Open), but he was still involved in what the San Francisco Chronicle referred to as "the greatest match in the history of tennis." Federer and Nadal -- then ranked the world's No. 1 and No. 2 players -- met in the finals at Wimbledon, where Federer was attempting to win his sixth consecutive edition of the tournament. Federer ultimately lost in five sets, with the fifth set going to 16 games, but his efforts in coming back from down two sets were still praised worldwide. Highlights of the match can be seen here:
2009 saw a resurgence for Federer, as he finally won his first French Open title to break Nadal's streak of four. Federer also succeeded in redeeming his 2008 Wimbledon loss, as he won the event to re-gain the world's No. 1 ranking and surpass Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.
The 2010s have seen younger stars like Nadal and Serbia's Novak Djokovic emerge, but Federer has still competed at an elite level, winning the 2010 Australian Open and 2012 Wimbledon tournament to reach a still-standing record of 17 career majors. Federer re-took the world No. 1 ranking after the latter victory and kept it for 17 weeks until November 2012, giving him an all-time record of 302 total weeks at the top spot in his career. He is now ranked No. 2 in the world behind Djokovic.
With 86 career tournament wins in ATP events, Federer ranks third all-time behind Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (94), and he is also third behind the same two competitors with his total of 1,036 match wins. Federer has been notorious for his success on grass courts, as his seven Wimbledon titles are tied with Sampras for the most of all time.
