A Biography on Roger Federer

Alexander Erkisson, Journalist

Roger Federer started playing tennis when he was eight years old, and by the time he was 38, he had won 103 titles. Brittanica.com records that Roger Federer was born in 1981 in Basel, Switzerland, the only child of a Swiss father, Robert Federer, and a South African mother, Lynette Du Rand. In 1995, at age 14, Roger was accepted by the National Development Program of Swiss Tennis, a program in Ecublens, Switzerland, which was two hours away from his home in Basel. He joined the International Tennis Federation junior tennis circuit in July 1996, and that year got his first sponsorship. He was 16 years old.  Reflecting on his childhood, Roger said in an article on Biography.com, “I liked tennis the best of all sports.  It was always exciting and winning or losing was always in my hands.”  In 1995, Roger was accepted by the National Development Program of Swiss Tennis. It is a difficult step for the 14-year old to move from his home in Basel to the National Tennis Center in Ecublens. In June 1997, 16-year-old Roger finished the nine compulsory school years of his education.  At that time, he decided to end his school education and fully devote himself to tennis – a decision that his parents accepted with some doubts. Later, this decision turned out to have been a good one (jockbio.com).

As noted on the web at jockbio.com and Britannica.com Roger Federer became Switzerland’s junior champion at age 14.  In 1998, he won the Wimbledon junior singles championship and the Orange Bowl junior tournament crown in Miami, Florida. In 2003, at age 21, he won his first Grand Slam.  In all, he has won 20 Grand Slams and 103 titles. He was World Champion five times, and he has won eight Wimbledon titles.  In 2004, Federer was ranked No.1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). In 2020 he is ranked No. 3. So far, Roger Federer has a total of 1,237 wins and 270 losses making him ranked at 82.1% by the ATP.

Something people might not know about Federer is that he speaks six languages—Swiss, his first language, and he is fluent in five other languages: German, English, French, and Dutch and Schwyzerdütsch.  He also speaks some Swedish and Italian. According to the book, “Today’s Sports Greats Roger Federer” by Jason Glaser, “Federer is an emotional tennis player, just like his hero, Boris Becker.” He has though throughout the years learned to be level-headed while playing tennis which has made him successful. These characteristics have influenced other tennis players and, as a result, he has won Sportsman of the Year five times, and Personality of the Year four times. His achievements in such a short career when there are so many other great tennis players out there make him an undeniable champion.