A Biography of Roger Federer

Roger Federer is without doubt the greatest tennis player in history. He has dominated on every surface and has been the only male tennis player to win fifteen Grand Slams.

He was born on the 8th of August 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. His parents are South African born Lynnette and Robert Federer, of Swiss German desent. His sister, Diana, was born in 1979.

Roger started playing tennis at the age of six. He also played soccer well but decided to focus solely on tennis at the age of 12. The passion for tennis was in the family, though Roger was the only member who actually played the game. As a boy, Roger had a very bad temper. When he made a mistake, he yelled and threw his racket. It often happened that he was kicked off the court for misbehaving. Although Roger got angry, it was always at him self and never at his apponent. He always strived for perfection.

Even as a junior player, people were amazed at the greatness of his game. The Switzerland National Training Centre noticed his ability and invited him to become a member. Three years later, Roger re-enrolled into a new facility in Biel where he met Peter Carter, an Australian, who became his coach. They grew very close as Carter helped him control his temper, strengthened him mentally and also built variety into his game, like slice and serve-volley strategies. In 2002 Peter Carter died in a freak car accident near the Kruger National Park in South Africa. This was the first time Roger had lost anyone close to him and it had a tremendous impact on him as he was deeply grieved. This loss made him more focused and at the age of 23 he became the first Swiss man to win Wimbledon, the most prestigious tennis tournament. Federer was growing in confidence and after winning one tournament after the other, the " Fed Express" achieved the International Tennis Federation's No.1 world ranking ranking in February 2004.

Since turning professional, Federer had won all the Grand Slams except the French Open which is played on clay. His nemesis the Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, Still remained the " King of Clay". In 2008 Federer contracted glandular fever and it was obvious that he was struggling with his movement and his overall performance. Some tennis critics were writing him off and he lost his No. 1 ranking to Nadal. Federer came back in 2009 however, to silence his critics with his racket. He won the only evading Slam, the French Open. He reclained his No.1 spot, becoming the only proffessional male tennis player in history to take back the top spot after losing it.

In the beginning of the year, Federer married his girlfriend, Slovakian-born Miroslava Vavrinec (Mirka), who was also a professional tennin player before retiring with a foot injury in 2002. They have been blessed with twin girls, Charlene Riva and Myla Rose Federer.

Roger is a genius with his racket and a wonderful role model for tennis. He is a gentleman off and on the court who is not afraid to shoe is true emotions and always shows great respect to his apponents and the great tennis legends like Rod Laver and Andre Agassi. He supports various charities and child foundations and has raised public awareness of AIDS in South Africa. Roger Federer's wonderful personality and his exceptional talent will always be remembered in the game of tennis.