Roger Federer
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Biography
Roger Federer is a top-ranked Swiss professional tennis player. As of August 2006, he held the record for the third-longest consecutive stay as the World No. 1. Only Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl have had a longer consecutive stay as No.1.
Roger Federer was born on August 8, 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. Tennis became more than fun when he joined the local Old Boys' Tennis Club when he was 8 years old. By the time he was 12, he was ready to focus solely on tennis. Roger soon left home to train at a top-rated Swiss tennis academy, and by the time he was 16, he was the world No.1 junior player.
In 1998, Roger Federer became a professional tennis player. It took him just three years to win his first ATP tournament in Milan in 2001. The same year, at the age of 19, he beat the then top-seeded Pete Sampras in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. The 19-year old had arrived on the tennis scene and there was no looking back since then. In 2003, he won his first Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon beating Mark Philippoussis. The next year, he won three Grand Slam titles including Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open. Only Mats Wilander had achieved this feat of winning three Grand Slams in a single year. In February 2004, he became the No.1 tennis player, and for more than two years, he held the spot making him the third person to do so. To top it all, he had this remarkable run in 2004 without a coach. This goes a long way to show the power of his forehand and natural game.
In 2005, Federer lost in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. The match stretched to five sets and more than four hours. At Roland Garros, he made it to the semi-finals. However, he won the Wimbledon and US Open titles for the second consecutive year, a historic feat in itself.
In 2006, Federer won the Australian Open and the Wimbledon. He met his long-time Swiss girlfriend, Miroslava Vavrinec, also known as Mirka, at the 2000 Sydney Olympics where she was part of the Swiss tennis contingent. Mirka retired from tennis after a foot injury in 2002.
Apart from being a great player, Federer also tries to be a great person. He co-established the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003 for funding projects for disadvantaged children. In 2005, he raised funds for UNICEF's relief operations for tsunami victims by auctioning off his autographed rackets. In 2006, Federer was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador to UNICEF.
Roger Federer is a hot favorite to break Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam tennis titles. It is his personal goal to be the first man since Rod Laver to win all four Grand Slam titles in the same year. He sure has a long way to go.
Links
Go Roger Celebrity Site of the Day on 12/11/05
AskMen.com: Roger Federer
JockBio.com: Roger Federer
Net Glimse: Roger Federer
Roger Federer Pictures
Hunky Male Celebs: Roger Federer
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