Roger Federer, a genius who made tennis look effortless, died last week, but he continues to live on in the memory of those who loved his style of play. He was one of the most successful players in history and the most famous man in tennis. He was also a fine artist, a good husband and a devoted father.
A native of Hamburg, Federer won his first championship in 2002, and he became world number two in 1999. In 2011, he became world number one for the last time, ending the career of defending champion Rafael Nadal.
Federer was born on Feb. 3, 1981, and he grew up in a small town near Hamburg, on the east coast of Germany. He was tall, with a broad build and a square jawline. At 5 feet 9 inches tall, he was well above the average height of the tennis crowd of the time. Federer could reach the service line easily, and his arm speed was great, and he didn’t get tired quickly.
He played his first tournament just six years old, in a school tennis tournament. He was seeded first and he beat the top-seeded player in the tournament. Federer won his first international junior title in 1998, when he was 16. He never won another junior title.
Aged 17, he won his first senior international clay-court title, a tournament in Italy.
He turned professional in 1999, and after a few months on tour, he beat then-world number one Roger Federer in the first round of Wimbledon. That was the final straw in his decision to turn pro.
He did very well at Wimbledon, breaking through the top-20 rankings in 2004. He then signed a long-term deal with Nike, and he changed his sport, playing mostly on the hard courts. By 2005, he had beaten Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in the semifinals of the grass-court Australian Open, and that was the big breakthrough that led to the world number one ranking.
He also beat Rafael Nadal in the semifinals of that event. Federer then won the Davis Cup final against Novak Djokovic, who had broken his