Roger Federer is the tennis player with the most triumphs in Wimbledon, the oldest and most prestigious trophy in the world. The Swiss Maestro leads with 8 successes, ahead of Pete Sampras, while Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are very distant.
In addition, Roger spent 200 weeks in each of the top three positions of the ATP ranking, another record that sees the other two very distant. Roger is the tennis player who has spent several weeks in the Top 5 (831), in the Top 10 (908), in the Top 20 (989) and in the Top 30 (1012, the latter series still in progress since October 30 of the distant 2000).
Federer on his dream match
During a recent interview, the 20-time Grand Slam champion revealed his ‘dream match’. “There is something intriguing about playing against Bjorn Borg. It’s just because I have heard so much about him and he retired so early.
And he was so incredibly good for the game that playing Bjorn Borg would be very very special for me” – Roger Federer said. The 38-year-old Swiss said he needed follow-up arthroscopic surgery “a few weeks ago” after undergoing a similar procedure in February.
Federer, whose last Grand Slam win was the 2018 Australian Open, said he “experienced a setback during (his) initial rehabilitation. I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level,” the 38-year-old said in a statement on Twitter.
“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but, I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season.” Federer is also one of the founders, via his management company TEAM8, of the Laver Cup; the annual team tennis tournament which pits Europe against the rest of the world.
He co-founded the tournament in honor of tennis legend Rod Laver and the inaugural edition was played in 2017. He helped to lead a revival in tennis known by many as the Golden Age. This led to increased interest in the sport, which in turn led to higher revenues for many venues across tennis.
During this period rising revenues led to exploding prize money; when Federer first won the Australian Open in 2004 he earned $985,000, compared to when he won in 2018 and the prize had increased to AUD 4 million. Upon winning the 2009 French Open and completing the career Grand Slam, Federer became the first individual male tennis player to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated since Andre Agassi in 1999.
