Roger Federer

Before he won anything, Roger Federer fetched balls. In 1993 and 1994 he worked as a ballboy at the tournament in his home town of Basel [1]. He later won that event 10 times [1]. In 2022, with 20 Grand Slam singles titles behind him, he played his last match [2][5]. In his retirement letter he thanked everyone who had helped make "the dreams of a young Swiss ball kid come true" [4].

Basel beginnings

Federer was born on 8 August 1981 in Basel, Switzerland [2], which makes him 45 as of October 2026. His father Robert is Swiss and his mother Lynette is South African; he has a sister, Diana [1]. He started playing at eight and grew up watching Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker and Pete Sampras [1]. He speaks English, French, German and Swiss German [1]. Britannica gives his playing career as 1998 to 2022 [2].

At home in Basel he won 75 matches and 10 titles, a tournament record [1].

Paris, 2009

The French Open was the one major that kept eluding him. Federer's first 13 Grand Slam titles all came elsewhere [3]. In June 2009, aged 27 and playing his 19th Grand Slam final, he beat Robin Soderling 6-1, 7-6, 6-4 [3]. Soderling, seeded 23rd, had knocked out four-time champion Rafael Nadal earlier in the week [3].

The second set was interrupted when a spectator ran onto the court and tried to put a cap on Federer's head. Federer lost the next game to love, then won the tie-break with four aces from four serves [3].

The win tied Pete Sampras's record of 14 majors and made Federer the sixth man to hold all four Grand Slam titles, after Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi [3]. Agassi handed him the trophy and Federer broke down in tears [3]. He told the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier that it was "probably my greatest ever victory", and that from now on he could play "with my mind at peace" [3]. Soderling said Federer was the best player in history [3].

Twenty majors and the other records

The final count was 20 Grand Slam singles titles: six at the Australian Open, one at the French Open, eight at Wimbledon and five at the US Open [2]. Eight Wimbledon titles is a men's record [2][1], and in 2018 he became the first man to reach 20 majors [2].

The ATP biography lists several Grand Slam record streaks: 10 finals in a row, 23 semi-finals in a row and 36 quarter-finals in a row [1]. He won 41 matches in a row in 2006-07 and 65 in a row on grass between 2003 and 2008 [1]. Beyond Wimbledon and Basel, he holds tournament records at Halle (10 titles) and Cincinnati (7) [1].

Over a career he won 103 titles and 1,251 matches. In the Open Era only Jimmy Connors won more, with 109 titles and 1,274 matches [1]. Federer never retired mid-match in 1,526 singles and 224 doubles matches [1]. He held the No. 1 ranking for 237 consecutive weeks, the longest run in ATP Rankings history [1]. At the Olympics he won doubles gold in 2008 and singles silver in 2012 [2].

He won Laureus Sportsman of the Year five times (2005-08 and 2018), the ATP's Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award in 2004-09 and 2011-17, and the ATP Fans' Favourite award every year from 2003 to 2021 [1].

Knees and the decision to stop

In February 2016 Federer had left knee surgery and then missed six months, from July 2016 to January 2017 [1]. He came back and was named the ATP's Comeback Player of the Year for 2017 [1]. Right knee surgeries followed in February 2020, May 2020 and August 2021, and from February 2020 to August 2022 he played only five tournaments [1].

On 15 September 2022, aged 41, he announced that after three years of injuries and surgeries his body's message had been clear, and that the Laver Cup in London the following week would be his last ATP event [4]. He had played more than 1,500 matches over 24 years. "Tennis has treated me more generously than I ever would have dreamt," he wrote [4]. He added that he would play more tennis in the future, but not in Grand Slams or on the tour [4].

The last doubles with Nadal

Federer called Nadal after that year's US Open. He later told Trevor Noah on The Daily Show that it was a very emotional call, one of the first times he had told anyone outside his team and family [5]. He asked Nadal to "play one last doubles" with him, explaining that his knee was "not so good anymore" [5]. Nadal's answer, as Federer remembered it, was that he would be there "whatever it takes" [5]. Nadal was about to become a father, so Federer had not been sure it would work out [5].

On 23 September 2022 they lost to the Americans Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 7-6, 11-9 [5]. A farewell ceremony followed, with Team Europe's Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Casper Ruud and Bjorn Borg alongside him. Federer and Nadal were seen gripping hands in tears [5]. Federer said he was glad to be in tennis clothes rather than a suit, which is how he had pictured giving a retirement speech [5].

Hall of Fame

In November 2025 the International Tennis Hall of Fame named Federer in its Class of 2026, in the Player Category. Its citation recalls 310 weeks at No. 1 in total, 103 ATP titles and the Laver Cup, which he created to honour Rod Laver [6]. He was inducted on Saturday 29 August 2026 in Newport, Rhode Island [8]. Mirka gave the introductory speech, and seven fellow former world No. 1s were in the audience, among them his boyhood idol Stefan Edberg, John McEnroe and Andy Roddick [7]. Federer called it "one of the greatest honours of my life" and told the crowd: "They call this the Hall of Fame, but fame was never the goal" [8].

Family and foundation

Federer's wife is Mirka Vavrinec, who reached a career-high No. 76 in the WTA rankings. According to the ATP, they shared a first kiss at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, where Federer finished fourth, and played mixed doubles together at the 2002 Hopman Cup, going 1-2 [1]. They have two sets of twins [1]. In his retirement letter Federer thanked Mirka and their four children for their support on the road [4].

In 2003 he founded the Roger Federer Foundation, which funds education projects in Southern Africa (Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Botswana and South Africa) and in Switzerland [1]. An exhibition against Nadal in Cape Town on 7 February 2020 drew 51,954 spectators and raised $3.5 million for the foundation. It was Federer's first tennis appearance in South Africa, his mother's home country [1]. In January 2020 the two players also gave $250,000 together to Australian bushfire relief [1].

In Switzerland he was put on a stamp in 2007 and a coin in 2020, the first living person to receive either honour [1]. The University of Basel's medical faculty gave him an honorary doctorate on 24 November 2017, and in 2021 a Basel tram was named "The Federer Express" [1].