Thursday, March 12, 2009

Roger Federer

By Denise I Smithson

13 Grand Slam singles titles, 4 Tennis Masters Cup titles, 14 ATP Masters Series titles and an Olympic Gold Medalist; Roger Federer is every inch a fine athlete. He currently holds many noteworthy titles in the tennis world. He had appeared in 10 consecutive Grand Slam single men's finals of the Wimbledon Championships in 2005 through the 2007 US Open. He managed to secure 19 consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals and holds outstanding records for the most consecutive in over 65 grass courts and 56 hard courts. For 237 consecutive weeks dating from February 2, 2004 to August 17, 2008, he was the number 1 tennis player in the world. He was even given the honor of the prestigious Laureus World Sportsman of the Year from 2005 to 2008. Today, Roger Federer ranks as world no. 2.

Roger Federer was born in August 8, 1981 in Basel, Switzerland. He spent most of his childhood in Munchenstein, Switzerland near the French-German boarders with his parents- Swiss-German Robert Federer and South African Lynette Federer. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and was even given the honor of meeting Pope Benedict XVI while playing at the 2006 Internazionali BNL d' Italia tournament held in Rome. Although Federer considers French-Germa as his native language, he can speak German, French and English fluently.

Even at the age of six it was obvious that Federer was a born athlete. He begun tennis lessons at the age of nine, working under the tutelage of a private coach by the time he was ten. Federer also played football and cricket as a teenager; both of which he also showed great potential for. However, he ultimately decided to make his career in tennis, though he continued to play cricket in the off-season. He had won all of the national championships open to him at the age of fourteen, being awarded with the opportunity to train at the Ecublems-based Swiss National Tennis Center. Feder joined the ITF junior tennis circuit in 1996, turning pro by 1998; this year saw him winning the ITF Junior Tennis championship as well as the junior WInbledon and the Orange Bowl.

While most tennis players are more at home on one type of court or another, Federer's versatility has made him famous. One sportswriter has said that tennis players can be clay court specialists, grass court specialists, hard court specialists; or they can be like Roger Federer. He is best known for his powerful groundstroke, as well as for being a skilled volleyer and baseliner. Federer uses a hybrid grip which takes elements from the semi-western and eastern strokes.

In his career, Roger Federer has won a whopping 57 singles titles. He was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people of the year 2007. Federer is engaged in charity work outside of his tennis career. He founded the Roger Foundation in 2003, to promote sports to young people and to help disadvantaged persons. At only 27 years old, we may have not yet seen the best of Roger Federer yet.

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