As Roger Federer decided to call curtains on a stellar career in tennis spanning 24 years, the sports fraternity stared at an impending void.
Tennis will miss his transcendental excellence, which earned the Swiss maestro 20 Grand Slam titles. But beyond his titles and statistics, Federer's virtuosity can be discerned by reminiscing his greatest wins.
Let us take a look back at Federer's astounding career through his ten best victories in chronological order:
1. Federer vs Sampras, 2001 Wimbledon
On one hand was the world number 1, a four-time defending champion and the then all-time leader in terms of Grand Slam wins. Pitted against him was a 19-year-old youngster from Switzerland's Basel, with not much to boast of in his showreel, except perhaps a Wimbledon Boys’ Championship win.
Though the world number 1 was not having the best of years, not many would have batted an eyelid had the fourth-round men’s singles match in 2001 Wimbledon between Pete Sampras and Roger Federer turned out to be a one-sided drab affair.
The American had won all of his last 31 matches at Wimbledon and had made it past the fourth round in the previous ten editions of the tournament. He was up against a teenager who considered him his idol.
Yet, the first set did not go as per expectations, with Sampras losing out 7-6. A mere blip, many thought, as the American came back with a 7-5 win in the second set. With all of his hard work undone, the youngster could have lost the mental battle before losing the physical one.
But instead of a collapse, the crowd at the All England Club witnessed the birth of greatness, as Federer became the embodiment of strength and determination to launch another counter-attack. He won the third set 6-4, and despite losing the fourth set 7-6, Federer held on to his nerves to win the last set 7-5.
“This is the biggest win of my life,” he said after the match, sporting a beaming smile. As it turned out, he would have many such remarkable wins over the next two decades.
2. Federer vs Agassi, 2003 Tennis Masters Cup
With Sampras retiring in 2002, it was Federer's turn to beat another American legend in the sport – Andre Agassi. The two had met thrice before the 2003 Tennis Masters Cup, and on all of those occasions, it was Agassi who emerged victorious.
The tides, however, changed in 2003. Then 22 years of age, Federer got the better of the eight-time Grand Slam winner first in the group stage and again in the final. Fans witnessed his brilliance in both matches, but two distinctly different variants of it.
The first match was about redemption, as the youngster overturned a deficit to claim victory. The second match, which we have selected for the list, was all about dominance, as Agassi never stood a chance in that clash.
Being at the dusk of his career, it was expected that he would struggle against the prodigy, but a straight-sets defeat did not seem to be on the cards. Packing the perfect mix of flamboyance and aggression, Federer won that final 6-3, 6-0, 6-4.
3. Federer vs Nadal, 2007 Wimbledon
By 2007, Federer had established himself as the best player of that era. He had won four Wimbledon titles already, alongside racking up silverware in the Australian Open and the US Open. A career Grand Slam seemed imminent, but the ‘king of clay,’ Rafael Nadal, defeated him in the final of the 2007 French Open.
The seeds of one of the most exhilarating rivalries in tennis were sown. The duo then met at the 2007 Wimbledon final. Federer was on the verge of becoming the third player to win five Wimbledon men’s singles titles in the Open Era, but the superhero was facing his nascent kryptonite, Nadal.
The match went on for what seemed like ages – 3 hours and 45 minutes approximately – as two of the best in tennis put on an enchanting exhibition of transcendental excellence. The scales swung to-and-fro before eventually resting on the Swiss half, with Federer winning 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2.
4. Federer vs Nadal, 2009 Madrid Open
The 2007 Wimbledon triumph cemented Federer’s dominance, but dominance in sports is not perpetual, and unfortunately, the Swiss maestro had to find it out the hard way. Nadal went on a winning spree after that defeat, and eventually, in August 2008, he dethroned Federer from his position as the world number 1.
Federer not only saw the Spaniard winning the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon, but he also suffered five consecutive defeats against him. Having unlocked his peak form, Nadal aimed to extend his streak and besides his phenomenal form, the conditions were also in his favour – the duo was to cross swords on clay at the 2009 Madrid Open.
The tournament had just switched from a hard court to a clay court, which made the son of the soil, Nadal, a firm favourite to win. Onboard a downward spiral, it was imperative for Federer to defy all odds, and defy he did.
Federer won the match 6-4, 6-4, handing Nadal his first defeat on a clay court after 33 consecutive triumphs. But traversing the rivalry, it was Federer’s first title in 2009 and the global announcement of the master’s return.
5. Federer vs Soderling, 2009 French Open
Federer had won multiple Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open titles by 2009, but one major tournament always remained elusive, preventing him from completing the career Grand Slam – the French Open.
In the 2009 edition, it seemed certain that another Federer-Nadal final was on the cards, but a Swedish player who had no grand slam titles in his cabinet, Robin Soderling, pulled off a major upset, bringing the tennis fraternity to a standstill when he defeated Nadal in the fourth round.
Complacency could have proven to be fatal but there were no signs of it in the first set, where Federer won 6-1. Soderling made a comeback to win the second set 7-6, but the Swiss superstar eventually managed to secure a 6-4 win in the third set, and subsequently, his first French Open title.
6. Federer vs Roddick, 2009 Wimbledon
Besides completing his career Grand Slam by beating Soderling, Federer also secured his 14th Grand Slam title with the French Open triumph – becoming the most successful male tennis player in the history of Grand Slams, alongside his idol Pete Sampras.
Having matched greatness, it was then Federer's turn to surpass it. Defending champion Rafael Nadal withdrew from the 2009 Wimbledon with a knee injury, but Federer faced another stern challenge from Andy Roddick.
The two finalists endured a stern test of stamina in a match that went on for four hours and 17 minutes, before Federer emerged as the winner with 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14. Spanning 77 games, it was then the longest-running men’s singles final of a major tournament in terms of the number of games.
7. Federer vs Djokovic, 2012 Wimbledon
The late 2000s saw the disruption of the Federer-Nadal era by a Serbian who soon became the world number 1. By the early 2010s, Novak Djokovic had made it clear that he had no intention of playing third fiddle and that he has arrived on the scene to dominate.
When Federer met Djokovic in the semifinal of the 2012 Wimbledon, odds were stacked in the Serb’s favour for justifiable reasons. He had beaten Federer in six of their last seven meetings, and the Swiss had not won a Grand Slam since the 2010 Australian Open.
Yet, as he did in 2009 against Nadal, Federer proved once again why his chapter in tennis was far from its conclusion. Despite being in his thirties and facing a seemingly unstoppable force, he won the tie 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
8. Federer vs Cilic, 2016 Wimbledon
An athlete’s greatness should not be measured by the performances during the peak, but during the era of decline. Since the 2012 Wimbledon triumph, Federer had somewhat slipped into oblivion, with injuries playing a significant role.
The 2016 Wimbledon was held a few weeks before he turned 35, and though not an also-ran, Federer was certainly not the frontrunner for the title. After making it past the first four rounds, he met Croatia’s Marin Cilic in the quarter-final.
The now-veteran player threw the kitchen sink in the first set but ended up losing 6-7. When he won the second set as well, Cilic might have started planning for the semis and the writers might have started penning down obituaries of Federer’s career.
But as he so often did in his career, Federer proved the world wrong, with his graceful Dunkirk spirit. He won the next three sets 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to win the tie, and though it did not mean much as Andy Murray won the title, the perseverance from the player in his mid-thirties was a lesson for everyone who dared to be the best.
9. Federer vs Cilic, 2018 Australian Open
After an impressive 2016, Federer won both the Australian Open and the Wimbledon in 2017 to take his career Grand Slam tally to 19. In the subsequent year, completing a flawless resurgence that spanned multiple years, he became the first male tennis player to win 20 Grand Slams.
Federer completed the incredible achievement by winning the 2018 Australian Open, with his opponent being the same player who was at the receiving end of the legend’s reawakening from two years ago – Marin Cilic.
In a match that spanned over three hours, Federer emerged as 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 winner. Then 36 years of age, Federer became the oldest player to win a major singles title since 1972.
10. Federer vs Djokovic, 2019 ATP Finals
The 2018 Australian Open triumph remains Federer’s last Grand Slam title, but he has produced a few magical performances since then. A notable victory among those is the triumph over Novak Djokovic in the 2019 ATP Finals.
Federer had lost all of the last five meetings against his Serbian opponent, and just when it seemed that an extension of this losing streak was on the cards, he pulled off a spectacular 6-4, 6-3 win. He was knocked out later in the competition by the eventual champion, Stefanos Tsitsipas, but the win over Djokovic at 38 years of age was a testament to Federer’s exemplary longevity.
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