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- published: 17 Feb 2012
- views: 14843
- author: bnppfbelgique
Basel | ||||||||||
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Mittlere Brücke over the Rhine | ||||||||||
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Population | 170,635 (Mar 2012)[1] | |||||||||
- Density | 7,500 /km2 (19,426 /sq mi) | |||||||||
Area | 23.91 km2 (9.23 sq mi)[2] | |||||||||
Elevation | 260 m (853 ft) | |||||||||
- Lowest | 244.75 m - Rhine shore, national border at Kleinhüningen | |||||||||
Postal code | 4000 | |||||||||
SFOS number | 2701 | |||||||||
Mayor | Guy Morin (as of 2009) GPS/PES | |||||||||
Demonym | Basler | |||||||||
Surrounded by | Allschwil (BL), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), Saint-Louis (FR-68), Weil am Rhein (DE-BW) | |||||||||
Website | www.basel.ch SFSO statistics |
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Basel ( /ˈbɑːzəl/) or Basle ( /ˈbɑːl/; German: Basel; pronounced [ˈbaːzəl])[note 1] is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants.[3] Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany. With 830,000 inhabitants in the tri-national urban agglomeration as of 2004, Basel is Switzerland's second-largest urban area.[4]
Located in northwest Switzerland on the river Rhine, Basel functions as a major industrial centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The Basel region, culturally extending into German Baden-Württemberg and French Alsace, reflects the heritage of its three states in the modern Latin name: "Regio TriRhena". It has the oldest university of the Swiss Confederation (1460). Basel is German-speaking. The local variant of the Swiss German dialects is called Basel German.
Basel is among the most important cultural centres of Switzerland. The city comprises a large number of theatres and many museums, including the Museum of Fine Arts, the world's oldest art collection accessible to the public. In addition the Theater Basel was chosen in 1999 as the best stage for German-language performances and in 2009 & 2010 as "Opera of the Year" by German Opera Magazine "Opernwelt".[5]
During the days of the Roman Empire, the settlement of Augusta Raurica was founded 10 or 20 kilometres upstream of present Basel, and a castle was built on the hill overlooking the river where the Basel Münster now stands. But even older Celtic settlements (including a vitrified fort) have been discovered recently in the area predating the Roman castle. The city's position on the Rhine long emphasised its importance: Basel for many centuries possessed the only bridge over the river "between Lake Constance and the sea"[citation needed].
The town of Basel was called Basilea or Basilia in Latin (from Ancient Greek Basileia, Βασιλεια meaning kingship) and this name is documented from 374 AD.[6] Since the donation of the Abbey Moutier-Grandvalto and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II in 999 till the Reformation, Basel was ruled by prince-bishops (see Bishop of Basel,[7] whose memory is preserved in the crosier shown on the Basel coat-of-arms – see above).
In 1019 the construction of the cathedral of Basel (known locally as the Münster) began under German Emperor Heinrich II.[8] In 1225–1226 the Bridge over the Rhine was constructed by Bishop Heinrich von Thun and lesser Basel (Kleinbasel) founded as a beachhead to protect the bridge. The bridge was largely funded by Basel's Jewish community which had settled there a century earlier.[9]
The Bishop also allowed the furriers to found a guild in 1226. Eventually about 15 guilds were established in the 13th century. They increased the town's, and hence the bishop's, reputation, influence, and income from the taxes and duties on goods in Basel's expanding market.[9]
In 1347 the plague came to Europe but did not reach Basel until June 1349. The guilds, asserting that the Jews were responsible—several had been tortured and confessed—demanded they be executed, which the Council did in January 1349, except for a few who escaped to Alsace.[9] The council then forbade Jews in Basel for 200 years, except that their money was helpful in rebuilding after the Basel earthquake of 1356 which destroyed much of the city along with a number of castles in the vicinity. The city offered courts to nobles as an alternative to rebuilding their castles, in exchange for the nobles' military protection of the city.
In 1412 (or earlier) the well-known guesthouse Zum Goldenen Sternen was established. Basel became the focal point of western Christendom during the 15th century Council of Basel (1431–1449), including the 1439 election of antipope Felix V. In 1459 Pope Pius II endowed the University of Basel where such notables as Erasmus of Rotterdam and Paracelsus later taught. At the same time the new craft of printing was introduced to Basel by apprentices of Johann Gutenberg.
The Schwabe publishing house was founded in 1488 by Johannes Petri and is the oldest publishing house still in business. Johann Froben also operated his printing house in Basel and was notable for publishing works by Erasmus.[10] In 1495, Basel was incorporated in the Upper Rhenish Imperial Circle; the Bishop of Basel was added to the Bench of the Ecclesiastical Princes. In 1500 the construction of the Basel Münster was finished. In 1521 so was the bishop. The Council, under the supremacy of the guilds, explained that henceforth they would only give allegiance to the Swiss Confederation, to whom the bishop appealed but in vain.[9]
The city had remained neutral through the Swabian War of 1499 despite being plundered by soldiers on both sides. The Treaty of Basel ended the war and granted the Swiss confederates exemptions from the emperor Maximillian's taxes and jurisdictions, separating Switzerland de facto from the Holy Roman Empire.[11]
On 9 June 1501 Basel joined the Swiss Confederation as its eleventh canton.[12] It was the only canton that had been asked to join, not the other way round. Basel, had a strategic location, good relations with Strasbourg and Mulhouse, and control of the corn imports from Alsace, whereas the Swiss lands were becoming overpopulated and had few resources. For its part, Basel secured the military help of the other cantons when threatened, and some protection for its rural subjects outside its walls. A provision of the Charter accepting Basel required that in conflicts among the other cantons it was to stay neutral and offer its services for mediation.[9][13]
In 1503 the new bishop Christoph von Utenheim refused to give Basel a new constitution whereupon, to show its power, the city began the construction of a new city hall.[9]
In 1529 the city became Protestant under Oecolampadius and the bishop's seat was moved to Porrentury. The bishop's crook was however retained as the city's coat of arms.
The first edition of Christianae religionis institutio (Institutes of the Christian Religion – John Calvin's great exposition of Calvinist doctrine) was published at Basel in March 1536.[14]
In 1544, Johann von Brugge a rich Dutch Protestant refugee was given citizenship and lived respectfully until his death in 1556 then buried with honors. His body was exhumed and burnt at the stake in 1559 after it was discovered that he was the Anabaptist David Joris.[9]
In 1543 De humani corporis fabrica, the first book on human anatomy, was published and printed in Basel by Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564).[15]
There are indications Joachim Meyer, author of the influential 16th century martial arts text Kunst des Fechten ("The Art of Fencing") came from Basel. In 1662 the Amerbaschsches Kabinett was established in Basel as the first public museum of art. Its collection became the core of the later Basel Museum of Art.
In 1792 the Republic of Rauracia, a revolutionary French client republic, was created. It lasted until 1793.[16] After three years of political agitation and a short civil war in 1833 the disadvantaged countryside seceded from the Canton of Basel, forming the half canton of Basel-Landschaft.[17]
On July 3, 1874 Switzerland's first zoo (the Zoo Basel) opened its doors in the south of the city towards Binningen.
Basel has often been the site of peace negotiations and other international meetings. The Treaty of Basel (1499) ended the Swabian War. Two years later Basel joined the Swiss Confederation. The Peace of Basel in 1795 between the French Republic and Prussia and Spain ended the First Coalition against France during the French Revolutionary Wars. In more recent times, the World Zionist Organization held its first congress in Basel on September 3, 1897. Because of the Balkan Wars, the Second International held an extraordinary congress at Basel in 1912. In 1989, the Basel Convention was opened for signature with the aim of preventing the export of hazardous waste from wealthy to developing nations for disposal.
Basel has an area, as of 2009[update], of 23.91 square kilometers (9.23 sq mi). Of this area, 0.95 km2 (0.37 sq mi) or 4.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 0.88 km2 (0.34 sq mi) or 3.7% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 20.67 km2 (7.98 sq mi) or 86.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 1.45 km2 (0.56 sq mi) or 6.1% is either rivers or lakes.[18]
Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 10.2% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 40.7% and transportation infrastructure made up 24.0%. Power and water infrastructure as well as other special developed areas made up 2.7% of the area while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 8.9%. Out of the forested land, all of the forested land area is covered with heavy forests. Of the agricultural land, 2.5% is used for growing crops and 1.3% is pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water.[18]
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is In Silber ein schwarzer Baselstab.[19]
Basel has an average of 121.4 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 778 mm (30.6 in) of precipitation. The wettest month is June during which time Basel receives an average of 87 mm (3.4 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 10.9 days. The month with the most days of precipitation is May, with an average of 12.6, but with only 84 mm (3.3 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 49 mm (1.9 in) of precipitation over 9.4 days.[20]
Climate data for Basel/Binningen | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Average high °C (°F) | 3.6 (38.5) |
5.8 (42.4) |
9.9 (49.8) |
14 (57) |
18.4 (65.1) |
21.7 (71.1) |
24.2 (75.6) |
23.5 (74.3) |
20.3 (68.5) |
14.8 (58.6) |
8.3 (46.9) |
4.5 (40.1) |
14.1 (57.4) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 0.9 (33.6) |
2.4 (36.3) |
5.6 (42.1) |
9.1 (48.4) |
13.1 (55.6) |
16.3 (61.3) |
18.5 (65.3) |
17.7 (63.9) |
14.8 (58.6) |
10.1 (50.2) |
4.9 (40.8) |
1.8 (35.2) |
9.6 (49.3) |
Average low °C (°F) | −1.9 (28.6) |
−0.7 (30.7) |
1.7 (35.1) |
4.4 (39.9) |
8.1 (46.6) |
11.1 (52.0) |
13.0 (55.4) |
12.8 (55.0) |
10.4 (50.7) |
6.6 (43.9) |
2.0 (35.6) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
5.6 (42.1) |
Precipitation mm (inches) | 51 (2.01) |
49 (1.93) |
51 (2.01) |
64 (2.52) |
84 (3.31) |
87 (3.43) |
79 (3.11) |
87 (3.43) |
62 (2.44) |
51 (2.01) |
59 (2.32) |
54 (2.13) |
778 (30.63) |
Avg. precipitation days | 10.1 | 9.4 | 10.8 | 11.3 | 12.6 | 10.9 | 9.5 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 8.4 | 10 | 9.8 | 121.4 |
Mean monthly sunshine hours | 58 | 81 | 121 | 149 | 171 | 185 | 219 | 203 | 168 | 120 | 70 | 53 | 1,599 |
Source: MeteoSchweiz[20] |
Basel's airport is set up for airfreight; heavy goods reach the city and the heart of continental Europe from the North Sea by ship along the Rhine. The main European routes for the highway and railway transportation of freight cross in Basel. The outstanding location benefits logistics corporations, which operate globally from Basel. Trading firms are traditionally well represented in the Basel Region.
Basel has Switzerland's only cargo port, through which goods pass along the navigable stretches of the Rhine and connect to ocean-going ships at the port of Rotterdam.
EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg is operated jointly by two countries, France and Switzerland. Contrary to popular belief, the airport is located completely on French soil. The airport itself is split into two architecturally independent sectors, one half serving the French side and the other half serving the Swiss side; prior to Schengen there was a customs point at the middle of the airport so that people could "emigrate" to the other side of the airport.
Basel has long held an important place as a rail hub. Three railway stations — those of the German, French and Swiss networks — lie within the city (although the Swiss (Basel SBB) and French (Bâle SNCF) stations are actually in the same complex, separated by Customs and Immigration facilities). Basel Badischer Bahnhof is on the opposite side of the city. Basel's local rail services are supplied by the Basel Regional S-Bahn. The largest goods railway complex of the country[citation needed] is located just outside the city, spanning the municipalities of Muttenz and Pratteln. The new highspeed ICE railway line from Karlsruhe to Basel was completed in 2008 while phase I of the TGV Rhin-Rhône line, opened in December 2011, has reduced travel time from Basel to Paris to about 3 hours.[21]
Basel is located on the A3 motorway.
Within the city limits, five bridges connect greater and lesser Basel, from upstream to downstream:
A somewhat anachronistic yet still widely used system of ferry boats links the two shores. There are four ferries, each situated approximately midway between two bridges. Each is attached by a cable to a block that rides along another cable spanning the river at a height of 20 or 30 metres. To cross the river, the ferryman orients the boat around 45° from the current so that the current pushes the boat across the river. This form of transportation is therefore completely hydraulically driven, requiring no outside energy source. [1]
Basel has an extensive public transportation network serving the city and connecting to surrounding suburbs, including a large tram network. The green-colored local trams and buses are operated by the Basler Verkehrs-Betriebe (BVB). The yellow-colored buses and trams are operated by the Baselland Transport (BLT), and connect areas in the nearby half-canton of Baselland to central Basel. The BVB also shares commuter bus lines in cooperation with transit authorities in the neighboring Alsace region in France and Baden region in Germany. The Basel Regional S-Bahn, the commuter rail network connecting to suburbs surrounding the city, is jointly operated by SBB, SNCF and DB.
Basel is located at the meeting point of France, Germany and Switzerland and has numerous road and rail crossings between Switzerland and the other two countries. With Switzerland joining the Schengen Area on December 12, 2008, immigration checks were no longer carried out at the crossings. However, Switzerland did not join the EU customs regime and customs checks are still conducted at or near the crossings.
France-Switzerland (from east to west)
Germany-Switzerland (clockwise, from north to south)
Additionally there are many footpaths and cycle tracks crossing the border between Basel and Germany.
Basel has a population (as of March 2012[update]) of 170,635.[1] As of 2008[update], 32.3% of the population are resident foreign nationals.[23] Over the last 10 years (1999–2009 ) the population has changed at a rate of -0.3%. It has changed at a rate of 3.2% due to migration and at a rate of -3% due to births and deaths.[24]
Most of the population (as of 2000[update]) speaks German (129,592 or 77.8%), with Italian being second most common (9,049 or 5.4%) and French being third (4,280 or 2.6%). There are 202 people who speak Romansh.[25]
Of the population in the municipality 58,560 or about 35.2% were born in Basel and lived there in 2000. There were 1,396 or 0.8% who were born in the same canton, while 44,874 or 26.9% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 53,774 or 32.3% were born outside of Switzerland.[25]
In 2008[update] there were 898 live births to Swiss citizens and 621 births to non-Swiss citizens, and in same time span there were 1,732 deaths of Swiss citizens and 175 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens decreased by 834 while the foreign population increased by 446. There were 207 Swiss men and 271 Swiss women who emigrated from Switzerland. At the same time, there were 1756 non-Swiss men and 1655 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was an increase of 278 and the non-Swiss population increased by 1138 people. This represents a population growth rate of 0.9%.[23]
As of 2000[update], there were 70,502 people who were single and never married in the municipality. There were 70,517 married individuals, 12,435 widows or widowers and 13,104 individuals who are divorced.[25]
As of 2000[update] the average number of residents per living room was 0.59 which is about equal to the cantonal average of 0.58 per room.[24] In this case, a room is defined as space of a housing unit of at least 4 m2 (43 sq ft) as normal bedrooms, dining rooms, living rooms, kitchens and habitable cellars and attics.[26] About 10.5% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).[27]
As of 2000[update], there were 86,371 private households in the municipality, and an average of 1.8 persons per household.[24] There were 44,469 households that consist of only one person and 2,842 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 88,646 households that answered this question, 50.2% were households made up of just one person and there were 451 adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 20,472 married couples without children, 14,554 married couples with children There were 4,318 single parents with a child or children. There were 2,107 households that were made up of unrelated people and 2,275 households that were made up of some sort of institution or another collective housing.[25]
In 2000[update] there were 5,747 single family homes (or 30.8% of the total) out of a total of 18,631 inhabited buildings. There were 7,642 multi-family buildings (41.0%), along with 4,093 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (22.0%) and 1,149 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (6.2%). Of the single family homes 1090 were built before 1919, while 65 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single family homes (3,474) were built between 1919 and 1945.[28]
In 2000[update] there were 96,640 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was 3 rooms of which there were 35,958. There were 11,957 single room apartments and 9,702 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 84,675 apartments (87.6% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 7,916 apartments (8.2%) were seasonally occupied and 4,049 apartments (4.2%) were empty.[28] As of 2009[update], the construction rate of new housing units was 2.6 new units per 1000 residents.[24]
As of 2003[update] the average price to rent an average apartment in Basel was 1118.60 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$890, £500, €720 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one room apartment was 602.27 CHF (US$480, £270, €390), a two room apartment was about 846.52 CHF (US$680, £380, €540), a three room apartment was about 1054.14 CHF (US$840, £470, €670) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 2185.24 CHF (US$1750, £980, €1400). The average apartment price in Basel was 100.2% of the national average of 1116 CHF.[29] The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010[update], was 0.74%.[24]
The historical population is given in the following chart:[30] <timeline> Colors=
id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8)
ImageSize = width:960 height:210 PlotArea = height:150 left:100 bottom:50 right:100 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:220000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:40000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:8000 start:0 PlotData=
color:yellowgreen width:40 mark:(line,white) align:center bar:1850 from:start till:27844 text:"27,844" bar:1860 from:start till:38692 text:"38,692" bar:1870 from:start till:44868 text:"44,868" bar:1880 from:start till:61737 text:"61,737" bar:1888 from:start till:71131 text:"71,131" bar:1900 from:start till:109161 text:"109,161" bar:1910 from:start till:132276 text:"132,276" bar:1920 from:start till:135976 text:"135,976" bar:1930 from:start till:148063 text:"148,063" bar:1941 from:start till:162105 text:"162,105" bar:1950 from:start till:183543 text:"183,543" bar:1960 from:start till:206746 text:"206,746" bar:1970 from:start till:212857 text:"212,857" bar:1980 from:start till:182143 text:"182,143" bar:1990 from:start till:178428 text:"178,428" bar:2000 from:start till:166558 text:"166,558"
</timeline>
As of 2010[update], Basel had an unemployment rate of 4.2%. As of 2008[update], there were 18 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 9 businesses involved in this sector. 34,645 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 1,176 businesses in this sector. 120,130 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 8,908 businesses in this sector.[24] There were 82,449 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 46.2% of the workforce.
In 2008[update] the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 130,988. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 13, of which 10 were in agriculture and 4 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 33,171 of which 24,848 or (74.9%) were in manufacturing, 10 were in mining and 7,313 (22.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 97,804. In the tertiary sector; 12,880 or 13.2% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 11,959 or 12.2% were in the movement and storage of goods, 6,120 or 6.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4,186 or 4.3% were in the information industry, 10,752 or 11.0% were the insurance or financial industry, 13,695 or 14.0% were technical professionals or scientists, 6,983 or 7.1% were in education and 16,060 or 16.4% were in health care.[31]
In 2000[update], there were 121,842 workers who commuted into the municipality and 19,263 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 6.3 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. About 23.9% of the workforce coming into Basel are coming from outside Switzerland, while 1.0% of the locals commute out of Switzerland for work.[32] Of the working population, 49.2% used public transportation to get to work, and 18.7% used a private car.[24]
An annual Federal Swiss trade fair (Mustermesse) takes place in Kleinbasel on the right bank of the Rhine. Other important trade shows include "BaselWorld" (watches and jewelry), Art Basel, Orbit and Cultura.
The Swiss chemical industry operates largely from Basel, and Basel also has a large pharmaceutical industry. Novartis,[33] Syngenta, Ciba Specialty Chemicals,[34] Clariant,[35] Hoffmann-La Roche,[33] Basilea Pharmaceutica and Actelion are headquartered there. Pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals have become the modern focus of the city's industrial production.
Banking is extremely important to Basel:
Basel has Switzerland's second tallest building (Basler Messeturm / 105m) and Switzerland's tallest tower (St. Chrischona TV tower / 250m).
Swiss International Air Lines, the national airline of Switzerland, is headquartered on the grounds of EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg in Saint-Louis, Haut-Rhin, France, near Basel.[38][39][40] Prior to the formation of Swiss International Air Lines, the regional airline Crossair was headquartered near Basel.[41]
Basel is subdivided into 19 quarters (Quartiere). The municipalities of Riehen and Bettingen, outside the city limits of Basel, are included in the canton of Basel-City as rural quarters (Landquartiere).
Quartier | Area | Population March 2012[1] |
Population Density people/km2 |
---|---|---|---|
Altstadt Grossbasel (central Grossbasel) | 37.63 | 2,044 | 5,432 |
Vorstädte (Suburbs) | 89.66 | 4,638 | 5,173 |
Am Ring | 90.98 | 10,512 | 11,554 |
Breite | 68.39 | 8,655 | 12,655 |
St. Alban | 294.46 | 10,681 | 3,633 |
Gundeldingen | 123.19 | 18,621 | 15,140 |
Bruderholz | 259.61 | 9,006 | 3,477 |
Bachletten | 151.39 | 13,330 | 8,830 |
Gotthelf | 46.62 | 6,784 | 14,552 |
Iselin | 109.82 | 16,181 | 14,840 |
St. Johann | 223.90 | 18,560 | 8,323 |
Altstadt Kleinbasel (central Kleinbasel) | 24.21 | 2,276 | 9,401 |
Clara | 23.66 | 4,043 | 17,090 |
Wettstein | 75.44 | 5,386 | 7,139 |
Hirzbrunnen | 305.32 | 8,676 | 2,845 |
Rosental | 64.33 | 5,180 | 8,052 |
Mattäus | 59.14 | 16,056 | 27,149 |
Klybeck | 91.19 | 7,234 | 7,933 |
Kleinhüningen | 136.11 | 2,772 | 2,038 |
City of Basel | 2275.05 | 170,635[1] | 7,517 |
Bettingen | 222.69 | 1,183[1] | 538 |
Riehen | 1086.10 | 20,763[1] | 1,923 |
Canton of Basel-City | 3583.84 | 192,581[1] | 5,379 |
From the 2000 census[update], 41,916 or 25.2% were Roman Catholic, while 39,180 or 23.5% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. Of the rest of the population, there were 4,567 members of an Orthodox church (or about 2.74% of the population), there were 459 individuals (or about 0.28% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church, and there were 3,464 individuals (or about 2.08% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 1,325 individuals (or about 0.80% of the population) who were Jewish, and 12,368 (or about 7.43% of the population) who were Islamic. There were 746 individuals who were Buddhist, 947 individuals who were Hindu and 485 individuals who belonged to another church. 52,321 (or about 31.41% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist, and 8,780 individuals (or about 5.27% of the population) did not answer the question.[25]
The red sandstone Münster, one of the foremost late-Romanesque/early Gothic buildings in the Upper Rhine, was badly damaged in the great earthquake of 1356, rebuilt in the fourteenth and 15th century, extensively reconstructed in the mid-nineteenth century and further restored in the late twentieth century.[42] A memorial to Erasmus lies inside the Münster. The City Hall from the 16th century is located on the Market Square and is decorated with fine murals on the outer walls and on the walls of the inner court.
Basel is also host to an array of buildings by internationally renowned architects. These include the Beyeler Foundation by Renzo Piano, or the Vitra complex in nearby Weil am Rhein, composed of buildings by architects such as Zaha Hadid (fire station), Frank Gehry (design museum), Alvaro Siza Vieira (factory building) and Tadao Ando (conference centre). Basel also features buildings by Mario Botta (Jean Tinguely Museum and Bank of International settlements) and Herzog & de Meuron (whose architectural practice is in Basel, and who are best known as the architects of Tate Modern in London). The city received the Wakker Prize in 1996.
Basel features a great number of heritage sites of national significance.[43]
These include the entire Old Town of Basel as well as the following buildings and collections:
Basel hosts Switzerland's oldest university, the University of Basel, dating from 1460. Erasmus, Paracelsus, Daniel Bernoulli, Leonhard Euler, Jacob Burckhardt, and Friedrich Nietzsche worked here. More recently, its work in tropical medicine has gained prominence.
In 2007, the ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) established the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) in Basel. The creation of the D-BSSE was driven by a Swiss-wide research initiative SystemsX, and was jointly supported by funding from the ETH Zurich, the Swiss Government, the Swiss University Conference (SUC) and private industry.[44]
Basel is renowned for various scientific societies, as the Entomological Society of Basel (Entomologische Gesellschaft Basel, EGB), which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2005.[45]
Basel counts several International Schools, including the International School of Basel, the Schule für Gestaltung Basel, the Minerva School and the Rhine Academy.
In Basel about 57,864 or (34.7%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 27,603 or (16.6%) have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule). Of the 27,603 who completed tertiary schooling, 44.4% were Swiss men, 31.1% were Swiss women, 13.9% were non-Swiss men and 10.6% were non-Swiss women.[25]
As of 2000[update], there were 5,820 students in Basel who came from another municipality, while 1,116 residents attended schools outside the municipality.[32]
Basel is home to at least 65 libraries. Some of the largest include; the Universitätsbibliothek Basel (main university library), the special libraries of the Universität Basel, the Allgemein Bibliotheken der GGG Basel, the Library of the Pädagogische Hochschule, the Library of the Hochschule für Soziale Arbeit and the Library of the Hochschule für Wirtschaft. There was a combined total (as of 2008[update]) of 8,443,643 books or other media in the libraries, and in the same year a total of 1,722,802 items were loaned out.[46]
Geo-politically, the city of Basel functions as the capital of the Swiss half-canton of Basel-Stadt, though several of its suburbs form part of the half-canton of Basel-Landschaft or of the canton of Aargau (or of France or Germany).
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the SP which received 37.1% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SVP (18.08%), the Green Party (12.97%) and the FDP (10.99%). In the federal election, a total of 51,012 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 51.4%.[47]
Basel is at the forefront of a national vision to more than halve energy use in Switzerland by 2050. In order to research, develop and commercialise the technologies and techniques required for the country to become a '2000 Watt society', a number of projects have been set up since 2001 in the Basel metropolitan area. These including demonstration buildings constructed to MINERGIE or Passivhaus standards, electricity generation from renewable energy sources,[48] and vehicles using natural gas, hydrogen and biogas.[49]
An hot dry rock geothermal energy project was cancelled in 2009 since it caused induced seismicity in Basel.
Basel has a reputation in Switzerland as a successful sporting city. The football club FC Basel continues to be successful and in recognition of this the city was one of the Swiss venues for the 2008 European Championships, as well as Geneva, Zurich and Bern. The championships were jointly hosted by Switzerland and Austria. BSC Old Boys and Concordia Basel are the other football teams in Basel.
Basel features a large football stadium that has been awarded four stars by UEFA, a modern ice hockey hall, and an admitted sports hall.
A large indoor tennis event takes place in Basel every October. Some of the best ATP-Professionals play every year at the Swiss Indoors, including Switzerland's biggest sporting hero and frequent participant Roger Federer, a Basel native who describes the city as "one of the most beautiful cities in the world".
Basel has a thriving cultural life. (In 1997, it contended to become the "European Capital of Culture", though the honor went instead to Thessaloniki) Basel is the home of the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, founded in 1933, a worldwide centre for research on and performance of music from the Medieval through the Baroque eras. Theater Basel presents a busy schedule of plays in addition to being home to the city's opera and ballet companies. Basel is home to the largest orchestra in Switzerland, the Sinfonieorchester Basel. It is also the home of the Kammerorchester Basel, which is recording the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven for the Sony label led by its music director Giovanni Antonini. The baroque orchestras La Cetra and Capriccio Basel are also based in Basel. In May 2004, the fifth European Festival of Youth Choirs (Europäisches Jugendchorfestival, or EJCF) choir festival opened: this Basel tradition started in 1992. Host of this festival is the local Basel Boys Choir.
The carnival of the city of Basel (Basler Fasnacht) is a major cultural event in the year. The carnival is the biggest in Switzerland and attracts large crowds every year, despite the fact that it starts at exactly four in the morning (Morgestraich) on a winter Monday. The Fasnacht asserts Basel's Protestant history by commencing the revelry five days after Ash Wednesday and continuing day and night for exactly 72 hours. Almost all study and work in the old city cease. Dozens of fife and drum clubs parade in medieval guild tradition with fantastical masks and illuminated lanterns, eventually yielding to other loud and irreverent festivity. Basel is also host to the Basel Tattoo and a number of fairs.
Basler Zeitung ("BaZ") and TagesWoche are the local newspapers.
There are a number of culinary specialties originating in Basel, including Basler Läckerli cookies and Mässmogge candies.
Zoo Basel is, with over 1.7 million visitors per year,[50] the most visited tourist attraction in Basel and the second most visited tourist attraction in Switzerland.[51]
Established in 1874, Zoo Basel is the oldest zoo in Switzerland and, by number of animals, the largest. Through its history, Zoo Basel has had several breeding successes, such as the first worldwide Indian rhinoceros birth[52] and Greater flamingo hatch[53] in a zoo. These and other achievements led Forbes Travel to rank Zoo Basel as one of the fifteen best zoos in the world in 2008.[54]
Despite its international fame, Basel's population remains attached to Zoo Basel, which is entirely surrounded by the city of Basel. Evidence of this is the millions of donations money each year, as well as Zoo Basel's unofficial name: locals lovingly call "their" zoo "Zolli" by which is it known throughout Basel and most of Switzerland.
The Basel museums cover a broad and diverse spectrum of collections with a marked concentration in the fine arts. They house numerous holdings of international significance. The over three dozen institutions yield an extraordinarily high density of museums compared to other cities of similar size and draw over one million visitors annually.
Constituting an essential component of Basel culture and cultural policy, the museums are the result of closely interwoven private and public collecting activities and promotion of arts and culture going back to the 16th century. The public museum collection was first created back in 1661 and represents the oldest public collection in continuous existence. Since the late 1980s, various private collections have been made accessible to the public in new purpose-built structures that have been recognized as acclaimed examples of avant-garde museum architecture.
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Wikisource has the text of a 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article about Basel. |
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Roger Federer (German pronunciation: [ˈfeːdəʁɐ]) (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP No. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks from 2 February 2004 to 18 August 2008.[2] Federer has occupied the #1 ranking for 285 overall weeks, one week short of the record 286 weeks held by Pete Sampras. As of 28 May 2012, he is ranked World No. 3. Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles. He is one of seven male players to capture the career Grand Slam and one of three (with Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal) to do so on three different surfaces (clay, grass, and hard courts). He is the only male player in tennis history to have reached the title match of each Grand Slam tournament at least five times and also the final at each of the nine ATP Masters 1000 Tournaments. Many sports analysts, tennis critics, and former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]
Federer has appeared in an unprecedented 23 career Grand Slam tournament finals, including a men's record ten in a row, and appeared in 18 of 19 finals from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open, the lone exception being the 2008 Australian Open. He holds the record of reaching the semifinals or better of 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments over five and a half years, from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open.[10] At the 2012 Australian Open, he reached a record 31st consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. During the course of his run at the 2012 French Open in Roland Garros, Federer eclipsed Jimmy Connors long standing record of 233 match wins in Grand Slam tournaments when he defeated Adrian Ungur in a second round match.
Federer has won a record six ATP World Tour Finals and 20 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments. He also won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. He spent eight years (2003–2010) continuously in the top 2 in the year-end rankings and nine (2003–2011) in the Top 3, also a record among male players. His rivalry with Rafael Nadal is considered one of the greatest of all time in the sport. Federer is greatly respected by fans and by fellow players alike as shown by the fact that he has won the ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favorite Award a record nine consecutive times (2003–2011) and the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award (which is voted for by the players themselves) a record seven times overall and six times consecutively (2004–2009, 2011). Federer also won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2006. In 2011, he was voted the second most trusted and respected person in the world, second only to Nelson Mandela.[11][12]
As a result of Federer's successes in tennis, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record four consecutive years (2005–2008)[13] and in 2012 he topped a list of the "100 greatest tennis players of all time" (male or female) by Tennis Channel.[14] He is often referred to as the Federer Express[15] or abbreviated to Fed Express, or FedEx, the Swiss Maestro,[15] or simply Maestro.[15][16][17][18]
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Federer was born in Binningen, Arlesheim near Basel, to Swiss national Robert Federer and South African-born Lynette Durand.[19] He holds both Swiss and South African citizenships.[20] He grew up in nearby Münchenstein, close to the French and German borders and speaks Swiss German, German, French and English fluently, Swiss German being his native language.[19][21][22] He was raised as a Roman Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL d'Italia tournament in Rome.[23] Like all male Swiss citizens, Federer was subject to compulsory military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, in 2003 he was deemed unfit due to a long-standing back problem and was subsequently not required to fulfill his military obligation.[24] Federer himself also credits the range of sports he played as a child—he also played badminton and basketball—for his hand-eye coordination. "I was always very much more interested if a ball was involved," he says. Most tennis prodigies, by contrast, play tennis to the exclusion of all other sports.[25]
Federer is married to former Women's Tennis Association player Mirka Vavrinec. He met her while both were competing for Switzerland in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Vavrinec retired from the tour in 2002 because of a foot injury and has since been working as Federer's public relations manager.[26] They were married in Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family at Wenkenhof Villa (municipality of Riehen).[27] On 23 July 2009, Mirka gave birth to twin girls, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva.[28]
Federer supports a number of charities. He established the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003 to help disadvantaged people and to promote sports.[29][30] In 2005, he auctioned his racquet from his US Open championship to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina.[31] He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF in 2006.[32] At the 2005 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Federer arranged an exhibition involving several top players from the ATP tour and WTA tour called Rally for Relief. The proceeds from the event went to the victims of the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Since then, he has visited South Africa and Tamil Nadu, one of the areas in India most affected by the tsunami.[33] He has also appeared in UNICEF public messages to raise public awareness of AIDS. In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Federer arranged a collaboration with fellow top tennis players Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Lleyton Hewitt, and Sam Stosur to forgo their final day of preparation for the 2010 Australian Open to form a special charity event called Hit for Haiti, in which all proceeds went to Haiti earthquake victims.[34] He was named a 2010 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in recognition of his leadership, accomplishments, and contributions to society.[35]
Similar to the 2010 event, Hit for Haiti, Federer organized and participated in a charity match called Rally for Relief on 16 January 2011, to benefit those that were affected by the 2010–2011 Queensland floods.
Federer is currently number 31 on Forbes top 100 celebrities as of May 2012. [36]
Federer's main accomplishments as a junior player came at Wimbledon in 1998, where he won both the boys' singles tournament over Irakli Labadze,[37] and in doubles teamed up with Olivier Rochus, defeating the team of Michaël Llodra and Andy Ram.[38] In addition, Federer lost the US Open Junior tournament in 1998 to David Nalbandian. He won four ITF junior singles tournaments in his career, including the prestigious Orange Bowl, where he defeated Guillermo Coria, in the finals.[39] He ended 1998 as the junior world no. 1.
Federer's first tournament as a professional was Gstaad in 1998 (12th grade), where he faced Lucas Arnold Ker in the round of 32 and lost.[40] Federer's first final came at the Marseille Open in 2000, where he lost to fellow Swiss Marc Rosset.[41] Federer won the 2001 Hopman Cup representing Switzerland along with Martina Hingis. The duo defeated the American pair of Monica Seles and Jan-Michael Gambill in the finals. Federer's first win was at the 2001 Milan Indoor tournament, where he defeated Julien Boutter.[41] Although he won his first ever title already in 1999 on the challenger tour, winning the doubles event in Segovia, Spain together with Dutchman Sander Groen, the finals was played on Federer´s 18th birthday. In 2001, Federer made his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open, and at Wimbledon that same year defeated four-time defending champion Pete Sampras to reach the quarterfinals. The most prestigious event final he reached during this period was the 2002 Miami Masters event, where he lost to Andre Agassi, on hard court.[42] In addition, Federer won his first Master Series event at the 2002 Hamburg Masters on clay, over Marat Safin; the victory made him a top-10 player for the first time.[42] Federer made 10 singles finals between 1998 and 2002, of which he won four and lost six.[40][41][42][43][44] He also made six finals in doubles. Of note are Federer and partner Max Mirnyi's defeat in the final of the Indian Wells Masters in 2002, and their victory in the same year in the final of the Rotterdam 500 series event. Federer had won the latter a year earlier with partner Jonas Björkman.[42][44]
In 2003, Federer won his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, beating Mark Philippoussis.[45] Federer won his first and only doubles Masters Series 1000 event in Miami with Max Mirnyi,[46] and made it to one singles Masters Series 1000 event in Rome on clay, which he lost.[45] Federer made it to nine finals on the ATP Tour and won seven of them, including the 500 series events at Dubai and Vienna.[45] Lastly, Federer won the year-end championships over Andre Agassi.[45]
During 2004, Federer won three Grand Slam singles titles for the first time in his career and became the first person to do so since Mats Wilander in 1988. His first Grand Slam hard-court title came at the Australian Open over Marat Safin. He then won his second Wimbledon crown over Andy Roddick.[47] Federer defeated the 2001 US Open champion, Lleyton Hewitt, at the US Open for his first title there.[47] Federer won three ATP Masters Series 1000 events. One was on clay in Hamburg, and the other two were on hard surfaces at Indian Wells and in Canada.[47] Federer took the ATP 500 series event at Dubai and wrapped up the year by winning the year-end championships for the second time.[47]
In 2005, Federer failed to reach the finals of the first two Grand Slam tournaments, losing the Australian Open semifinal to eventual champion Safin and the French Open semifinal to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.[48] However, Federer quickly reestablished his dominance on grass, winning the Wimbledon Championships over Andy Roddick. At the US Open, Federer defeated Andre Agassi in the latter's last Grand Slam final.[48] Federer also took four ATP Masters Series 1000 wins: Indian Wells, Miami, and Cincinnati on hard court, and Hamburg on clay.[48] Furthermore, Federer won two ATP 500 series events at Rotterdam and Dubai.[48] Federer lost the year-end championships to David Nalbandian in the final.[48]
In 2006, Federer won three Grand Slam singles titles and reached the final of the other, with the only loss coming against Nadal in the French Open. This was the two men's first meeting in a Grand Slam final.[49] Federer defeated Nadal in the Wimbledon Championships final. In the Australian Open, Federer defeated Marcos Baghdatis,[49] and at the US Open, Federer defeated Roddick (2003 champion).[49] In addition, Federer made it to six ATP Masters Series 1000 finals, winning four on hard surfaces and losing two on clay to Nadal. Federer won one ATP 500 series event in Tokyo and captured the year-end championships for the third time in his career.[49]
In 2007, Federer reached all four Grand Slam singles finals, winning three of them. He won the Australian Open over Fernando González, Wimbledon over Rafael Nadal for the second time, and the US Open over Novak Djokovic. Federer lost the French Open to Nadal.[50] Federer made five ATP Masters Series 1000 finals in 2007, winning the Hamburg and Cincinnati titles.[50] Federer won one 500 series event in Dubai and won the year-end championships.[50]
In 2008, Federer won one Grand Slam singles title, which came at the US Open over Briton Andy Murray.[51] Federer was defeated by Nadal in two Grand Slam finals, at the French Open, and at Wimbledon, when he was going for six straight wins to break Björn Borg's record.[51] At the Australian Open, Federer lost in the semifinals to Djokovic, which ended his record of 10 consecutive finals.[51] Federer lost twice in Master Series 1000 finals on clay to Nadal, at Monte Carlo and Hamburg.[51] However, Federer captured two titles in 250-level events at Estoril and Halle and one title in a 500 level event in Basel. In doubles, Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka won the gold medal at the Olympic Games.[52]
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Federer on the Cover of Sports Illustrated After 2009 French Open Victory |
In 2009, Federer won two Grand Slam singles titles, the French Open over Robin Söderling, and Wimbledon over Andy Roddick.[53] Federer reached two other Grand Slam finals, losing to Nadal at the Australian Open, and to Juan Martín del Potro at the US Open.[53] Federer won two more events, the first at the Madrid Masters over Nadal in the final on clay.[53] The second was in Cincinnati over Djokovic, although Federer lost to Djokovic in Basel, later in the year.[53] Federer completed a career Grand Slam by winning his first French Open title and won a men's record fifteenth Grand Slam singles title, surpassing Pete Sampras's mark of fourteen.[53]
In 2010, Federer slowed down in his milestones and achievements. The year started with a win at the Australian Open,[54] where he defeated Andy Murray in the final and improved his Grand Slam singles record to sixteen titles.[51] But at the French Open, Federer failed to reach a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time since the 2004 French Open, losing to Söderling, in the quarterfinals, and losing his no. 1 ranking.[54] At the French Open, Federer won his 700th tour match and 150th tour match on clay.[54][55] Federer was just one week away from equaling Pete Sampras's record of 286 weeks as world no. 1. In a big surprise at Wimbledon, Federer lost in the quarterfinal to Tomáš Berdych, and fell to world no. 3 in the rankings.[54][56][57] At the 2010 US Open, Federer reached the semifinals, avenging his French Open loss to Söderling in the quarterfinals, but then lost a five-set match to third seed Novak Djokovic.[54] Federer made it to four Masters 1000 finals, losing three of them (the Madrid Open, the Canadian Masters, and the Shanghai Masters) while winning the Cincinnati Masters against Mardy Fish.[58] In 2010 Federer equaled Agassi for the number of Masters wins at 17 and tied Bjorn Borg's mark for number of total titles won, moving to just one behind Sampras. Towards the middle of July, Federer hired Pete Sampras' old coach Paul Annacone to put his tennis game and career on the right path on a trial basis.[59] Federer won two lesser titles at the Stockholm Open and the Davidoff Swiss Indoors which brought his tally to 65 career titles. Lastly, Federer won the year-end championships by beating rival Rafael Nadal, for his fifth title at the event. He showed much of his old form, beating all contenders except Nadal in straight sets. Since Wimbledon 2010, Federer had a win-loss record of 34–4 and had multiple match points in two of his losses: to Novak Djokovic in the semifinal of the US Open, and to Gaël Monfils in the semifinal of the Paris Masters. Federer did not play in the 2010 Davis Cup.
The year 2011, although great by most players' standards, was a lean year for Federer. He was defeated in straight sets in the semifinals of the 2011 Australian Open by eventual champion Novak Djokovic, marking the first time since July 2003 that he did not hold any of the four Major titles. In the French Open semifinal, Federer ended Djokovic's undefeated streak of 43 consecutive wins with a stunning four-set victory. However, Federer then lost in the final to Rafael Nadal. At Wimbledon, Federer advanced to his 29th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal, but lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. It marked the first time in his career that he had lost a Grand Slam match after winning the first two sets. At the US Open, Federer lost a much-anticipated semifinal match with Novak Djokovic, after squandering two match points in the fifth set which repeated his previous year's result against Djokovic and added a second loss from two sets up in Grand Slam play to his record. The loss at Flushing Meadows meant that Federer did not win any of the four Majors in 2011, the first time this has happened since 2002.
During this 2011 season, Federer won the Qatar Open, defeating Nikolay Davydenko in the final. However, he lost the final in Dubai to Djokovic and lost in the Miami Masters and Madrid Open semifinals to Rafael Nadal. In pulling out of the 2011 Shanghai Masters, Federer dropped out of the top 3 for the first time since June 2003.[60] Later in the season, things picked up for Federer. He ended a 10-month title drought and won the Swiss Indoors for the fifth time, defeating youngster Kei Nishikori, who had defeated an ailing Djokovic in the semifinals. Federer followed this up with his first win at the Paris Masters, where he reached his first final at the event and defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. At the 2011 ATP World Tour Finals, Federer crushed Rafael Nadal in exactly one hour en route to the semifinals,[61] where he defeated David Ferrer to reach the final at the year-end championships for the seventh time, his 100th tour-level final overall. As a result of this win, Federer also regained the world no. 3 ranking from Andy Murray. In the final, he defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for the third consecutive Sunday and, in doing so, claimed his record sixth ATP World Tour Finals title.[62]
Federer began his 2012 season with the Qatar Open, where he withdrew in the semifinals. He then played in the 2012 Australian Open, where he reached the semifinals, setting up a 27th career meeting with Nadal, a match he lost in four tight sets. He then participated in the Davis Cup representing Switzerland in the 2012 Davis Cup World Group, but Switzerland was eliminated in a home tie against the United States played on indoor clay in Fribourg. The loss included a four-set defeat for Federer at the hands of John Isner as well as a tight four-set loss with Stanislas Wawrinka in the doubles rubber against Mardy Fish and Mike Bryan. He then played the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament for the first time since winning the title in 2005. He beat del Potro in the final to clinch his second title in Rotterdam. Federer then played in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships where he defeated Andy Murray in the final, improved his record against him to 7–8, and won the championship title for the fifth time in his career. Federer then moved on to the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinal, and defeated John Isner in the final. Federer won the title for a record fourth time, and, in doing so, equalled Rafael Nadal's record of 19 ATP Masters 1000 titles. Federer then lost in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open to Andy Roddick in three sets. Federer went on to compete at the Madrid Masters on new blue clay, where he beat Milos Raonic, Richard Gasquet, David Ferrer, Janko Tipsarevic and Tomáš Berdych in the final and regained the world no. 2 ranking from Rafael Nadal in the process. Federer then participated in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia tournament in Rome where he won over Carlos Berlocq, Juan Carlos Ferrero and Andreas Seppi en route to the semifinal, where he was defeated in straight sets by the defending champion and 2012 runner up Novak Djokovic.
Federer and Nadal have been playing each other since 2004, and their rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers.[63][64][65][66][67]
They held the top two rankings on the ATP Tour from July 2005 until 14 September 2009, when Nadal fell to World No. 3 (Andy Murray became the new No. 2).[68] They are the only pair of men to have ever finished four consecutive calendar years at the top. Federer was ranked number 1 for a record 237 consecutive weeks beginning in February 2004. Nadal, who is five years younger, ascended to No. 2 in July 2005 and held this spot for a record 160 consecutive weeks before surpassing Federer in August 2008.[69]
Nadal leads their head-to-head 18–10. However, most of their matches have been on clay. Federer has a winning record on grass (2–1) and indoor hard courts (4–0) while Nadal leads the outdoor hard courts by 5–2 and clay by 12–2.[70] Because tournament seedings are based on rankings, 19 of their matches have been in tournament finals, including an all-time record 8 Grand Slam finals.[71] From 2006 to 2008 they played in every French Open and Wimbledon final, and then they met in the 2009 Australian Open final and the 2011 French Open final. Nadal won six of the eight, losing the first two Wimbledons. Three of these matches were five set-matches (2007 and 2008 Wimbledon, 2009 Australian Open), and the 2008 Wimbledon final has been lauded as the greatest match ever by many long-time tennis analysts.[72][73][74][75] They have also played in a record 9 Masters Series finals, including their lone five hour match at the 2006 Rome Masters which Nadal won in a fifth-set tie-break having saved two match points.
The two have met 25 times with Federer leading 14–11, and 5–4 in Grand Slam events. Djokovic is the only player besides Nadal to have defeated Federer more than once in a Grand Slam tournament since 2004, the only player besides Nadal to defeat Federer in consecutive grand slam tournaments (2010 US Open and 2011 Australian Open) and the only player besides Nadal who has "double figure" career wins over Federer. Djokovic is one of two players (the other again being Nadal) currently on tour to have defeated Federer in straight sets at a Grand Slam (2008 Australian Open and 2011 Australian Open) and the only player to do it two times.
Because of the continuously improving game and general rise of Djokovic in the last 3 years, many experts include Djokovic when talking about Nadal and Federer (all 3 have played each other at least 25 times) and Federer has cited his rivalry with Djokovic as his second favorite after his rivalry with Nadal. Experts such as John McEnroe have said that this is the beginning of a new change in tennis. Djokovic's recent back-to-back-to-back wins against Federer at the Australian Open, Dubai and Indian Wells tournament have made this rivalry even more intense. During that span, Djokovic had gone on a 43–0 winning streak dating back to the Davis Cup final the previous year. Federer ended Djokovic's perfect 41–0 season defeating him in the semifinals of the 2011 French Open, but Djokovic was able to avenge his loss at the 2011 US Open, and Federer lost with a score of 6–7, 4–6, 6–3, 6–2, 7–5.[76] Federer cited this as one of the greatest losses in his career, as he had 2 consecutive match points in set five, with his serve, and was 2 sets up before Djokovic came back in what has become one of the greatest comebacks in tennis history (according to John McEnroe). McEnroe claimed that Djokovic's crosscourt forehand return was "one of the great all-time shots in tennis history" and that the semifinal was one of the greatest matches in history. Djokovic contributed to ending Federer's eight-year streak of winning at least one Grand Slam title per year and Djokovic became the second male tennis player to have at least 10 wins against Federer (the other being Nadal).
Many experts have included the rivalry between Federer and Djokovic as one of the best hard-court rivalries in the Open Era.[77]
Federer and Murray have met 15 times, all hard courts, with Murray leading 8–7.[78] Federer has won each of their Grand Slam matches (both were in the final) in straight sets at the 2008 US Open[79] and 2010 Australian Open,[80] but Murray leads 5–1 in ATP 1000 tournaments. They have met three times in the ATP World Tour Finals, with Murray winning in Shanghai in 2008[81] and Federer in London in 2009 and 2010.[82] Their most recent encounter was in the 2012 Dubai final where Federer was victorious. Apart from Nadal, Murray is the only other active player to have a positive head to head record against Federer.
Federer and Lleyton Hewitt have played each other on 26 occasions. Early in their careers, Hewitt dominated Federer, winning seven of their first nine meetings, including a victory from two sets down in the 2003 Davis Cup semifinal which allowed Australia to defeat Switzerland. However, from 2004 onward, Federer has dominated the rivalry, winning 16 of the last 17 meetings to emerge with a 18–8 overall head-to-head record.[83] This is Federer's longest rivalry as these two first played each other as juniors in 1996. They have met in one Grand Slam final, the 2004 US Open final, where Federer won to win his first US Open title. Federer is 9–0 against Hewitt in Grand Slams, and has won six of the Grand Slams in which he has defeated Hewitt.
One of Federer's longstanding rivalries is with American Andy Roddick. Federer and Roddick have met on many occasions, including in four Grand Slam finals (three at Wimbledon and one at the US Open). Federer leads 21–3, making Roddick the ATP player with the most tournament losses to Federer. Roddick lost his World No. 1 ranking to Federer after Federer won his first Australian Open in 2004.
In the 2009 Wimbledon final, Roddick lost to Federer in five sets. It included a fifth set made up of 30 games (a Grand Slam final record) and a match that was over 4 hours long. With that victory, Federer broke Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles.
David Nalbandian was Federer's biggest rival earlier in his career. Both players had an outstanding junior career, Federer won the Wimbledon junior title and Nalbandian won the US Open junior title (beating Federer). Even though Federer has a narrow advantage against Nalbandian, leading their meetings 11–8, Nalbandian beat Federer in their first five meetings after turning professional, including the fourth round of both the Australian Open and US Open in 2003. Their most impressive match was in the 2005 Shanghai Tennis Master Cup, where Nalbandian came back from being two sets to love down against Federer and ultimately prevailed in a fifth set tiebreak. The loss prevented Federer from tying John McEnroe's 82–3 all-time single year record, set in 1984. Nalbandian, Lleyton Hewitt and Andy Murray have beaten Federer 8 times, with only Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic recording more victories over Federer.
Federer's versatility was summarised by Jimmy Connors: "In an era of specialists, you're either a clay court specialist, a grass court specialist, or a hard court specialist...or you're Roger Federer."[84]
Federer is an all-court, all-round player known for his speed, fluid style of play, and exceptional shot making. Federer mainly plays from the baseline but is also comfortable at the net, being one of the best volleyers in the game today. He has a powerful, accurate smash and very effectively performs rare elements in today's tennis, such as backhand smash, half-volley and jump smash (slam dunk). David Foster Wallace compared the brute force of Federer's forehand motion with that of "a great liquid whip,"[85] while John McEnroe has referred to Federer's forehand as "the greatest shot in our sport."[86] Federer is also known for his efficient movement around the court and excellent footwork, which enables him to run around shots directed to his backhand and instead hit a powerful inside-out or inside-in forehand, one of his best shots. Though Federer plays with a single-handed backhand which gives him great variety. Federer's forehand and backhand slice are both known as the best ever to enter the game. He employs the slice, occasionally using it to lure the opponent to the net and pass him. Federer can also fire topspin winners and possesses a 'flick' backhand where he can generate pace with his wrist; this is usually used to pass the opponent at the net.[85] His serve is difficult to read because he always uses a similar ball toss regardless of what type of serve he is going to hit and where he aims to hit it, and turns his back to his opponents during his motion. He is often able to produce big serves on key points during a match. His first serve is typically around 200 km/h (125 mph);[87][88][89] however, he is capable of serving at 220 km/h (137 mph).[87][88] Federer is also accomplished at serve and volleying,[90] and employed this tactic especially frequently in his early career.[91] His speciality is a half-volley from the baseline which enables him to play close to the baseline and to pick up even the deeper shots very early after they bounce, giving his opponents less time to react.[citation needed] Later in his career Federer added the drop shot to his arsenal, and can perform a well-disguised one off both wings. He sometimes uses a between-the-legs shot, which is colloquially referred to as a "tweener." His most notable use of the tweener was in the semifinals of the 2009 US Open against Novak Djokovic, bringing him triple match point, on which he capitalised for a straight-set victory over the Serb.[92]
Federer currently plays with a customised Wilson Pro Staff Six.One 90 BLX tennis racquet,[93] which is characterised by its smaller hitting area of 90 square inches, heavy strung weight of 357.2 grams, and thin beam of 17.5 millimeters. His grip size is 4 3/8 inches (sometimes referred to as L3).[94] Federer strings his racquets at 21.5 kg mains/20 kg crosses pre stretched 20%, utilizing Wilson Natural Gut 16 gauge for his main strings and Luxilon Big Banger ALU Power Rough 16L gauge (polyester) for his cross strings.[94] When asked about string tensions, Federer stated "this depends on how warm the days are and with what kind of balls I play and against who I play. So you can see – it depends on several factors and not just the surface; the feeling I have is most important."[95]
Federer is one of the highest-earning athletes in the world. He has a contract with Nike footwear and apparel.[96] For the 2006 championships at Wimbledon, Nike designed a jacket emblazoned with a crest of three tennis racquets, symbolising the three Wimbledon Championships he had previously won, and which was updated the next year with four racquets after he won the Championship in 2006.[97] In Wimbledon 2008 and again in 2009, Nike continued this trend by making him a personalised cardigan.[98] He also has his own logo, an R and F joined together.[99] Federer endorses Gillette,[100] Jura, a Swiss-based coffee machine company,[101] as well as Mercedes-Benz and NetJets. Federer also endorses Rolex watches,[102] although he was previously an ambassador for Maurice Lacroix.[103] Also in 2009 Federer became brand ambassador for Swiss chocolate makers Lindt.[104] In 2010 his endorsement by Mercedes-Benz China was extended into a global Mercedes-Benz partnership deal.[105]
Information in these tables is updated only once the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.
Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Australian Open | A | LQ | 3R | 3R | 4R | 4R | W | SF | W | W | SF | F | W | SF | SF | 4 / 13 | 63–9 | 87.50 |
French Open | A | 1R | 4R | QF | 1R | 1R | 3R | SF | F | F | F | W | QF | F | 1 / 14 | 52–12 | 81.25 | |
Wimbledon | A | 1R | 1R | QF | 1R | W | W | W | W | W | F | W | QF | QF | 6 / 13 | 59–7 | 89.39 | |
US Open | A | LQ | 3R | 4R | 4R | 4R | W | W | W | W | W | F | SF | SF | 5 / 12 | 61–7 | 89.71 | |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–2 | 7–4 | 13–4 | 6–4 | 13–3 | 22–1 | 24–2 | 27–1 | 26–1 | 24–3 | 26–2 | 20–3 | 20–4 | 7–1 | 16 / 52 | 235–35 | 87.04 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2003 | Wimbledon (1) | Grass | Mark Philippoussis | 7–6(7–5), 6–2, 7–6(7–3) |
Winner | 2004 | Australian Open (1) | Hard | Marat Safin | 7–6(7–3), 6–4, 6–2 |
Winner | 2004 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | Andy Roddick | 4–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–3), 6–4 |
Winner | 2004 | US Open (1) | Hard | Lleyton Hewitt | 6–0, 7–6(7–3), 6–0 |
Winner | 2005 | Wimbledon (3) | Grass | Andy Roddick | 6–2, 7–6(7–2), 6–4 |
Winner | 2005 | US Open (2) | Hard | Andre Agassi | 6–3, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–1 |
Winner | 2006 | Australian Open (2) | Hard | Marcos Baghdatis | 5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2006 | French Open (1) | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 6–1, 1–6, 4–6, 6–7(4–7) |
Winner | 2006 | Wimbledon (4) | Grass | Rafael Nadal | 6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3 |
Winner | 2006 | US Open (3) | Hard | Andy Roddick | 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 |
Winner | 2007 | Australian Open (3) | Hard | Fernando González | 7–6(7–2), 6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2007 | French Open (2) | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 2007 | Wimbledon (5) | Grass | Rafael Nadal | 7–6(9–7), 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 2–6, 6–2 |
Winner | 2007 | US Open (4) | Hard | Novak Djokovic | 7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–2), 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2008 | French Open (3) | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 1–6, 3–6, 0–6 |
Runner-up | 2008 | Wimbledon (1) | Grass | Rafael Nadal | 4–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 7–6(10–8), 7–9 |
Winner | 2008 | US Open (5) | Hard | Andy Murray | 6–2, 7–5, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2009 | Australian Open (1) | Hard | Rafael Nadal | 5–7, 6–3, 6–7(3–7), 6–3, 2–6 |
Winner | 2009 | French Open (1) | Clay | Robin Söderling | 6–1, 7–6(7–1), 6–4 |
Winner | 2009 | Wimbledon (6) | Grass | Andy Roddick | 5–7, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 16–14 |
Runner-up | 2009 | US Open (1) | Hard | Juan Martín del Potro | 6–3, 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 2–6 |
Winner | 2010 | Australian Open (4) | Hard | Andy Murray | 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(13–11) |
Runner-up | 2011 | French Open (4) | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 5–7, 6–7(3–7), 7–5, 1–6 |
Tournament | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | Win % |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
YEC | NQ | NQ | NQ | NQ | SF | W | W | F | W | W | RR | SF | W | W | 6 / 10 | 39–7 | 84.78 | |
Win–Loss | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 5–0 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponent | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2003 | Houston | Hard | Andre Agassi | 6–3, 6–0, 6–4 |
Winner | 2004 | Houston | Hard | Lleyton Hewitt | 6–3, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2005 | Shanghai | Carpet (i) | David Nalbandian | 7–6(7–4), 7–6(13–11), 2–6, 1–6, 6–7(3–7) |
Winner | 2006 | Shanghai | Hard (i) | James Blake | 6–0, 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 2007 | Shanghai | Hard (i) | David Ferrer | 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 |
Winner | 2010 | London | Hard (i) | Rafael Nadal | 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 |
Winner | 2011 | London | Hard (i) | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga | 6–3, 6–7(6–8), 6–3 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2008 | Beijing | Hard | Wawrinka | Aspelin Johansson |
6–3, 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 6–3 |
Time span | Selected Grand Slam tournament records | Players matched |
---|---|---|
2003 Wimbledon — 2009 French Open |
Career Grand Slam | Rod Laver Andre Agassi Rafael Nadal |
2003 Wimbledon — 2010 Australian Open |
16 titles | Stands alone |
2003 Wimbledon — 2011 French Open |
23 finals | Stands alone |
2005 Wimbledon — 2007 US Open |
10 consecutive finals | Stands alone |
2004 Wimbledon — 2010 Australian Open |
23 consecutive semifinals[106][107] | Stands alone |
2004 Wimbledon — 2012 Australian Open |
31 consecutive quarterfinals | Stands alone |
2004 & 2006–2007 | 3 years winning 3+ titles | Stands alone |
2004–2007 & 2009 | 5 years winning 2+ titles | Stands alone |
2006–2007 | 2 consecutive years winning 3+ titles | Stands alone |
2004–2007 | 4 consecutive years winning 2+ titles | Stands alone |
2003–2010 | 8 consecutive years winning 1+ title[107] | Björn Borg Pete Sampras |
2004 Australian Open — 2011 US Open |
8 consecutive years winning 20+ matches | Stands alone |
2003 Wimbledon — 2010 Australian Open |
4+ titles at 3 different Majors | Stands alone |
2003 Wimbledon — 2011 French Open |
5+ finals at all 4 Majors | Stands alone |
2003 Wimbledon — 2011 French Open |
6+ semifinals at all 4 Majors | Stands alone |
2001 French Open — 2011 US Open |
8+ quarterfinals at all 4 Majors | Stands alone |
2003 Wimbledon — 2008 US Open |
5 consecutive titles at 2 different Majors[107] | Stands alone |
2003 Wimbledon — 2007 French Open |
2+ consecutive finals at all 4 Majors | Ivan Lendl |
2003 Wimbledon — 2009 French Open |
5+ consecutive semifinals at all 4 Majors | Stands alone |
2003 Wimbledon — 2011 US Open |
7+ consecutive quarterfinals at all 4 Majors | Stands alone |
2003 Wimbledon — 2006 Australian Open |
First 7 finals won | Stands alone |
2004 Australian Open — 2010 Australian Open |
9 hard-court titles | Stands alone |
2006–2007 & 2009 | All 4 Major finals in 1 season | Rod Laver |
2006 French Open — 2009 US Open |
Runner-up finishes at all 4 Majors | Ivan Lendl |
2000 Australian Open — 2012 French Open |
235 match wins overall[108] | Stands alone |
2000 Australian Open — 2012 French Open |
50+ match wins at all 4 Majors[109] | Stands alone |
2006 | 27 match wins in 1 season | Stands alone |
2004 French Open — 2008 Wimbledon |
18 consecutive No. 1 seeds | Stands alone |
2006 US Open — 2007 French Open |
36 consecutive sets won | Stands alone |
2007 US Open | 35 consecutive service points won | Stands alone |
2009 Wimbledon | 50 aces in a final | Stands alone |
2007 US Open | $2.4 million earned at one event | Stands alone |
2005 Wimbledon — 2007 French Open |
2 winning streaks of 25+ matches | Stands alone |
2005 Wimbledon — 2009 US Open |
3 winning streaks of 20+ matches | Stands alone |
2004 Wimbledon — 2009 US Open |
5 winning streaks of 15+ matches | Stands alone |
Grand Slam tournaments | Time Span | Records at each Grand Slam tournament | Players matched |
---|---|---|---|
Australian Open | 2004–2010 | 4 titles overall | Andre Agassi |
Australian Open | 2006–2007 | 2 consecutive titles | Ken Rosewall Guillermo Vilas Johan Kriek Mats Wilander Stefan Edberg Ivan Lendl Jim Courier Andre Agassi Novak Djokovic |
Australian Open | 2004–2007 | 3 titles in 4 years | Andre Agassi |
Australian Open | 2004–2010 | 5 finals overall | Stefan Edberg |
Australian Open | 2004–2012 | 9 consecutive semifinals | Stands alone |
Australian Open | 2007 | Won without dropping a set[110] | Ken Rosewall |
Australian Open | 2000–2012 | 63 match wins overall[110] | Stands alone |
French Open | 2006–2009 | 4 consecutive finals | Björn Borg Ivan Lendl Rafael Nadal |
French Open | 2006–2008, 2011 | 4 runner-ups[111] | Stands alone |
French Open | 2006–2008 | 3 consecutive runner-ups | Stands alone |
French Open | 2005–2009 | 5 consecutive semifinals | Stands alone |
French Open—Wimbledon | 2009 | Accomplished a "Channel Slam": Winning both tournaments in the same year | Rod Laver Björn Borg Rafael Nadal |
Wimbledon | 2003–2007 | 5 consecutive titles[112] | Björn Borg |
Wimbledon | 2003–2009 | 7 finals overall | Boris Becker Pete Sampras |
Wimbledon | 2003–2009 | 7 consecutive finals | Stands alone |
Wimbledon | 2003–2009 | 7 consecutive semifinals | Stands alone |
US Open | 2004–2008 | 5 titles overall | Jimmy Connors Pete Sampras |
US Open | 2004–2008 | 5 consecutive titles | Stands alone |
US Open | 2004–2009 | 40 consecutive match wins[113] | Stands alone |
US Open | 1999–2011 | 89.71% (61–7) match winning percentage | Stands alone |
Time span | Other selected records | Players matched |
---|---|---|
2 February 2004 — 17 August 2008 |
237 consecutive weeks at No. 1[107] | Stands alone |
2003–2005 | 26 consecutive match victories vs. top 10 opponents | Stands alone |
2005–2006 | 56 consecutive hard court match victories | Stands alone |
2003–2008 | 65 consecutive grass court match victories[107] | Stands alone |
2003–2005 | 24 consecutive tournament finals won[107] | Stands alone |
2001–2012 | 10+ titles on grass, clay and hard courts | Stands alone |
2003–2009 | 11 grass court titles | Stands alone |
2002–2012 | 51 hard court titles | Stands alone |
2006 | 9 hard court titles in 1 season | Jimmy Connors |
1998–2012 | 315 tiebreaks won[114] | Stands alone |
1999–2011 | 87.18% (102–15) grass court match winning percentage[115] | Stands alone |
1998–2012 | 83.20% (515–104) hard court match winning percentage[116] | Stands alone |
2006 | 94.12% of tournament finals reached in 1 season | Stands alone |
2003–2011 | 6 ATP World Tour Finals titles overall[117] | Stands alone |
2002–2011 | 39 ATP World Tour Finals match wins[117] | Ivan Lendl |
2002–2012 | 32 combined Championship Masters Series finals | Stands alone |
2002–2012 | 44 Masters 1000 semifinals | Stands alone |
2000–2012 | 261 Masters 1000 match wins | Stands alone |
2004–2012 | 14 Masters 1000 hard court titles | Andre Agassi |
2004–2012 | 4 Indian Wells Masters titles[118] | Stands alone |
2004–2008 | 2 consecutive Olympic games as wire-to-wire No. 1 | Stands alone |
2005–2007 | 3 consecutive calendar years as wire-to-wire No. 1 | Stands alone |
2005–2007 | 3 calendar years as wire-to-wire No. 1 | Jimmy Connors |
2003–2010 | Ended 8 years ranked inside the top 2 | Jimmy Connors |
2007 | $10 million prize money earned in a season | Rafael Nadal Novak Djokovic |
2005–2007 | 2 winning streaks of 35+ matches | Björn Borg |
2004–2012 | 7 winning streaks of 20+ matches | Stands alone |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Roger Federer |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Roger Federer |
Book: Roger Federer | |
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print. |
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Persondata | |
---|---|
Name | Federer, Roger |
Alternative names | |
Short description | Swiss tennis professional |
Date of birth | 8 August 1981 |
Place of birth | Binningen (near Basel), Switzerland) |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
Thomaz Bellucci at 2011 Australian Open. |
|
Country | Brazil |
---|---|
Residence | São Paulo, Brazil |
Born | (1987-12-30) 30 December 1987 (age 24) Tietê, Brazil |
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) |
Weight | 80 kg (180 lb; 13 st) |
Turned pro | 2005 |
Plays | Left-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | US$ 2,031,553 |
Singles | |
Career record | 84–82 |
Career titles | 2 |
Highest ranking | No. 21 (July 26, 2010) |
Current ranking | No. 66 (May 28, 2012) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 2R (2010, 2011, 2012) |
French Open | 4R (2010) |
Wimbledon | 3R (2010) |
US Open | 2R (2008, 2010) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 17–30 |
Career titles | 0 |
Highest ranking | No. 115 (May 12, 2008) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | 1R (2010) |
French Open | (-) |
Wimbledon | 1R (2008) |
US Open | 1R (2009) |
Mixed Doubles | |
Career titles | 0 |
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
Australian Open | (-) |
French Open | SF (2011) |
Wimbledon | (-) |
US Open | (-) |
Last updated on: May 9, 2011. |
Thomaz Cocchiarali Bellucci (born December 30, 1987 in Tietê), a professional tennis player, is the top ranked Brazilian tennis player. He achieved a career high ranking of #21 on July 26, 2010.
Bellucci used a string of ITF Challenger tournament victories early in 2008 to break into the top 100 rankings of the ATP World Tour as a 20-year-old. In 2009, he reached his first tour final at the Brasil Open and won his first tour title at the Swiss Open. In 2010, He won his second tour title at the Movistar Open in Chile.
Thomaz's playing style is using the heavy topspin of his big forehand to control points. He lacks outright power to produce a lot of aces, but he has excellent spin on his serve, allowing him to force his opponents off of the court which leads to him taking the offensive at the beginning of the point. His two-handed backhand is much more compact than his forehand, and is flatter, which allows him to take balls earlier on his backhand wing and drive the ball for winners. His preferred court is clay, but shows the adaptive potential to get much better at faster courts as well.
Contents |
Bellucci reached a high of #15 in the world two weeks after his 17th birthday, in January, 2005.[1]
Bellucci began 2007 ranked #582, but began a rapid ascent in June to finish the year at #202.
The 20-year-old Bellucci continued his rapid rise early in 2008. The first week of the year, ranked #202, he made it to the quarterfinals of a Challenger in São Paulo.
Bellucci had little success in his next few tournaments, but in February he got back on track, beating #145 Pablo Andújar while qualifying into an ATP stop in Buenos Aires and then recording his first-ever ATP match win, over #83 Werner Eschauer, before bowing out in the next round to #25 Juan Ignacio Chela. The following week, he beat #130 Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo and #140 Eduardo Schwank en route to his first-ever Challenger title, in Santiago, Chile, to improve his ranking to #145. The next week, he beat #162 Dick Norman before losing in a Challenger second round match.
In April, Bellucci began an amazing string of Challenger match wins in singles play. First he won a minor Challenger in Florianópolis, Brazil, and made the final in doubles. Two weeks later, he ran his singles streak to 10 matches while winning a major Challenger in Tunis, beating #155 Andreas Beck, #363 Martin Verkerk, #136 Paul Capdeville, #113 Nicolás Massú, and #175 Dušan Vemić, and also won the doubles title. Those wins got him into the top 100 for the first time at #100. The following week, at a minor Challenger in Rabat, Morocco, he ran his streak to 15 matches while beating #136 Capdeville again, #96 Guillermo García López, and #119 Martín Vassallo Argüello to win the title and get his ranking to #81. His streak ended at 17 matches the next week, after beating #128 Rik de Voest to reach the quarterfinals of a challenger in Bordeaux, France, when he finally lost to #111 Igor Kunitsyn, improving Bellucci's ranking to #75.
In late May, he qualified into his first French Open, lost to 3-time defending champion and ATP #2 Rafael Nadal in the first round. At Wimbledon, he achieved his first win in a Grand Slam event, defeating Igor Kunitsyn in four sets.
Bellucci began the year reaching the Brasil Open final for the first time. He upset the former world #1, 2003 French Open champion, and 2007 Brasil Open titlist Juan Carlos Ferrero in the Quarterfinals, but eventually lost in 3 sets to second-seeded Tommy Robredo. It was his first ATP Tour final, after a string of Challengers.
In August, he would win his first title at the Swiss Open in Gstaad after reaching the main draw through qualification and going on to beat local hope and former world #9 Stanislas Wawrinka, former world #4 Nicolas Kiefer, two-time Swiss Open runner-up Igor Andreev, and first-time finalist Andreas Beck in straight sets.[2] Ranked #119 in the world at the time of his victory in Switzerland, Bellucci jumped 53 spots in the ATP World Tour rankings to #66 as a result.
In October, Bellucci reached his first hard-court ATP World Tour semifinal. He reached the last 4 at the Stockholm Open, losing to Olivier Rochus in three sets.
He then followed his good form to win his second challenger title of the year, at the 2009 Copa Petrobras São Paulo in Brazil. He beat Nicolás Lapentti of Ecuador 6–4, 6–4 to win the sixth challenger of his career, and the second on his native soil. This result bumped Bellucci up to #37 in the world, the first time that Thomaz was ranked inside the Top 40 in the world in singles.
Thomaz entered the first tournament of the season, the Brisbane International ATP tournament worth 250 points. He made the quarter-finals after being narrowly edged out by Czech Tomáš Berdych 6–7, 6–2, 6–7. On Heineken Open, at Auckland, he lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber 4–6, 1–6 on second round after beating Marco Chiudinelli on a two sets game. Lost to Andy Roddick at the 2010 Australian Open 2nd round.
Going to the Latin America clay tournaments, on 2010 Movistar Open, at Chile, Bellucci defeated defending champion Fernando González in the semifinals and Juan Mónaco in the final match to capture his second tour title.[3] In the 2010 Brasil Open He lost to comaptriot Ricardo Mello in the Quarterfinals. He then played in 2010 Abierto Mexicano Telcel losing in the second round to eventual champion David Ferrer 6–4, 6–1. In the 2010 BNP Paribas Open after receiving a bye in the first round and a walkover in the second round he lost to Guillermo García López 4–6, 6–2, 6–1. In the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open he upset James Blake in the second round and then won over Olivier Rochus but lost in a hard match to a Spaniard for the third straight time this time to Nicolás Almagro losing 6–4, 3–6, 7–6 in the Fourth Round. In Monte Carlo he lost to Philipp Kohlschreiber in the First Round in three sets 2–6, 6–3, 7–6. In ATP 500 Barcelona reached the Quarterfinals, losing to David Ferrer after defeating Jarkko Nieminen, Victor Hănescu and Guillermo García López. In Rome Masters 1000, defeated Leonardo Mayer, John Isner, and lost to world #2, Novak Djokovic in third round.
He continued in good form at the 2010 French Open. Thomaz reached the fourth round, losing to World Number 2 and former French Open champion Rafael Nadal. He lost in a closely fought battle 2–6, 5–7, 4–6 bringing the match to over 2 and a half hours.[4] On route to the 4th round he defeated 14th seed Ivan Ljubičić 7–6, 6–2, 6–4 in third round, Spanish qualifier, Pablo Andújar 1–6, 6–3, 2–6, 6–4, 6–2 in second round Michaël Llodra 6–4, 6–2, 6–2 in the first round. Reached the third round in Wimbledon, losing to Robin Söderling,[5] and lost a marathon quarterfinal at ATP 500 event in Hamburg to Seppi.[6]
At the US Open, Thomaz started promisingly, beating American Tim Smyczek in straight sets 6–3, 7–5, 7–6. However, after a gruelling 3h51m battle with South African Kevin Anderson, he succumbed in a fifth set tiebreaker 6–7, 6–4, 5–7, 6–4, 7–6.
After reaching the quarterfinals in Auckland to start off the year, and losing a heartbreaking 5th set match ending 2–6, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 6–8 to Jan Hernych in the second at the 2011 Australian Open, Bellucci went through a relatively poor run of form. He failed to defend his title at Santiago losing at the quarterfinals to Fognini. He also reached the quarterfinals at his hometown 2011 Brasil Open but played poorly to get thrashed 1–6, 2–6 by eventual finalist Juan Ignacio Chela.
He did rediscover some form as he then reached the semifinals of the 2011 Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament, while beating a top ten player for the first time in his career, Fernando Verdasco in the first round 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, which allowed him to progress all the way to the semifinals. However in the semifinal match, he lost to eventual finalist Nicolás Almagro 6–7, 4–6.
At the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, after getting a first round bye as the 26th seed, he managed to win his opening second round match against Benjamin Becker 6–3, 7–6 but was unable to progress further as he was dumped out 3–6, 2–6 by Tomas Berdych in the third round.
After this, Bellucci's worrying form continued as he bowed out in the opening rounds of the next three tournaments; at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open 6–2, 4–6, 6–7 to James Blake (in the second round after receiving a first round bye due to being seeded 27th), the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 3–6, 2–6 to Gilles Simon, and at the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell 5–7, 3–6 to Santiago Giraldo.
He also appeared at the 2011 Estoril Open, and struggled unconvincingly through to the quarterfinals by beating two players who were outside the top 100. There in the quarterfinals, he lost out to Pablo Cuevas 4–6, 2–6.
Bellucci then finally found a rich vein of form when he appeared at the Madrid Open, managing to claim solid wins over in-form Pablo Andujar 6–4, 6–2 and also an in-form Florian Mayer 6–7, 6–3, 3–0 who retired due to fatigue. At the third round, he produced a cool-headed performance to defeat World Number 4 Andy Murray 6–4, 6–2 to claim his first top 5 win. The following day in the quarterfinals, he backed up his win by producing a brutal display to dismiss World Number 7 Tomáš Berdych 7–6, 6–3 (for the first time in three meetings and notably avenging the loss at Indian Wells) to reach the semifinals of a ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career, and also produce back-to-back wins over top 10 opponents for the first time in his career. Bellucci ended up losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic, who was yet to be defeated this season. The Brazilian controlled the match at the beginning, taking the first set 6–4 and going up a break for a 3–1 lead in the second set, but the Serbian fought back and eventually won 4–6, 6–4, 6–1, extending his winning streak in 2011 to 31 matches, and eventually winning the tournament by ending Nadal's 37–match clay winning streak. Bellucci's semifinal effort in Madrid marked eight years since a Brazilian reached a semifinal stage in a Masters Series event, the last being former World No.1 Gustavo Kuerten who appeared in the 2003 Indian Wells final (lost to Lleyton Hewitt).
Besides showing a great form in Madrid, Bellucci lost to local qualifier Paolo Lorenzi in the first round of the Rome Masters in straight sets.
At the French Open, Bellucci (seeded 23rd) defeated Andrey Golubev in the first round 6–4, 6–4, 6–7, 7–6. At the second round he defeated Andreas Seppi in 6–1, 6–2, 6–4, showing a strong and solid performance. For the third round, he didn't keep the same rhythm against 13th seed Richard Gasquet. Bellucci made more than 40 unforced errors in this match. Even so, he managed to battle for almost three hours before losing, 2–6, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6.
Bellucci's next tournament was the AEGON Championship, opening his grass court season. He was defeated in the third round by Marin Čilić 6–7, 6–0, 3–6.
At Wimbledon, he lost in the first round to Rainer Schüttler 6–7, 4–6, 2–6. He made it to the quarterfinals of the Farmers Classic in Los Angeles, but was defeated by Alex Bogomolov 6–1, 4–6, 1–6.
At the US Open, he was defeated in the first round by Israeli Dudi Sela despite winning the first two sets 6–4, 6–2, 4–6, 3–6, 0–6.
He spent six tournaments without winning a single match, from the Cincinnati Masters to the Paris Masters.
Bellucci started 2012 reaching three seconds rounds in a row, with the Australian Open included, where he lost to Gael Monfils 6–2, 0–6, 4–6, 2–6.
In the Brasil Open, he reached the semifinals losing to Filippo Volandri 7–5, 0–6, 2–6. He then went to Indian Wells, where he managed to beat seed 20 Jürgen Melzer and walked over Russian Nikolay Davydenko to equalize his second best ever Masters 1000 campaign, reaching the fourth and losing to Roger Federer 6–3, 3–6, 4–6.
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Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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Runner-up | 1. | 14 February 2009 | Costa do Sauípe, Brazil | Clay | Tommy Robredo | 3–6, 6–3, 4–6 |
Winner | 2. | 2 August 2009 | Gstaad, Switzerland | Clay | Andreas Beck | 6–4, 7–6(7–2) |
Winner | 3. | 7 February 2010 | Santiago, Chile | Clay | Juan Mónaco | 6–2, 0–6, 6–4 |
Legend |
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ATP Challenger Tour (6–3) |
Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent | Score |
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Runner-up | 1. | 15 July 2007 | Bogotá, Colombia | Clay | Carlos Salamanca | 6–4, 3–6, 2–6 |
Runner-up | 2. | 22 July 2007 | Cuenca, Ecuador | Clay | Leonardo Mayer | 3–6, 2–6 |
Winner | 3. | 2 March 2008 | Santiago, Chile | Clay | Eduardo Schwank | 6–4, 7–6(7–3) |
Winner | 4. | 14 April 2008 | Florianapolis, Brazil | Clay | Franco Ferreiro | 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 |
Winner | 5. | 4 May 2008 | Tunis, Tunisia | Clay | Dušan Vemić | 6–2, 6–4 |
Winner | 6. | 11 May 2008 | Rabat, Morocco | Clay | Martín Vassallo Argüello | 6–2, 6–2 |
Winner | 7. | 19 July 2009 | Rimini, Italy | Clay | Juan Pablo Brzezicki | 3–6, 6–3, 6–1 |
Winner | 8. | 1 November 2009 | São Paulo, Brazil | Clay | Nicolás Lapentti | 6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 9. | 30 October 2010 | São Paulo, Brazil | Clay | Marcos Daniel | 1–6, 6–3, 3–6 |
Current through 2012 French Open
Tournament | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | SR | W–L | ||
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Grand Slam Tournaments | |||||||||
Australian Open | A | 1R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 0 / 4 | 3–4 | ||
French Open | 1R | 1R | 4R | 3R | 1R | 0 / 5 | 5–5 | ||
Wimbledon | 2R | A | 3R | 1R | 0 / 3 | 3–3 | |||
US Open | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 4 | 3–4 | |||
Win–Loss | 2–3 | 1–3 | 7–4 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 0 / 16 | 14–16 | ||
ATP Masters Series | |||||||||
Indian Wells Masters | 2R | 3R | 3R | 4R | 0 / 4 | 4–4 | |||
Miami Masters | 1R | 4R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | |||
Monte Carlo Masters | 1R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | ||||
Rome Masters | 1R | 3R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 4 | 2–4 | |||
Madrid Masters | 2R | SF | 1R | 0 / 3 | 5–3 | ||||
Canada Masters | 1R | 1R | 2R | 0 / 3 | 1–3 | ||||
Cincinnati Masters | 1R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 3 | 1–3 | ||||
Shanghai Masters | NMS | 2R | 2R | 1R | 0 / 3 | 2–3 | |||
Paris Masters | 2R | 1R | 0 / 2 | 1–2 | |||||
Win–Loss | 0–2 | 2–4 | 8–9 | 6–9 | 4–5 | 0 / 29 | 20–29 | ||
Career Statistics | |||||||||
Titles–Finals | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | |||
Year End Ranking | 85 | 36 | 31 | 37 | $1,760,991 |
Year | Majors | ATP wins | Total wins | Earnings ($) | Money list rank |
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2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,632 | 1146 |
2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,432 | 933 |
2006 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7,018 | 711 |
2007 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32,827 | 346 |
2008 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 221,121 | 129 |
2009 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 406,776 | 74 |
2010 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 682,261 | 40 |
2011 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 676,481 | 44 |
2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 92,707 | 68 |
Career | 0 | 2 | 2 | $2,124,260 | 251 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Thomaz Bellucci |
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Persondata | |
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Name | Bellucci, Thomaz |
Alternative names | |
Short description | |
Date of birth | 30 December 1987 |
Place of birth | Tietê, Brazil |
Date of death | |
Place of death |