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Roger Federer Part 2: 1999-2000, the talent emerges
12/3/08 10:30 PM | Jonathan Morgan
- After winning the Orange Bowl in late 1998, Federer was done with the juniors and ready to make a jump into the main tour.
Roger Federer began 1999 ranked just outside the top 300. He tried and failed to qualify for the Australian Open in January, and returned to Europe to try his hand indoors.
He qualified for a Challenger event in Germany in late January and reached the semis. The following week, he was granted a wild card into the Marseille event and did not disappoint. 17-year-old Federer, ranked 243rd, took out Carlos Moya in the first round. The same Moya who just the previous year had won the French Open and was ranked 5th in the world when Federer beat him. It was Federer's biggest win of his career. Although he lost in the quarterfinals to Arnaud Clement, he was improving very quickly.
Rotterdam offered Roger a wild card into the qualies there, where he qualified and again reached the quarterfinals. After this result his ranking jumped up to 129th. However, Federer was notorious in his youth for being a complete headcase and unable to string together some good results or keep up his level of play for extended periods of time.
After Rotterdam, the Swiss went 2-5 in his next few events, although one of his wins was a fine four-set victory over Davide Sanguinetti in his first Davis Cup appearance. Federer was bagelled by Vince Spadea in Monte Carlo that year, one of only four he has received in his entire career.
It was May before Federer got back to his winning ways. He qualified for a Challenger in Slovenia and made the semis, boosting his ranking up to a career high of 115th. He then competed in Roland Garros as a wild card and faced Patrick Rafter, the No. 3 player in the world at the time. Federer took a tough opening set but lost in four, including the second bagel of his career.
Federer got back on his beloved grass and made the semis of the Challenger event in Surbiton before losing to Sargis Sargsian in a very tight three-setter. The rest of his grass season and then some, however, was wretched. Byron Black crushed him in Queens, dishing him his third bagel of his career. He failed to qualify in Nottingham and lost in five sets at Wimbledon's first round. Losses in Gstaad, a pair of tight losses in Davis Cup against Belgium, second round at the Segovia Challenger, Washington, and failing to qualify for both Long Island and the US Open seemed to bring Federer back down to Earth.
He scored a win in both Tashkent and Toulouse following the US Open, but Federer just couldn't get any consistency. At that point, he had turned 18 and received a wild card into Basel. It was there where he got his mojo back. A quarterfinal loss to Tim Henman followed by a semifinal run in Vienna the following week got Federer back on track and his ranking shot up to 67th.
In Lyon, as a special exempt, he won the first round but lost another tight three-setter to Hewitt. With his confidence on high, Federer went back down to the Challenger tour and won the title in Brest, France. A failed qualifying attempt in Stockholm ended his year. His results were up and down and his ranking was 65th at the close of the year. It was a great first year on the tour for Federer, all things considered.
2000 opened with losses before the Aussie Open but his best slam result of his career with a third-round showing in Melbourne. Federer's game looked solid as he beat Mark Philippoussis in a tough four-setter in Davis Cup before once again falling to Hewitt in the reverse rubber. The Swiss was up 2-1 but lost the final two rubbers to lose the tie.
Federer's indoor season was once again fantastic. In Marseille he had a great run to the finals but lost in a third-set tiebreaker to Marc Rosset. Quarterfinals in London and semis in Copenhagen cemented this time of the year as Federer's best thus far in his career. After Copenhagen, Federer's ranking was up to 49th.
Like the previous year, Federer didn't make much of an impact in either the US or the clay season, going 1-7 until the French Open. He came out of nowhere to make the fourth round there, beating out fellow Swiss Michel Kratochvil 8-6 in the fifth for his first five-set win. He lost to Alex Corretja in the fourth round, and followed up this fine tournament with a quarterfinal run in Halle on the grass, bumping his ranking up to 35th.
With the young Federer, for every up, there was a down. After Halle, he went 1-6 until the US Open. The one win was over Vladimir Votchkov in five crazy sets to get Switzerland back into the World Group. One of the losses was to Hewitt in Canada in three sets. Federer then made the third round at the US Open before losing to fellow young gun Juan Carlos Ferrero in four tight and exhilarating sets.
Roger's next three events bumped the recently turned 19-year-old into the top 30. It was at the Olympic games in Sydney where he not only met his longtime girlfriend Mirka, but also made the semifinals, losing to Tommy Haas. A tough loss to Arnaud Di Pasquale meant Federer would go home without a medal. The hunger for wins seemed to get to Federer, as he returned to the Euro indoors with a semifinal run in Vienna and a finals appearance in his home Basel event. In the semis in Basel, Federer scored his first win over Hewitt, a tough three-set victory that ended 8-6 in a third-set 'breaker. He then went on to lose in the final to Thomas Enqvist in five sets. Reports allege that the young Swiss maestro cried profusely after the final.
Mediocre appearances for the rest of the season saw Federer finish the year ranked 29th. His first win over Hewitt, a few tour finals, and a bunch of five-setters marked his performances prior to turning 20. Federer would enter 2001 as one of the players many people pegged as a future star.
http://www.tennistalk.com/en/news/20...talent_emerges
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http://www.tennistalk.com/en/news/20...1_photo_finish
Federer part 4: 2003-
The year end #1 photo finish
- Federer ended 2002 with a rough loss against Lleyton Hewitt in the Masters Cup. Hewitt ended the year #1 again, but his 2003 was marred with injury and poor play. He finished that year at 17th. Federer came into 2003 ranked #6. It would be a new generation coming of age that year.
Federer went 2-2 before the Aussie Open and lost there in the fourth round to David Nalbandian. This would become a trend. He rebounded with yet another stellar indoor swing. After a pair of wins for Switzerland in Davis Cup, he won Marseille, made the semis in Rotterdam, and won Dubai. These results pushed him up to #4 in the world as he headed to the US for Indian Wells and Miami.
Federer actually won a match in Indian Wells, but fell in the second round. He was unable to defend his finals points from the previous year, losing in the Miami quarterfinals and dropping back to #5. He scored a pair of wins against France to send Switzerland to the Davis Cup semis that September. But the clay season was beckoning before.
Federer’s 2003 clay season was great to start, but got worse as it progressed. A win in Munich and a finals run in Rome were great results for Federer as he looked poised to make a good French Open run. Unfortunately, he was unable to defend his Hamburg title from the year before when he lost in the third round. He once against bombed out in the first round of Roland Garros, this time to Luis Horna. Juan Carlos Ferrero went on to claim the title.
Once Federer got back to the quicker surfaces, he looked more at home. He fought through a tough field in Halle to take his first grass title and carried that momentum into Wimbledon. The Swiss breezed through his draw, losing a single set as he arrived into the semis. Fellow young gun Andy Roddick blazed through his draw as well to set up a semi showdown with Federer on the 4th of July. Many saw the American winning, but Federer took it to his opponent, winning in straights before beating Mark Phillippoussis for the title.
Federer had finally won his first slam and his rank jumped up to a career high #3. The week after Wimbledon, he contested the Gstaad event in Switzerland, but lost in the finals to Jiri Novak in five. Federer just couldn’t win on his home soil.
Once he won Wimbledon, the race to #1 was heating up. Andre Agassi, then 33 years old, was on top after going 23-1 to start the year, winning the Australian Open, Miami, San Jose, and Houston. Ferrero was an Aussie Open quarterfinalist, won Monte Carlo, won Valencia, enjoyed semifinal runs in Barcelona and Rome, and won the French. Federer had won Halle, Marseille, Wimbledon, Munich, Dubai, and had a finals appearance in Gstaad and a semi run in Rome. Needless to say, all three men had great years.
That summer, Roddick thrust his name into the equation as well. After the finals in Gstaad, Federer didn’t play again until Canada. Meanwhile, the other three were hard at work. Ferrero had to defend from last year in Kitzbuhel and Sopot over the summer and came into Canada just over 200 points behind Agassi. The American only had a semifinal run in Los Angeles before Canada, and Roddick won Indianapolis before losing to Tim Henman in the Washington semis. Roddick was 1400 points behind Agassi but made it up pretty quickly.
In Montreal, Ferrero lost first, falling to Karol Kucera in the third round. Agassi lost the next round while the other two made the semis and faced off with each other. After Roddick got thumped in Wimbledon a month prior, the American was out for revenge. It was a crazy match and Roddick took it in a third-set 'breaker, his last win over Federer for another five years. Roddick then went on to win the event, getting himself to #4 in the rankings, just over 1000 short of Agassi. Federer jumped to #2 after a great week, just 120 points shy of Agassi. Had Federer won the match against Roddick, he would have had the #1 ranking. He later would remark that he wasn’t ready to be #1 at that point.
The following week in Cincinnati, all four men were again in action. Ferrero lost in the second round to Gaudio in a high-quality bout, while Agassi pulled out of the event before it began. Federer didn’t do much better, losing again to Nalbandian, this time in the second round. Roddick, with all three top rivals out before the third round, went all the way to the title, breaking the race wide open right before the US Open.
As the US Open was starting, Agassi had the top seed, but by a mere 95 points over Federer. Ferrero and Roddick were close behind. All four players were within 505 points of each other. Federer equaled his 2002 performance, losing to Nalbandian once again in the fourth round in almost a carbon copy of their Australian Open match. The other three made the semis. Ferrero beat Agassi while Roddick beat Nalbandian in the other semi in five sets. Right after Roddick dusted off Ferrero that Sunday, everyone knew the #1 race would go down to the wire.
Agassi ended up not playing again until the Masters Cup in Houston that year, effectively taking himself out of the equation. After Roddick won the US Open, he was within 100 points of Ferrero, who was top dog. Federer was over 400 points back but had some Davis Cup work to do.
Hewitt was still #7 when he and Roger battled in the Davis Cup semis that September. Federer and his team were down 2-1 in the fourth rubber when he and Hewitt took the court. Federer won the first two sets but lost the final three as Hewitt took the match. This would be the last time Hewitt beat Federer.
Ferrero had to defend some points that fall and made the finals in Bangkok to do so. Federer defended his Vienna title from the year before as all three men went into Madrid that year within 370 points of each other. Roddick lost to Nicolas Massu in the second round, a shocking result for the American. Ferrero and Federer made the semifinals and played a high-quality match. Ferrero won with the help of the Spanish crowd and went on to take the title. Ferrero was now 300 points clear of Roddick and 600 from Federer.
Ferrero took the next week off but Roddick and Federer were in Basel looking for points. Federer bowed out in the second round after a tight match with Ivan Ljubicic. Roddick made the semifinals before losing to Nalbandian. Neither man gained points that week.
Paris was the final event of the year, with the exception of the Masters Cup a few weeks later. Ferrero lost in the second round to Jiri Novak, while Federer and Roddick both fell victim in successive rounds to the run of Henman, who went on to take the title. With those results as well as the previous year’s Masters Cup points coming off, Roddick took the #1 ranking on November 3. All Roddick needed to do was have a better TMC than Ferrero to clinch. Federer was just about mathematically eliminated.
Ferrero ended up losing all three of his round-robin matches while Federer and Roddick went 3-0 and met in the semis. At that point, Roddick had already clinched the year-end #1. Federer went on to beat Roddick and destroy Agassi in the finals, landing a mere 160 points shy of #1.
Federer may not have ended 2003 as #1, but his dominating performances at Wimbledon and the Masters Cup would be a precursor to his next four years, during which he destroyed every player in his path and compiled the longest consecutive #1 streak in history.
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http://www.tennistalk.com/en/news/20..._of_domination
Federer part 5: 2004- The first year of domination
12/7/08 4:07 AM | Jonathan Morgan
- Federe may have gotten snuffed out of the #1 ranking at the end of 2003, but he made it clear very early in 2004 who the real #1 was.
The previous year, Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, and Federer had ended the year within 400 points of each other and many people believed the top spot would change hands quite a bit in 2004. Yeah, right.
The first big event of the year was the Australian Open. Roddick was top dog, Federer #2, Ferrero #3. Roddick made the quarterfinals and lost to a resurgent Marat Safin in five sets. Ferrero lost to Federer in the semis while Federer took his second slam over Safin in the finals. This bumped Federer up to #1 by almost 900 points over Ferrero, with Roddick right behind.
Ferrero came down with a case of the chicken pox in 2004 and has never really recovered to play anywhere near his 2003 level. The Spaniard was never the same while Roddick, on the other hand, still believed in 2004 that he could match Federer.
Both Roddick and Federer won a pair of Davis Cup matches before heading to their respective continents for tournaments. Roddick had some decent results in February but nothing too special. Federer lost for the first time that year in Rotterdam, but rebounded to defend his Dubai title before both men went to Indian Wells with Federer's points lead at 710.
Roddick made the quarters before losing to Tim Henman while Federer won the event dropping just a single set. Federer's game was really coming together. The next week in Miami, however, he lost to a young Spaniard by the name of Rafael Nadal while Roddick took the title. The gap was a mere 745.
Both men then advanced in Davis Cup, winning a pair of singles rubbers in straights as they set the standard for the rest of the tour. Roddick made the finals of the Houston event in mid-April, and both men lost early in Rome. The lead was now down to 350. Neither had done well in Roland Garros and both were defending massive points in the grass season. Federer knew this and did his best to take the Hamburg title, like he had done two years prior. Roddick lost in the second round at the French while Federer lost in the third to Gustavo Kuerten, the Brazilian's final great performance.
The gap coming into the grass season was 915. Federer easily defended his title in Halle while Roddick worked hard to defend his Queen's title. At Wimbledon, the Swiss had won it the year prior, beating Roddick in the semis. They knew the only time they'd meet this year would be in the final. And that is how it happened. Roddick made the final dropping a single set as did Federer, who lost one to a resurgent Lleyton Hewitt.
The 2004 Wimbledon final was where Roddick came oh so close to beating Federer and didn't get another close chance for over two years. After taking the first and being up a break in the third, Roddick lost it. Several rain delays which stopped Roddick's momentum also helped deliver the Swiss maestro a victory. Federer's play that day was impeccable; a great Wimbledon final from both men. Federer took it in 4 tight ones.
After the final, Federer led by 665, but with Roddick defending a bunch of points that summer and Federer playing better than the American, this was as close as Roddick got to getting back to #1. You couldn't fault him for trying, however, as he was still a contender.
Roddick won Indianapolis that summer again while Roger finally took Gstaad. Both made the finals in Toronto that year. Andy knew he was going to lose ground on Federer but wanted to stop the bleeding. It was 720 before that week and after Roger beat Andy in straights that day, it jumped up to 975. Andy caught a break the next week as Roger disappointingly lost to Hrbaty early in Cincinnati and then to Berdych early at the Olympics. These would be Roger's last losses for some time. Federer losses became much less common and Roddick's hope of somehow getting back to #1 seemed impossible.
Roddick only made the semis in Cincinnati and the 3rd round at the Olympics, so Roger's lead remained large. Roger led by 1390 going into the US Open. This was Roddick's last stand. He couldn't let Roger win 3 of 4 slams and take #1 so easily, especially after the previous year's tussle. Roddick was ruthless in New York, winning his first 4 matches in straights, including a bagel over a young Nadal. In his quarterfinal match against Joachim Johansson, he lost the first two sets, won the next two, but lost 6-4 in the 5th. Federer got to the quarters and had a 5 set, 2-day wind-war with Agassi that Roger took in 5 sets. He went on to beat Henman and Hewitt in the finals to take the title.
Roddick's spirit was crushed. Roger was on top of the world. Roger had nearly 3000 points over Roddick and even worse for the American, Hewitt was hot on his trails. Roger became a single entity after that US Open win, and the battle was only for second place. Federer, for fun it seems, went to Bangkok for a tournament in September, and ended up beating Roddick pretty soundly, including a bagel. Roddick looked fatigued and not his best while Roger was in full flight. The message was clear.
Federer, unfortunately, missed the indoor season with a slight injury and only came back for the Masters Cup in Houston. Fed's lead was 2230 after he lost a few hundred, but still a massive lead. Roger went on to win the Masters again, going undefeated. Hewitt and Roddick ended at 2 and 3, with Roddick finishing just 90 points ahead of the Aussie.
Federer ended 2004 with a 2680-point lead over Roddick and had won three slams of four that year. He looked untouchable.
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Enjoy!!
its a must for any Federer fan.. just see the extraordinary talent of the greatest tennis player ever to have picked up a tennis racquet..
Roger Federer Points Part 4
http://www.megaupload.com/nl/?d=QJS02Q5A
Part 3 link - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GHO2BDO6
Part 2 link - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=138V6RU3
Part 1 link - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2M8FXWHC
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Not sure if its already posted,
Wonderful match between Federer n Tipsarevic Australian Open 2008 highlights
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=zHkSU-vklfU
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http://www.tennistalk.com/en/news/20...o._5_on_Forbes
Federer No. 5 on Forbes
World #2 Roger Federer earned a his place in Forbes Magazines illustrious list of “Best-Paid Celebs Under 30”. The swiss superstar came in at #5, raking in an estimated $35 million dollars from a successful combination of endorsement deals and on-court victories.
Federer, who turned 27 this summer, surpassed the $10 million dollar mark in 2007, his season marked by a trio of Grand Slam titles in Melbourne, London and New York. Endorsements deals inked with companies like Emmi, Gillette, Jura, Mercedez-Benz, Nike and Wilson helped the star bring home an extra $25 million dollars in earnings.
The magazine included Federer on their “Celebrity 100” list earlier in the year. Forbes editors gave Federer the #23 spot, counting him among the worlds most richly compensated and most powerful public figures.
To date, Federer tops the list of all-time ATP tour money earners. As of the Masters Series tournament in Madrid, he had collected more than $44 million in prize money, surpassing Pete Sampras's previous tally of $43 million.
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http://www.tennisgrandstand.com/archives/2435
The following is the Prologue for the book “THE ROGER FEDERER STORY, QUEST FOR PERFECTION” ($24.95, New Chapter Press, www.rogerfedererbook.com) written by Swiss tennis journalist Rene Stauffer, which documents Stauffer’s “Encounter with a 15-year-old” who would go on to become who many consider the greatest tennis player of all-time. THE ROGER FEDERER STORY, QUEST FOR PERFECTION makes for an ideal gift for the Holidays. To order the book, go to www.tennistomes.com.
It was September 11, 1996. I was on assignment for the Tages-Anzeiger and was supposed to write a story about the World Youth Cup, a sort of Davis Cup for juniors that was being played in Zurich, the location of our editorial office. I was skeptical. A story about a team tournament involving obscure 15 and 16-year-old tennis players-who would be interested in that? I viewed this assignment as a tiresome task, thanks to the Swiss Tennis Federation since they had charitably taken on the tournament for its 100-year anniversary. No, this certainly would not be an interesting assignment.
05 Roger Federer as a 15-year-oldOn this day, I met Roger Federer for the first time. He played on a far away court surrounded by wire mesh at a tennis and recreation facility called Guggach. Officials from the Swiss Tennis Federation told me that Federer was a pretty good player and that there was little to criticize except that he was sometimes very temperamental. He just turned 15 and was actually too young for this tournament, but his credentials were impressive-he had already won five Swiss national junior championship titles, was the best Swiss player in the 16-and-under age bracket and was already ranked No. 88 nationally.
On this day, he played against an Italian named Nohuel Fracassi, who since this encounter with Federer, I never heard from again. Fracassi was more than a year older, bigger and stronger than Federer and he had already won the first set when I arrived. The mood was reminiscent of an insignificant club tournament. There were three or four spectators, a referee and no ball boys. The players fetched the balls themselves. However, I was instantly fascinated by Federer’s elegant style. I had already seen some players come and go in my fifteen years as a tennis journalist but it appeared to me that an extraordinary talent was coming of age here in front of me. He effortlessly put spins on balls so that the Italian-even on this slow clay court-would often just watch the ball fly past him for winners. With hardly a sound, he stroked winning shots from his black racquet, moved fast and gracefully. His strokes were harmonious and technically brilliant.
His tactics were also quite unusual. There were no similarities to the safe and consistent “Swedish School” of baseline tennis that was very common back then and usually resulted in promised success on clay courts. Federer would have nothing of that. He looked to end points quickly at every opportunity. He appeared to have mastered every stroke, which was quite unusual for juniors in his age group. He dominated with his serve and his forehand, but his powerful one-handed backhand and the occasional volley also looked like something taken from a tennis textbook.
Roger Federer was a diamond in the rough, no doubt. I was astonished and wondered why nobody had yet seen him or written about him. Was it perhaps because the media had so often prematurely written in superlatives about talented young players only to discover later that they did not measure up to the task of international tennis? Not every Swiss tennis player could be a new Heinz Günthardt, Jakob Hlasek or a Marc Rosset, perhaps the three best Swiss men’s players ever. Perhaps because hardly anybody was scouting for new talent in Switzerland since our little country was already over-proportionately well-represented in professional tennis with Rosset, the 1992 Olympic champion, and the up-and-coming 15-year-old Martina Hingis, already a Wimbledon doubles champion and a semifinalist in singles at the US Open.
But perhaps the reason was also that Federer’s athletic maturity stood in stark contrast to his behavior. He was a hot-head. On this September afternoon, his temper exploded even from the smallest mistakes. On several occasions, he threw his racquet across the court in anger and disgust. He constantly berated himself. “Duubel!” or “Idiot!” he exclaimed when one of his balls narrowly missed the line. He sometimes even criticized himself aloud when he actually won points but was dissatisfied with his stroke.
06 Roger Federer as a 15-year-old
He didn’t seem to notice what was going on around him. It was only him, the ball, the racquet-and his fuming temper-nothing else. Being so high-strung, he had to fight more with himself than with his opponent across the net this day. This dual struggle pushed him to the limit and I assumed he would lose despite his technical superiority. I was wrong. Federer won the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
I found out later that Federer already won a hard-fought, three-set match the day before against a tenacious young Australian player by the name of Lleyton Hewitt, with Federer fighting off a match point to win by a 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 margin. This Federer-Hewitt match occurred in front of a crowd of 30 people who purchased tickets for the day-plus the four people who bought a tournament series ticket for all sessions. Nobody could have known that these two players would become two of the greatest players-both earning the No. 1 ranking and going on to compete on the greatest stages of the sport in packed
stadiums and in front of millions of television viewers around the world.
I wanted to know more about Federer and asked him for an interview. He surprised me once again as he sat across from me at a wooden table in the gym locker room. I feared that the young man would be reserved and taciturn in the presence of an unfamiliar reporter from a national newspaper and he would hardly be able to say anything useful or quotable. But this was not the case. Federer spoke flowingly and confidently with a mischievous smile. He explained that his idol was Pete Sampras and that he had been training for a year at the Swiss National Tennis Center at Ecublens on Lake Geneva. He
also said that he probably was among the 30 or 40 best in his age class in the world and that he wanted to become a top professional but still had to improve his game-and his attitude.
“I know that I can’t always complain and shout because that hurts me and makes me play worse,” he said. “I hardly forgive myself on any mistakes although they’re normal.” He looked in the distance and said almost to himself-”One should just be able to play a perfect game.”
Playing a perfect game-that’s what motivated him. He didn’t want to just defeat opponents and win trophies, even if he liked the idea of becoming rich and famous or both, as he admitted. For him, instinctively, the journey was the reward and the journey involved hitting and placing balls with his racquet as perfectly as possible. He seemed to be obsessed with this, which would explain why he could become frustrated even after winning points. He didn’t want to dominate his opponent in this rectangle with the net that fascinated him-he wanted to dominate the ball that he both hated and loved.
Federer had great expectations-too many at that time that he would have been able to achieve them. His emotions carried him away in this conflict between expectations and reality. He seemed to sense his great potential and that he was capable of doing great things-but he was not yet able to transform his talents into reality.
03 Roger Federer as a 15-year-old
His unusual attitude towards perfection had a positive side effect in that he did not consider his opponents as rivals who wanted to rob the butter from his bread, as the sometimes reclusive Jimmy Connors used to say. His opponents were more companions on a common path. This attitude made him a popular and well-liked person in the locker room. He was social and someone you could joke around with. For Federer, tennis was not an individual sport with opponents who needed to be intimidated, but a common leisure activity with like-minded colleagues who, as part of a big team, were pursuing the same goal.
He became terribly annoyed at his own mistakes but he had the capacity to question things, to observe things from a distance and to put them in the correct perspective after his emotions had abated. He was also willing to admit weaknesses. “I don’t like to train and I also always play badly in training,” he casually observed during this interview. “I’m twice as good in the matches.”
This sentence surprised me as well. While many players choked under pressure, he apparently maintained a winning mentality. This strength that abounded in the most important matches and game situations really drove many opponents to distraction and enabled Federer to escape from apparently hopeless situations. It also helped Federer establish one of the most unbelievable records in sports history-24 consecutive victories in professional singles finals between July of 2003 and November of 2005-double the record held by John McEnroe and Björn Borg.
Federer’s triumphs at this World Youth Cup were in vain. The Swiss team, lacking a strong second singles player and an experienced doubles team, finished the tournament in defeat in 15th place. Roger Federer won but the Swiss lost-a scenario that was to repeat itself many times over years later at the actual Davis Cup. The hot-head nonetheless received a compliment from the coach of the Australian team at the World Youth Cup, Darren Cahill, the former US Open semifinalist, who was in charge of Lleyton Hewitt at the time. “He’s got everything he needs to succeed on tour later,” said Cahill.
I was able to return to the office with enough material for a nice story. It was to be my first about Roger Federer-but it would not be the last. The story’s title was “One Should Be Able To Play A Perfect Game.”
