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- published: 01 Jan 2012
- views: 6516
- author: fourgrandslams
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Country | ![]() |
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Residence | Hailey, Idaho, United States |
Born | (1964-08-22) 22 August 1964 (age 47) Växjö, Sweden |
Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) |
Weight | 77 kg (170 lb; 12.1 st) |
Turned pro | 1981 |
Retired | 1996 |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | US$7,976,256 |
Int. Tennis HOF | 2002 (member page) |
Singles | |
Career record | 571–222 |
Career titles | 33 |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (12 September 1988) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | W (1983, 1984, 1988) |
French Open | W (1982, 1985, 1988) |
Wimbledon | QF (1987, 1988, 1989) |
US Open | W (1988) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 168–127 |
Career titles | 7 |
Highest ranking | No. 3 (21 October 1985) |
Grand Slam Doubles results | |
Australian Open | F (1984) |
French Open | SF (1985) |
Wimbledon | W (1986) |
US Open | F (1986) |
Last updated on: 12 April 2007. |
Mats Wilander (born 22 August 1964, in Växjö, Sweden) is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles (three at the French Open, three at the Australian Open, and one at the US Open), and one Grand Slam men's doubles title (at Wimbledon). He won three of the four Grand Slam singles events in 1988 and finished that year ranked World No. 1. Although he never won the singles title at Wimbledon, Wilander twice won the Australian Open when that tournament was still played on grass courts. This makes Wilander one of only five men (along with Jimmy Connors, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer) to have won Grand Slam singles titles on grass courts, hard courts, and clay courts.[1] He and Rafael Nadal are the only men in tennis history to have won at least two Grand Slam singles titles on each of the three surfaces. Wilander won his fourth career Grand Slam singles title at the age of 20, the youngest man in history to have achieved that feat.[2] In addition he also won eight Championship Series titles (1983–88) the precursors to the current Masters 1000.
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Wilander won 33 singles titles and seven doubles titles during his career. He was also a driving force behind Sweden's run of seven consecutive Davis Cup finals in the 1980s.
In 2002, Wilander was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Born in Växjö, Sweden, Wilander first came to the tennis world's attention when he won the French Open junior title, the European under-16 and under-18 championships, and the Orange Bowl under-16 event in Miami.
Wilander made his debut on the professional tour at the clay court tournament in Båstad, Sweden in 1980. In September 1981, he lost his only career match against Björn Borg, losing in the first round of the tournament in Geneva, 6–1, 6–1.
Wilander surprised the tennis world at the 1982 French Open. As an unseeded player, he upset second-seeded Ivan Lendl in the fourth round, fifth seeded Vitas Gerulaitis in the quarterfinals, fourth seeded José Luis Clerc in the semifinals, and third seeded Guillermo Vilas in the final 1–6, 7–6(6), 6–0, 6–4 in 4 hours and 42 minutes. He was the youngest-ever male Grand Slam singles champion at 17 years, 9 months (this record has since been broken by Boris Becker and Michael Chang). In only his third entry in a Grand Slam tournament, Wilander also became the player who needed the fewest attempts to win one (this has since been equalled by Gustavo Kuerten at the 1997 French Open). Wilander then lost in the fourth round at both Wimbledon (to Brian Teacher) and the US Open (to Lendl). Wilander won three additional tournaments in 1982 and finished the year ranked World No. 7. During that year, Wilander was also the winner of the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal.
Wilander returned to the French Open in 1983, where he lost to Yannick Noah after defeating John McEnroe in a quarterfinal. He lost in the third round at Wimbledon to Roscoe Tanner and in the quarterfinals of the US Open to Lendl. Wilander won his second Grand Slam title later that year at the Australian Open, played on grass at Kooyong Stadium, where he defeated McEnroe in a semifinal and Lendl in the final. He won eight other tournaments in 1983, including two Grand Prix Championship Series titles, and finished the year ranked World No. 4.
Wilander retained his Australian Open title in 1984, beating Stefan Edberg in the quarterfinals and Kevin Curren in the final. He lost in the semifinals of the French Open to Lendl, the second round at Wimbledon to Pat Cash, and the quarterfinals of the US Open to Cash. He won three tournaments in 1984 including his third Championships Series title and again finished the year ranked World No. 4.
In 1985, Wilander won the French Open for the second time, beating Lendl in the final, and again reached the Australian Open final, where he lost to Edberg. However, he lost in the first round at Wimbledon to Slobodan Živojinović and the semifinals of the US Open to McEnroe. He won three tournaments in 1985 and finished the year ranked World No. 3.
Wilander rose to the World No. 2 ranking, behind Lendl, on 28 April 1986. He then lost in the third round of the French Open to Andrei Chesnokov, the fourth round of Wimbledon to Cash, and the fourth round of the US Open to Miloslav Mečíř. His consistency at other tournaments, however, allowed him to again finish the year ranked World No. 3. Wilander partnered with countryman Joakim Nyström to win the men's doubles title at Wimbledon in 1986. He also won his fourth Grand Prix Championship Series title.
The 1987 season saw Wilander unveil a more potent service and a new highly effective one-handed slice backhand, the later a somewhat remarkable development for a mid-career top-level tennis professional.[3] Despite the improvements, however, Wilander was defeated by Lendl in the final of both the French Open and the US Open in 1987. Cash again proved to be Wilander's nemesis at Wimbledon, winning their quarterfinal match in straight sets. Wilander won five tournaments in 1987 including two Grand Prix Tennis Championship Series tiles and six overall, he finished the year ranked World No. 3 for the third consecutive year.
1988 was the pinnacle of Wilander's career. In January, he won his third Australian Open singles title, this time on Melbourne Park's hardcourts, defeating Edberg in a five-set semifinal and home town favourite Cash in a five-set final. In doing so, he became the only player to win the Australian Open on both grass (twice) and hardcourt. Wilander faced another home crowd favourite, Henri Leconte, in the final of the French Open. Wilander won in straight sets, missing only two out of 73 first serves (97 %) the entire match.[4] At Wimbledon, Wilander reached the quarterfinals where he lost to Mečíř. At the US Open, he reached his third Grand Slam final of the year. In a repeat match-up of the previous year's final, he defeated Lendl in five sets (in close to 5 hours) and ended Lendl's three-year reign at the top of the world rankings. This was Wilander's seventh Grand Slam singles title and resulted in his receiving the World No. 1 ranking, having won three of the year's Grand Slam tournaments, two more Grand Prix Championship Series titles at (Key Biscayne and Cincinnati) making that eight in total, and one other title (Palermo). He held the top ranking for a total of 20 weeks until Lendl reclaimed it at the end of January 1989.
His 1988 title at Cincinnati was his fourth there, making him one of only three players since 1899 to win four titles in Cincinnati. The other two are fellow International Hall of Famers Bobby Riggs (who won in 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1940) and George Lott (who won in 1924, 1925, 1927, and 1932).
Wilander's motivation, results, and ranking suffered in 1989. He lost in the second round of the Australian Open to Ramesh Krishnan, the quarterfinals of the French Open to Andrei Chesnokov, the quarterfinals of Wimbledon to John McEnroe (7–6, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4), and the second round of the US Open to Pete Sampras (5–7, 6–3, 1–6, 6–1, 6–4). He did not win a tournament during 1989 and he finished the year ranked World No. 12.
Wilander briefly moved back into the top 10 rankings on 12 February 1990, but by the end of the year, his ranking had slumped to World No. 41. He defeated Boris Becker in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, only to lose to Stefan Edberg in straight sets in the semifinals. He skipped the French Open and Wimbledon and lost in the first round of the US Open to Brad Gilbert.
Wilander played only the first half of 1991. He lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open and the second round of the French Open. He finished the year ranked World No. 159.
Wilander was absent from the tour in 1992. He played seven tournaments in 1993, losing in the first round of five of them. At the US Open, he lost in the third round to Cédric Pioline. He finished the year ranked World No. 330.
Except for Wimbledon, Wilander played a full schedule in 1994. He lost in the fourth round of the Australian Open to Malivai Washington, the first round of the French Open to Andre Agassi (6–2, 7–5, 6–1), and the first round of the US Open to Guy Forget. His only victory over a top ten player was in the second round of the tournament in Indianapolis against Todd Martin. He finished the year ranked World No. 129.
Wilander's results improved slightly in 1995 as he finished the year ranked World No. 46. After losing in the first round of the Australian Open to Jacco Eltingh, he lost in the second round of the French Open to eighth ranked Wayne Ferreira 6–7(5), 7–6(1), 6–3, 6–7(4), 8–6. He then lost in the third round of Wimbledon to Eltingh and the second round of the US Open to Martin. In other tournaments, he had wins against tenth ranked Marc Rosset, eight ranked Ferreira, and sixth ranked Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He also won his final tour match against Edberg, in the second round of the Canadian Open in Montreal.
In 1996, Wilander played only one Grand Slam tournament, losing in the second round of the French Open to Martin. He retired from the tour after losing his final match to Martin Damm in Beijing in October.
During most of his career, Wilander used the Rossignol F-200 Carbon tennis racquet, an early fiberglass model.
Wilander was an integral member of Sweden's highly-successful Davis Cup team throughout the 1980s.
He reached his first final with Sweden in 1983, which they lost 3–2 to Australia (despite Wilander winning both his singles rubbers in the final). In 1984, Sweden (with Wilander) won the cup, beating the United States 4–1 in the final. Sweden retained the cup in 1985, with a 3–2 final victory over West Germany. Wilander helped Sweden reach the final again in 1986 but declined to play in the final because he was getting married (Sweden lost 3–2 to Australia). Wilander played in his fourth final in 1987, where Sweden beat India 5–0. Two more finals followed in 1988 and 1989, but Sweden lost both to West Germany. Wilander last played in Davis Cup in the 1995 semifinals, where he lost to Andre Agassi 7–6(5), 6–2, 6–2 and Pete Sampras 2–6, 7–6(4), 6–3.
Wilander compiled a 36–16 record in singles and a 7–2 record in doubles in the Davis Cup for Sweden. However, Wilander's most memorable Davis Cup match came in defeat. In a July 1982 quarterfinal tie against the United States on carpet in St. Louis, Missouri, Wilander was defeated in the deciding fifth rubber by John McEnroe 9–7, 6–2, 15–17, 3–6, 8–6. At 6 hours and 32 minutes, it remains the longest match in Davis Cup history.
Championship | Years | Record accomplished | Player tied |
Australian Open | 1983–85 | 3 consecutive finals | Ivan Lendl |
Australian Open | 1983–84 | 2 consecutive titles | Ken Rosewall Guillermo Vilas Johan Kriek Ivan Lendl Stefan Edberg Jim Courier Andre Agassi Roger Federer Novak Djokovic |
Australian Open | 1983 | Youngest Australian Open champion[5] | Stands alone |
French Open | 1982 | Won title at first attempt | Rafael Nadal |
Grand Slam tournaments | 1982–88 | 7 titles won before becoming World No. 1 | Stands alone |
Grand Slam tournaments | 1982–88 | 2+ titles on clay, grass and hard courts | Rafael Nadal |
Davis Cup | 1982 | Longest match played 6hrs and 32 minutes (9–7, 6–2, 15–17, 3–6, 8–6) | John McEnroe |
Wilander, who won $8 million as a pro and more in endorsements, now spends much of his time living on an 81-acre estate in Hailey, Idaho, United States (part of the Sun Valley ski resort) with his wife Sonya (née Mulholland), a South African-born model. He competes from time to time on the senior tour. Since retiring as a player, he has served as captain of the Swedish Davis Cup team and as coach of the Russian player Marat Safin. He also occasionally spends time commentating tennis matches on Eurosport.[6] He is a supporter of Leeds United A.F.C.[citation needed]
Wilander has four children named Emma, Karl, Erik, and Oscar. His son Erik suffers from a comparatively mild form of epidermolysis bullosa, which benefits from Idaho's cool and dry air,[6] and Wilander and his wife have worked to raise funds for research into cures for the disease.
Wilander created a minor controversy during the 2006 French Open when he criticized several top players, including Roger Federer and Kim Clijsters, as lacking the competitive edge to beat their toughest rivals. After Federer's 1–6, 6–1, 6–4, 7–6 loss to Nadal in the final, Wilander said that "Federer, today, unfortunately came out with no balls... you don't find too many champions in any sport in the world without heart or balls. He might have them, but against Nadal they shrink to a very small size and it's not once, it's every time."[7]
In the aftermath of these comments, fans coined the neologism "Wilanders" as a humorous synonym for "balls", denoting a competitive spirit and tenacity to win.[8] Wilander later apologized to Federer on-air on Eurosport during an interview with the Swiss.[citation needed]
He began coaching Tatiana Golovin in July 2007. After working with Golovin in the later part of 2007, Wilander began coaching Paul-Henri Mathieu. Despite his wealth, for several weeks each year he and a business partner (Cameron Lickle) travel around the United States in a Winnebago, offering lessons at tennis clubs and private homes to those who call 787-GET-GAME.[6]
Wilander escaped death in December 1988 when, despite having made a reservation on Pan-Am flight 103, which was destroyed by a terrorist bomb over Lockerbie, he did not take a seat on the flight.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mats Wilander |
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Persondata | |
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Name | Wilander, Mats |
Alternative names | |
Short description | Swedish tennis player |
Date of birth | 22 August 1964 |
Place of birth | Växjö, Sweden |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
![]() Lendl in Miami, 2012. |
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Country | ![]() ![]() |
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Residence | Goshen, Connecticut, US (1992- ), Vero Beach, Florida, US (2004- )[1] |
Born | (1960-03-07) March 7, 1960 (age 52) Ostrava, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) |
Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) |
Weight | 79 kg (170 lb; 12.4 st) |
Turned pro | 1978 |
Retired | December 20, 1994 |
Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
Career prize money |
$21,262,417 |
Int. Tennis HOF | 2001 (member page) |
Singles | |
Career record | 1071–239 (81.8%) |
Career titles | 144 including 94 listed by the ATP |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (February 28, 1983) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | W (1989, 1990) |
French Open | W (1984, 1986, 1987) |
Wimbledon | F (1986, 1987) |
US Open | W (1985, 1986, 1987) |
Other tournaments | |
Tour Finals | Masters W (1981, 1982, 1985, 1986, 1987) WCT W (1982, 1985) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 187–140 (57.2%) |
Career titles | 6 |
Highest ranking | No. 20 (May 12, 1986) |
Last updated on: July 13, 2007. |
Ivan Lendl (born March 7, 1960) is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, he became a United States citizen in 1992. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time.[2] Lendl captured eight Grand Slam singles titles. He competed in 19 Grand Slam singles finals, record surpassed by Roger Federer in 2009. He reached at least one Grand Slam final for 11 consecutive years, a record shared with Pete Sampras, with the male primacy of 8 consecutive finals in a slam tournament (a record shared with Bill Tilden at US Open). Before the formation of the ATP Lendl reached a record 12 year-end championships (equaled by John McEnroe). He won two WCT Finals titles and five Masters Grand Prix titles, with the record of 9 consecutive finals. He also won a record 22 Championship Series titles (1980–89) the precursors to the current ATP Masters 1000. Lendl first attained the world no. 1 ranking on February 28, 1983 and bolstered his claim to the top spot when he defeated John McEnroe in the 1984 French Open final. For much of the next five years, Lendl was the top ranked player until August 1990 (with a break from September 1988 to January 1989 when Mats Wilander was at the top). He finished four years ranked as the world's top player (1985–1987 and 1989) and was ranked no. 1 for a total of 270 weeks and set a new record previously held by Jimmy Connors, since broken by Pete Sampras and Roger Federer. In 2011 he became Andy Murray's coach.
Lendl's game relied particularly on strength and heavy topspin from the baseline and helped usher in the modern era of "power tennis". He himself described his game as "hitting hot", a relentless all-court game that was coming to dominate in tennis.
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Lendl was born into a tennis family in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). His parents were top players in Czechoslovakia. (His mother Olga was at one point ranked the no. 2 female player in the country). Lendl turned professional in tennis in 1978. He started to live in the United States in 1981, first at the home of mentor and friend Wojtek Fibak; later, in 1984, Lendl bought his own residence in Greenwich, Connecticut. Ivan applied for and received a U.S. Permanent Resident Card (also known as a Green Card) in 1987 and wanted to get U.S. citizenship as soon as possible to represent the USA in the 1988 Olympic Games and in Davis Cup. A bill in Congress to bypass the traditional five-year waiting procedure was rejected in 1988 because Czechoslovak authorities refused to provide the necessary waivers.[3] He became a U.S. citizen on July 7, 1992.[4]
On September 16, 1989 six days after losing the final of the US Open to Boris Becker, Lendl married Samantha Frankel.[5] They have five daughters: Marika (born May 4, 1990), twins Isabelle and Caroline (born July 29, 1991), Daniela (born June 24, 1993) Nikola (born January 20, 1998). He transferred his competitive interests to professional golf where he achieved a win on the Celebrity Tour. Still competitive at the mini-tour levels, Lendl now devotes much of his time managing the development of his daughters' golfing abilities. Two of his daughters (Marika and Isabelle) are members of the University of Florida Women's Golf Team.[6] Daniela is a member of the University of Alabama Women's Golf Team.[7] His daughter Caroline walked onto the University of Alabama Women's Rowing Team for the 2011–2012 academic year, and his daughter Nikola enjoys eventing horses.
In July 1983, Lendl played three exhibition matches (against Johan Kriek, Kevin Curren, Jimmy Connors) in Sun City, in the apartheid-era bantustan of Bophuthatswana.[8] The Czechoslovak Sport Federation (ČSTV), controlled by the Communist Party, expelled him from the Czechoslovak Davis Cup team and fined him $150,000.[9] Lendl disagreed with the punishment and fine.
In addition, the publication of his name and results in the Czechoslovak media was prohibited. The ban was extended not only to Lendl, but to anything about world tennis, all tennis tournaments and both men's and women's circuits (with the exception of blank Grand Slam results).[citation needed]
The appearance in this exhibition in Sun City and Lendl's Americanized living style ignited a long-lasting dispute between Lendl and the Czechoslovak communist authorities, which was never settled and resulted in his decision to apply for a green card in 1987 and later on for U.S. citizenship.
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This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (April 2009) |
Lendl was known, along with Björn Borg, for using his heavy topspin forehand to dictate play. His trademark shot was his running forehand, which he could direct either down the line or cross-court.
Early in his career Lendl played a sliced backhand, but in the early 1980s he learned to hit his backhand with significant topspin. This shift allowed him to defeat John McEnroe in 1984 in the French Open – Lendl's first Grand Slam victory. In the first two sets McEnroe used his habitual proximity to the net to intercept Lendl's cross-court passing shots. In the third set Lendl started using lobs, forcing McEnroe to distance himself from the net to prepare for the lobs. McEnroe's further distance from the net opened the angles for Lendl's cross-court passing shots, which ultimately gained Lendl points and turned the match around.
Lendl's serve was powerful but inconsistent. His very high toss may have been to blame. Lendl's consistency from the baseline was machine-like. Though tall and apparently gangly, Lendl was very fast on the court. Lendl did not win Wimbledon because he could not sufficiently improve his consistency at the net. Grass courts yield notoriously bad bounces, and that destabilized his baseline game more than other baseliners. His groundstroke setup was very complete, almost robotic and repeated bad bounces made him uncomfortable. Wimbledon in those days required reducing baseline play by coming to the net. He devoted considerable effort to improving his net play, but fell short of a Wimbledon title. Toward the end of his days on the ATP tour Lendl ended his long term clothing, shoe and racket deal with Adidas. He signed with Mizuno, and finally began to play with a mid-sized racket very similar to the Adidas racket he had used throughout most of his career, itself based on the Kneissl White Star model.
While professional, Lendl used Adidas clothing and Kneissl racquet, changed later for Adidas racquet. Since 2010, he began using Bosworth racquet.
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The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (April 2009) |
Lendl first came to the tennis world's attention as an outstanding junior player. In 1978, he won the boys' singles titles at both the French Open and Wimbledon and was ranked the World No. 1 junior player.
Lendl made an almost immediate impact on the game after turning professional. After reaching his first top-level singles final in 1979, he won seven singles titles in 1980, including three tournament wins in three consecutive weeks on three different surfaces. The success continued in 1981 as he won 10 titles including his first season ending Masters Grand Prix tour title defeating Vitas Gerulaitis in five sets.
In 1982, he won in total 15 of the 23 singles tournaments he entered and had a 44-match winning streak.
He competed on the separate World Championship Tennis (WCT) tour where he won all 10 WCT tournaments he entered, including winning his first WCT Finals where he defeated John McEnroe in straight sets. He met McEnroe again in the Masters Grand Prix final and won in straight sets to claim his second season ending championship of that particular tour.
In an era when tournament prize money was rising sharply due to the competition between 2 circuits (Grand Prix and WCT), Lendl's haul of titles quickly made him the highest-earning tennis player of all time.
He won another seven tournaments in 1983.
But Grand Slam titles eluded Lendl in the early years of his career. He reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open in 1981, where he lost in five sets to Björn Borg. His second came at the US Open in 1982, where he was defeated by Jimmy Connors. In 1983, he was the runner-up at both the Australian Open and the US Open.
Lendl's first Grand Slam title came at the 1984 French Open, where he defeated John McEnroe in a long final to claim what was arguably his best victory. Down two sets to love and later trailing 4–2 in the fourth set, Lendl battled back to claim the title 3–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5. McEnroe gained a measure of revenge by beating Lendl in straight sets in both finals of the US Open 1984 and Volvo Masters 1984 (played in January 1985).
Lendl lost in the final of the 1985 French Open to Mats Wilander. He then faced McEnroe again in the final of the US Open, and this time it was Lendl who emerged victorious in a straight sets win. It was the first of three consecutive US Open titles for Lendl and part of a run of eight consecutive US Open finals. He reached the WCT Finals for the second and last time defeating Tim Mayotte in three sets. Success continued when he also took the Masters Grand Prix title for the third time defeating Boris Becker in straight sets.
In 1986 and 1987 he added wins in the French Open to his U.S Open victories including the season ending 1986 and 1987 Masters Grand Prix championship titles, Where he defeated Boris Becker (86) in straight sets and Mats Wilander (87) in three sets. This took him to his fifth and last Grand Prix year end tour title.
During each of the years from 1985 through 1987, Lendl's match winning percentage was greater than 90%. This record was equalled by Roger Federer in 2006. Lendl, however, remains the only male tennis player with at least 90% match wins in five different years (1982 was the first, 1989 the last). From the 1985 US Open through the 1988 Australian Open, Lendl reached ten consecutive Grand Slam singles semifinals—a record that was broken by Federer at the 2006 US Open.
1989 was another very strong year for Lendl. He started the year by capturing his first Australian Open title with a straight sets final victory over Miloslav Mečíř and went on to claim 10 titles out of 17 tournaments he entered. Lendl successfully defended his Australian Open title in 1990.
The only Grand Slam singles title Lendl never managed to win was Wimbledon. After reaching the semifinals in 1983 and 1984, he reached the final there twice, losing in straight sets to Boris Becker in 1986 and Pat Cash in 1987. In the years that followed, Lendl put in intensive efforts to train and hone his game on grass courts. But despite reaching the Wimbledon semifinals again in 1988, 1989 and 1990, he never again reached the final.
Lendl was part of the team that won Czechoslovakia's only Davis Cup title in 1980. He was the driving force behind the country's team in the first half of the 1980s but stopped playing in the event after he moved to the United States in 1986 because, in the eyes of communist Czechoslovakia's Tennis Association, he was an "illegal defector" from their country.
Lendl was also part of the Czechoslovakian team that won the World Team Cup in 1981 and was runner-up in 1984 and 1985.
Lendl's success in the game was due in large part to his highly meticulous and intensive training and physical conditioning regime, his scientific approach to preparing for and playing the game, and a strong desire to put in whatever it took to be successful. It is believed that a contributing factor to his run of eight successive US Open finals and long record of success at that tournament was that he hired the same workers who laid the hardcourt surfaces at Flushing Meadows each year to install an exact copy in the grounds of his home in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Lendl announced his retirement from professional tennis on December 21, 1994, due to chronic back pain.[10] Although he didn't play any official match following his defeat in the 2nd round of the US Open in 1994, Lendl's final decision to retire came only three and a half months later.
Lendl won a total of 94 career singles titles listed by the ATP (plus 49 other non-ATP tournaments, thus making a total of 144 singles titles) and 6 doubles titles, and his career prize money of U.S. $21,262,417 was a record at the time. In 2001, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
After finishing his tennis career, Lendl took up golf, earning a handicap of 0 and organizing a charity competition in 2004 called the "Ivan Lendl Celebrity Golf Tournament".
Lendl's professional attitude, modern playing style, scientific training methods, and unprecedented long-term success have had a considerable impact on today's tennis world. A typical Lendl quote is: "If I don't practice the way I should, then I won't play the way that I know I can."[citation needed]'
On April 10, 2010 Ivan Lendl returned to play his first tournament since his 1994 retirement from tennis. He played in the Caesars Tennis Classic exhibition match in Atlantic City, New Jersey, against his rival from the late 1980s, Mats Wilander. He lost the one set match 6-3.
On February 28, 2011, Lendl returned to the court again in an exhibition match with John McEnroe at Madison Square Garden. It was planned to be a one-set, first-to-eight event. However, McEnroe, leading 6–3, injured his ankle and had to retire from the match.
In May 2012, Lendl played in Prague for the first time since the 1970s, as part of the 2012 Sparta Prague Open tournament. He defeated fellow Czech Jiří Novák in the exhibition match.[11]
On 31 December 2011 Lendl was appointed coach to Andy Murray.[12] and coached him at the 2012 Australian Open.
Name | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | SR | W–L | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Grand Slams | ||||||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | 2R | F | 4R | SF | NH | SF | SF | W | W | F | QF | 1R | 4R | 2 / 12 | 48–10 | |||||
French Open | 1R | 4R | 3R | F | 4R | QF | W | F | W | W | QF | 4R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 3 / 15 | 53–12 | |||
Wimbledon | 1R | 3R | 1R | SF | SF | 4R | F | F | SF | SF | SF | 3R | 4R | 2R | 0 / 14 | 48–14 | ||||
US Open | 2R | QF | 4R | F | F | F | W | W | W | F | F | QF | SF | QF | 1R | 2R | 3 / 16 | 73–13 | ||
Win–Loss | 0–1 | 4–3 | 9–4 | 9–3 | 9–2 | 20–4 | 20–3 | 20–3 | 20–1 | 24–2 | 20–4 | 21–3 | 16–2 | 13–3 | 12–4 | 1–4 | 4–3 | 8 / 57 | 222–49 | |
Year-End Championships | ||||||||||||||||||||
The Masters | F | W | W | F | F | W | W | W | F | SF | SF | SF | 5 / 12 | 39–10 | ||||||
WCT Finals | SF | W | F | W | SF | 2 / 5 | 10–3 |
Time span | Selected Grand Slam tournament records | Players matched |
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1981 French Open — 1986 Wimbledon |
Runner-up at all four | Roger Federer |
1981 French Open — 1991 Australian Open |
11 consecutive years reaching 1+ final | Pete Sampras |
Grand Slam tournaments | Time Span | Records at each Grand Slam tournament | Players matched |
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Australian Open | 1989–91 | 3 consecutive finals | Mats Wilander |
Australian Open | 1989–90 | 2 consecutive titles | Ken Rosewall Guillermo Vilas Johan Kriek Mats Wilander Stefan Edberg Jim Courier Andre Agassi Roger Federer Novak Djokovic |
French Open | 1984–87 | 4 consecutive finals | Björn Borg Roger Federer Rafael Nadal |
US Open | 1982–89 | 8 consecutive finals[13] | Stands alone |
US Open | 1982–89 | 8 finals overall[13] | Pete Sampras |
US Open | 1985–86 | 26 consecutive sets won[13] | Stands alone |
Year End championships | Time span | Record accomplished | Players matched |
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Combined WCT and GP | 1980–88 | 12 finals overall | John McEnroe |
Combined WCT and GP | 1980–88 | 17 semi-finals overall | Stands alone |
Grand Prix Tour Finals | 1985–87 | 3 consecutive titles | Ilie Năstase |
Grand Prix Tour Finals | 1980–88 | 9 finals^ | Stands alone |
Grand Prix Tour Finals | 1980–91 | 12 semi-finals overall | Stands alone |
Grand Prix Tour Finals | 1980–91 | 12 consecutive appearances | Stands alone |
Grand Prix Tour Finals | 1980–91 | 39 match wins | Roger Federer |
Grand Prix Tour Finals | 1985 | Won championship without losing a set | John McEnroe |
Time span | Other selected records | Players matched |
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1980–89 | 22 Championship Series titles | Stands alone |
1981–83 | 66 consecutive carpet court match victories | John McEnroe |
1981–83 | 18 consecutive finals | Stands alone |
1981–82 | 8 consecutive titles | John McEnroe |
1982–89 | 5 years with match winning percentage of 90%+ (417–36) | Stands alone |
1980–93 | 14 consecutive years winning 1+ title | Stands alone |
1982 | 9 carpet court titles in 1 season | Stands alone |
1983–93 | 5 Tokyo Indoor titles | Stands alone |
1980–89 | 6 Canadian Open titles | Stands alone |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ivan Lendl |
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Name | Lendl, Ivan |
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Short description | professional tennis player |
Date of birth | 1960-03-06 |
Place of birth | Ostrava, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
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Men's tennis | ||
Competitor for the ![]() |
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Olympic Games | ||
Gold | 1988 Seoul | Men's doubles |
Kenneth Eliot "Ken" Flach (born 24 May 1963 in St. Louis, Missouri) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won 4 Grand Slam men's doubles titles (2 Wimbledon and 2 US Open), and 2 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles (1 Wimbledon and 1 French Open). He also won the men's doubles Gold Medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, partnering Robert Seguso. Flach reached the World No. 1 doubles ranking in 1985.
Flach played doubles on the US Davis Cup team from 1985–1991, compiling an 11–2 record. He was also a member of the US team which won the World Team Cup in 1985.
During his career, Flach won 36 doubles titles (34 men's doubles and 2 mixed doubles). His final career title was won in 1994 at Scottsdale, Arizona.
Prior to turning professional, Flach played tennis for Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, where he won the NCAA Division II singles championships in 1981, 1982 and 1983, and teamed-up with Seguso to reach the 1983 Division I doubles final.
Since retiring from the professional tour, Flach has devoted himself to coaching. He guided Vanderbilt University to its first-ever NCAA tournament berth in 1999. In 2003 he led the team to Vanderbilt's first-ever NCAA championship finals appearance in any sport. He has also played in seniors events, and won the Wimbledon 35-and-over men's doubles title in 1999 and 2000.
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Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
Winner | 1985 | US Open | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7(5), 7–6(1), 7–6(6), 6–0 |
Winner | 1987 | Wimbledon | Grass | ![]() |
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3–6, 6–7(6), 7–6(3), 6–1, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 1987 | US Open | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7(1), 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–7(2) |
Winner | 1988 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | ![]() |
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6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 7–6(3) |
Runner-up | 1989 | US Open | Hard | ![]() |
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4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 1993 | US Open (2) | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7(3), 6–4, 6–2 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
Winner | 1986 | French Open | Clay | ![]() |
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3–6, 7–6(3), 6–3 |
Winner | 1986 | Wimbledon | Grass | ![]() |
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6–3, 7–6(7) |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
Gold | 1988 | Seoul Olympics | Hard | ![]() |
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6–3, 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–7(1), 9–7 |
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Outcome | No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponents in the final | Score in the final |
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Runner-up | 1. | 12 December 1983 | Taipei, Taiwan | Carpet | ![]() |
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6–7, 4–6 |
Winner | 1. | 11 June 1984 | Rome, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
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3–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2. | 16 July 1984 | Newport, United States | Grass | ![]() |
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4–6, 6–7 |
Winner | 2. | 23 July 1984 | Boston, United States | Clay | ![]() |
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6–4, 6–4 |
Winner | 3. | 13 August 1984 | Indianapolis, United States | Clay | ![]() |
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7–6, 7–5 |
Winner | 4. | 17 September 1984 | Los Angeles, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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4–6, 6–4, 6–3 |
Winner | 5. | 29 October 1984 | Hong Kong | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7, 6–3, 7–5 |
Winner | 6. | 6 November 1984 | Taipei, Taiwan | Carpet | ![]() |
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6–1, 6–7, 6–2 |
Winner | 7. | 6 January 1985 | Masters Doubles WCT, London | Carpet | ![]() |
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6–3, 3–6, 6–3, 6–0 |
Runner-up | 3. | 25 February 1985 | La Quinta, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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6–3, 6–7, 3–6 |
Winner | 8. | 1 April 1985 | Fort Myers, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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3–6, 6–3, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 4. | 8 April 1985 | Chicago, United States | Carpet | ![]() |
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6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 1–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 9. | 13 May 1985 | Forest Hills, United States | Clay | ![]() |
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7–5, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 5. | 20 May 1985 | Rome, Italy | Clay | ![]() |
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6–4, 3–6, 2–6 |
Winner | 10. | 17 June 1985 | London/Queen's Club, England | Grass | ![]() |
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3–6, 6–3, 16–14 |
Winner | 11. | 29 July 1985 | Indianapolis, United States | Clay | ![]() |
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6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 6. | 12 August 1985 | Stratton Mountain, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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6–3, 6–7, 6–7 |
Winner | 12. | 19 August 1985 | Montreal, Canada | Hard | ![]() |
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5–7, 7–6, 6–3 |
Winner | 13. | 9 September 1985 | U.S. Open, New York | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7, 7–6, 7–6, 6–0 |
Winner | 14. | 28 October 1985 | Tokyo Indoor, Japan | Carpet | ![]() |
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4–6, 6–3, 7–6 |
Winner | 15. | 10 February 1986 | Memphis, United States | Carpet | ![]() |
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6–4, 4–6, 7–6 |
Winner | 16. | 31 March 1986 | Chicago, United States | Carpet | ![]() |
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6–0, 7–5 |
Winner | 17. | 20 October 1986 | Tokyo Outdoor, Japan | Carpet | ![]() |
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6–2, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 7. | 9 March 1987 | Miami, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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2–6, 4–6, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 8. | 27 April 1987 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | ![]() |
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7–6, 1–6, 5–7 |
Winner | 18. | 6 July 1987 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | ![]() |
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3–6, 6–7, 7–6, 6–1, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 9. | 20 July 1987 | Livingston, New Jersey, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7, 3–6 |
Winner | 19. | 24 August 1987 | Cincinnati, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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7–5, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 10. | 14 September 1987 | U.S. Open, New York | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 6–7 |
Runner-up | 11. | 16 November 1987 | Wembley, England | Carpet | ![]() |
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5–7, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 12. | 13 December 1987 | Masters Doubles, London | Carpet | ![]() |
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4–6, 5–7, 7–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 13. | 28 March 1988 | Miami, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7, 1–6, 5–7 |
Winner | 20. | 13 June 1988 | London/Queen's Club, England | Grass | ![]() |
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6–2, 7–6 |
Winner | 21. | 4 July 1988 | Wimbledon, London | Grass | ![]() |
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6–4, 2–6, 6–4, 7–6 |
Runner-up | 14. | 2 August 1988 | Indianapolis, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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4–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 22. | 15 August 1988 | Toronto, Canada | Hard | ![]() |
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7–6, 6–3 |
Winner | 23. | 26 September 1988 | Seoul, South Korea | Hard | ![]() |
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6–3, 6–4, 6–7, 6–7, 9–7 |
Winner | 24. | 14 November 1988 | Wembley, England | Carpet | ![]() |
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7–5, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 15. | 21 November 1988 | Detroit, United States | Carpet | ![]() |
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4–6, 1–6 |
Winner | 25. | 24 April 1989 | Tokyo Outdoor, Japan | Hard | ![]() |
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7–6, 7–6 |
Winner | 26. | 21 August 1989 | Cincinnati, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 16. | 11 September 1989 | U.S. Open, New York | Hard | ![]() |
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4–6, 6–4, 3–6, 3–6 |
Runner-up | 17. | 9 October 1989 | Orlando, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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5–7, 7–5, 4–6 |
Runner-up | 18. | 25 March 1991 | Miami, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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7–5, 6–7, 2–6 |
Winner | 27. | 6 May 1991 | Tampa, United States | Clay | ![]() |
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6–7, 6–4, 6–1 |
Runner-up | 19. | 22 July 1991 | Washington, D.C., United States | Hard | ![]() |
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4–6, 2–6 |
Winner | 28. | 12 August 1991 | Cincinnati, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7, 6–4, 7–5 |
Winner | 29. | 19 August 1991 | Indianapolis, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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7–6, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 20. | 24 November 1991 | Doubles Championships, Johannesburg | Hard (i) | ![]() |
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4–6, 4–6, 6–2, 4–6 |
Winner | 30. | 23 March 1992 | Miami, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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6–4, 6–3 |
Runner-up | 21. | 20 July 1992 | Washington, D.C., United States | Hard | ![]() |
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2–6, 3–6 |
Winner | 31. | 12 April 1993 | Tokyo Outdoor, Japan | Hard | ![]() |
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2–6, 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 32. | 21 June 1993 | Manchester, England | Grass | ![]() |
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6–4, 6–1 |
Runner-up | 22. | 23 August 1993 | Indianapolis, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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4–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 33. | 13 September 1993 | U.S. Open, New York | Hard | ![]() |
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6–7, 6–4, 6–2 |
Winner | 34. | 28 February 1994 | Scottsdale, United States | Hard | ![]() |
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6–0, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 23. | 16 May 1994 | Coral Springs, United States | Clay | ![]() |
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3–6, 5–7 |
Runner-up | 24. | 13 May 1996 | Pinehurst, United States | Clay | ![]() |
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2–6, 3–6 |
Tournament | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | Career SR | Career Win-Loss |
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Grand Slams | ||||||||||||||||
Australian Open | 3R | 2R | A | NH | SF | A | A | A | A | A | A | QF | A | 1R | 0 / 5 | 8–5 |
French Open | A | 1R | QF | QF | A | QF | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 11 | 13–11 |
Wimbledon | A | 3R | 1R | QF | W | W | SF | QF | 3R | 3R | 2R | 2R | 1R | 1R | 2 / 13 | 30–11 |
U.S. Open | 1R | 2R | W | A | F | SF | F | 3R | SF | 2R | W | 1R | QF | 1R | 2 / 13 | 37–10 |
Grand Slam SR | 0 / 2 | 0 / 4 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 1 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 2 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 3 | 1 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 4 | 4 / 42 | N/A |
Annual Win-Loss | 2–2 | 3–4 | 9–2 | 6–2 | 14–2 | 13–2 | 9–2 | 6–2 | 7–3 | 4–3 | 8–2 | 4–4 | 3–3 | 0–4 | N/A | 88–37 |
ATP Masters Series | ||||||||||||||||
Indian Wells | These Tournaments Were Not Masters Series Events Before 1990 |
2R | 2R | 2R | QF | 2R | A | 1R | 0 / 6 | 4–6 | ||||||
Miami | 2R | F | W | 2R | 3R | A | 2R | 1 / 6 | 12–5 | |||||||
Monte Carlo | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |||||||
Rome | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |||||||
Hamburg | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0–0 | |||||||
Canada | 1R | SF | 2R | A | A | A | 1R | 0 / 4 | 3–4 | |||||||
Cincinnati | 2R | W | QF | 2R | 2R | A | A | 1 / 5 | 10–4 | |||||||
Stuttgart (Stockholm) | A | 2R | A | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 2 | 0–2 | |||||||
Paris | A | SF | 2R | 2R | A | A | A | 0 / 3 | 3–3 | |||||||
Masters Series SR | N/A | 0 / 4 | 1 / 6 | 1 / 5 | 0 / 5 | 0 / 3 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 3 | 2 / 26 | N/A | ||||||
Annual Win-Loss | N/A | 2–4 | 16–5 | 8–4 | 3–5 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–3 | N/A | 32–24 | ||||||
Year End Ranking | 103 | 11 | 2 | 19 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 76 | 5 | 60 | 23 | 90 | 121 | 141 | N/A |
A = did not attend tournament
NH = tournament not held
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Persondata | |
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Name | Flach, Ken |
Alternative names | |
Short description | |
Date of birth | 24 May 1963 |
Place of birth | |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
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Full name | Björn Rune Borg |
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Country | ![]() |
Residence | Stockholm |
Born | (1956-06-06) 6 June 1956 (age 56) Södertälje, Stockholm County, Sweden |
Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) |
Weight | 72 kg (160 lb) |
Turned pro | 1973 (international debut in 1971) |
Retired | 4 April 1983[1] (comeback from 1991 to 1993) |
Plays | Right-handed (two-handed backhand) |
Career prize money | US$3,655,751 |
Int. Tennis HOF | 1987 (member page) |
Singles | |
Career record | 608–127 (82.7%) |
Career titles | 101 (including 64 listed by the ATP) |
Highest ranking | No. 1 (23 August 1977) |
Grand Slam Singles results | |
Australian Open | 3R (1974) |
French Open | W (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981) |
Wimbledon | W (1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980) |
US Open | F (1976, 1978, 1980, 1981) |
Other tournaments | |
Tour Finals |
W Masters (1979, 1980) W WCT (1976) |
Doubles | |
Career record | 86–81 (51.2%) |
Career titles | 4 |
Highest ranking | 890 (22 March 1993) |
Last updated on: 24 March 2007. |
Björn Rune Borg (Swedish pronunciation: [bjœːɳ bɔrj] ( listen); born 6 June 1956) is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles (a record shared with Roger Federer)[3] and six French Open singles titles (a record shared with Rafael Nadal).[4][5] He is considered by many to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time.[6][7][8]
During his relatively brief pro career, Borg won 41% of the Grand Slam singles tournaments he entered (11 of 27) and 89.81% (141–16) of the Grand Slam singles matches he played. His winning rate across all surfaces (carpet, clay, hard, and grass) was 82.72% (608-127), and his winning percentage at Wimbledon was 92.73% (51–4); both are records for an entire career. He is one of four players in the open era to win both Wimbledon and the French Open in the same year and the only player to do so for three consecutive years. He is the first player to win two Grand Slams without dropping a set (a record shared with Rafael Nadal). He also won three year-end championship titles, including two Masters Grand Prix titles and one WCT Final title. In addition, he won 15 Championship Series titles (1974–1980) the precursors to the current Masters 1000.
Borg was the first "rock star" of professional tennis[2] and first player to earn more than one million dollars in prize money in a single season (1979).
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Borg was born in Södertälje, Sweden. As a child, Borg became fascinated with a golden tennis racquet that his father won at a table-tennis tournament. His father gave him the racquet, beginning his tennis career.[9]
A player of great athleticism and endurance, he had a distinctive style and appearance—bowlegged, yet very fast. His muscularity allowed him to put heavy topspin on both his forehand and two-handed backhand. He was perhaps the first top professional to use the two-handed backhand. By the time he was 13 he was beating the best of Sweden's under-18 players, and Davis Cup captain Lennart Bergelin cautioned against anyone trying to change Borg's rough-looking, jerky strokes. They were effective.[citation needed]
Borg joined the professional circuit at age 14. In 1972, at the age of 15, Borg became one of the youngest players ever to represent his country in the Davis Cup and won his debut singles rubber in five sets against seasoned professional Onny Parun of New Zealand. Later that year, he won the Wimbledon junior singles title, recovering from a 5–2 deficit in the final set to overcome Britain's Buster Mottram.
In 1973, Borg reached the Wimbledon main draw quarterfinals in his first attempt. Just before his 18th birthday in 1974, Borg won his first top-level singles title at the Italian Open, becoming its youngest winner. Two weeks later he became the then-youngest winner of the French Open defeating Manuel Orantes in the final, 2–6, 6–7, 6–0, 6–1, 6–1. Barely 18 at the time, Borg was the youngest-ever male French Open champion (the record has since been lowered by Mats Wilander in 1982 and Michael Chang in 1989).
In early 1975, Borg defeated the great Rod Laver, then 36 years old, in a semifinal of the World Championship Tennis (WCT) finals in Dallas, Texas, 7–6, 3–6, 5–7, 7–6, 6–2. Borg subsequently lost to Arthur Ashe in the final.
Borg retained his French Open title in 1975, beating Guillermo Vilas in the final in straight sets. Borg then reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals, where he lost to eventual champion Ashe, 6–2, 4–6, 6–8, 1–6. Borg did not lose another match at Wimbledon until 1981.
Borg won two singles and one doubles rubber in the 1975 Davis Cup final, as Sweden beat Czechoslovakia 3–2. With these singles wins, Borg had won 19 consecutive Davis Cup singles rubbers since 1973. That was already a record at the time. However, Borg never lost another Davis Cup singles rubber, and, by the end of his career, he had stretched that winning streak to 33—a Davis Cup record that still stands.[10]
In early 1976, Borg won the World Championship Tennis year-end WCT Finals in Dallas, Texas with a four-set victory over Guillermo Vilas in the final.
At the 1976 French Open, Borg lost to the Italian Adriano Panatta, who remains the only player to defeat Borg at this tournament. Panatta did it twice: in the fourth round in 1973 (7–6, 2–6, 7–5, 7–6), and in the 1976 quarterfinals (6–3, 6–3, 2–6, 7–6).
Borg won Wimbledon in 1976 without losing a set, defeating the favored Ilie Năstase in the final. Borg became the youngest male Wimbledon champion of the modern era at 20 years and 1 month (a record subsequently broken by Boris Becker, who won Wimbledon aged 17 in 1985). It would be the last time Borg played Wimbledon as an underdog. Năstase later exclaimed, "We're playing tennis, he's [Borg] playing something else."
Borg also reached the final of the 1976 US Open, which was then being played on clay courts. Borg lost in four sets to world no. 1 Jimmy Connors.
Borg skipped the French Open in 1977 because he was under contract with WTT, but he repeated his Wimbledon triumph, although this time he was pushed much harder. He defeated his good friend Vitas Gerulaitis in a semifinal, 6–4, 3–6, 6–3, 3–6, 8–6.[11] In the final, Borg was pushed to five sets for the third time in the tournament, this time by Connors. The win propelled Borg to the no. 1 ranking on the computer, albeit for just one week in August.
Through 1977, he had never lost to a player younger than himself.
Borg was at the height of his career from 1978 through 1980, completing the difficult French Open-Wimbledon double all three years.
In 1978, Borg won the French Open with a win over Vilas in the final. Borg did not drop a set during the tournament, a feat only he, Năstase (in 1973), and Rafael Nadal (in 2008 and 2010) have accomplished at the French Open during the open era.
Borg defeated Connors in straight sets at the 1978 Wimbledon. At the US Open, now held on hard courts in Flushing Meadow, New York, he lost the final in straight sets to Connors. That autumn, Borg faced John McEnroe for the first time in a semifinal of the Stockholm Open and was upset, 3–6, 4–6.
Borg lost to McEnroe again in four sets in the final of the 1979 WCT Finals but was now overtaking Connors for the top ranking. Borg established himself firmly in the top spot with his fourth French Open singles title and fourth straight Wimbledon singles title, defeating Connors in a straight-set semifinal at the latter tournament. At the French Open, Borg defeated big-serving Victor Pecci in a four-set final, and at Wimbledon, Borg took five sets to overcome an even bigger server, Roscoe Tanner. Borg was upset by Tanner at the US Open, in a four-set quarterfinal played under the lights.
At the season-ending Masters tournament in January 1980, Borg survived a close semifinal against McEnroe, 6–7, 6–3, 7–6(1). He then beat Gerulaitis in straight sets, winning his first Masters and first title in New York. In June, he overcame Gerulaitis, again in straight sets, for his fifth French Open title. Again, he did not drop a set.
Borg won his fifth consecutive Wimbledon singles title, the 1980 Wimbledon Men's Singles final, by defeating McEnroe in a five-set match, often cited as the best Wimbledon final ever played. Having lost the opening set 6–1 to an all-out McEnroe assault, Borg took the next two 7–5, 6–3 and had two championship points at 5–4 in the fourth. However, McEnroe averted disaster and went on to level the match in Wimbledon's most memorable 34-point tiebreaker, which he won 18–16. In the fourth-set tiebreak, McEnroe saved five match points, and Borg six set points, before McEnroe won the set. Bjorn served first to begin the 5th set and fell behind 15–40. Borg then won 19 straight points on serve in the deciding set and prevailed after 3 hours, 53 minutes. Borg himself commented years later that this was the first time that he was afraid that he would lose, as well as feeling that it was the beginning of the end of his dominance.[12]
Borg married Romanian tennis pro Mariana Simionescu in Bucharest on 24 July 1980.
He defeated McEnroe in the final of the 1980 Stockholm Open, 6–3, 6–4, and faced him one more time that year, in the round-robin portion of the year-end Masters, played in January 1981. With 19,103 fans in attendance, Borg won a deciding third-set tie-break for the second year in a row, 6–4, 6–7, 7–6(2). Borg then defeated Ivan Lendl for his second Masters title, 6–4, 6–2, 6–2.
Borg won his last Grand Slam title at the French Open in 1981, defeating Lendl in a five-set final. Borg has a six French Open Grand Slam titles record equaled only by Rafael Nadal in 2011.
In reaching the Wimbledon final in 1981, Borg stretched his winning streak at the All England Club to a record 41 matches. In a semifinal, Borg was down to Connors by two sets to love, before coming back to win the match, 0–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–4. However, Borg's streak was brought to an end by McEnroe, who defeated him in four sets, 6–4, 6–7, 6–7, 4–6.
Borg went on to lose to McEnroe at the 1981 US Open, 6–4, 2–6, 4–6, 3–6. After that defeat, Borg walked off the court and out of the stadium before the ceremonies and press conference had begun. There are reports that Borg received threats after his semifinal win over Connors. In later years, Borg apologized to McEnroe. The 1981 US Open would be the Swede's last Grand Slam final. Major tournaments and tour organizers were enforcing a new rule by 1982, that players had to play at least 10 official tournaments per year. However, Borg wanted to curtail his schedule after many years of winning so often. Although he felt in good condition physically, he recognized that the relentless drive to win and defy tour organizers had begun to fade.[12]
Borg failed to win the US Open in 10 tries, losing four finals, 1976 and 1978 to Jimmy Connors, and 1980 and 1981 to McEnroe. He played on hard courts at the US Open from 1978–1981 and reached the final there on three occasions, in 1978, 1980, and 1981. He led 3–2 in the fifth set of the 1980 final, before losing. That match followed Borg's classic encounter with McEnroe at the 1980 Wimbledon. In 1978, 1979 and 1980, Borg was halfway to a Grand Slam after victories at the French and Wimbledon (the Australian Open being the last Grand Slam tournament of each year at the time) only to falter at Flushing Meadow, lefty Tanner his conqueror in 1979.
He appeared only once at the Australian Open, at the age of 17, at which he lost in an early round.
In 1982, Borg played only one tournament, losing to Yannick Noah in the quarterfinals of Monte Carlo in April. Nevertheless, Borg's announcement in January 1983 that he was retiring from the game at the age of 26 was a shock to the tennis world. McEnroe tried unsuccessfully to persuade Borg to continue. (He did, however, play Monte Carlo again in March 1983, reaching the second round, and Stuttgart in July 1984.)
When he retired, Borg had a choice of homes, a penthouse in Monte Carlo, not far from his successful pro shop, and a small island off the Swedish coast. His marriage to the tennis player Mariana Simionescu ended in divorce, he fathered a child by the Swedish model Jannike Björling, and he was briefly married to the Italian singer Loredana Bertè.[12] There were rumours of a drug overdose and an attempted suicide, yet Borg laughs them off as silly rumours. He states that he only took sleeping pills, yet the Italian press reported it as a suicide attempt,[12] and he narrowly avoided personal bankruptcy due to bad business partners.[13][14]
Borg later bounced back as the owner of the Björn Borg fashion label, whose most noted advertising campaigns asked Swedes (from the pages of a leading national newspaper) to "F*ck for the Future." His label has since become extremely successful second only to Calvin Klein in his home country.[12][15]
In the early-1990s, Borg attempted a comeback on the men's professional tennis tour. In doing so, he grew his hair out as it had been when he retired and returned to using a wooden racket; he had kept his hair cut and used modern graphite rackets in exhibitions he played during the later 1980s. This time around, however, he was completely unsuccessful. In fact, Borg failed to win a single match. He faced Jordi Arrese in his first match back, again at Monte Carlo, and fell 2–6, 3–6. In his first nine matches, played in 1991 and 92, Borg failed to win a single set. He fared slightly better in 1993, taking a set off his opponent in each of the three matches he played. He came closest to getting a win in what turned out to be his final tour match, falling 6–4, 3–6, 6–7 to Alexander Volkov.
In 1992, Borg, 35, using a Donnay Graphite Midsize racket strung at 85 lbs. tension defeated John Lloyd, 37, at the Inglewood Forum Tennis Challenge 6–4, 6–3.
Borg later joined the champions tour, returning to shorter hair and using modern racquets.
In March 2006, Bonhams Auction House in London announced that it would auction Borg's Wimbledon trophies and two of his winning rackets on 21 June 2006.[16] Several players then called Borg wondering what he was thinking, but only McEnroe was able to make Borg reconsider. According to Dagens Nyheter – who had talked to Borg – McEnroe called from New York and asked, "What's up? Have you gone mad?"[17] The conversation apparently persuaded Borg to buy out the trophies from Bonhams at an undisclosed amount.
With Grand Slam 11 titles, Borg ranks fourth in the list of male tennis players who have won the most Grand Slam singles titles behind Roger Federer (16), Pete Sampras (14), and Roy Emerson (12). The French Open—Wimbledon double he achieved three times consecutively was called by Wimbledon officials "the most difficult double in tennis"[20] and "a feat considered impossible among today's players."[21] Only Rafael Nadal (in 2008 and 2010) and Roger Federer (in 2009) have managed to achieve this double since, and Rafael Nadal, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and are the only male players since Borg to have won the French Open and Wimbledon men's singles titles over their career. Ilie Năstase once said about Borg, "We're playing tennis, and he's playing something else".
In his 1979 autobiography, Jack Kramer, the long-time tennis promoter and great player himself, had already included Borg in his list of the 21 greatest players of all time. And in 2003, Bud Collins chose Borg as one of his top-five male players of all time.[22]
In 2008, ESPN.com asked tennis analysts, writers, and former players to build the perfect open era player. Borg was the only player mentioned in four categories—defense, footwork, intangibles, and mental toughness—with his mental game and footwork singled-out as the best in open era history.[23]
Borg never won the US Open or the Australian Open, losing in the final at the US Open four times. The only players to defeat Borg in a Grand Slam final were fellow world no. 1 tennis players John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Even though it was then played on grass, a surface where he enjoyed much success, Borg chose to play the Australian Open only once, in 1974, where he lost in the third round. Phil Dent, a contemporary of Borg, has pointed out that skipping Grand Slam tournaments—especially the Australian Open—was not unusual then, before counting Grand Slam titles became the norm.[24] Additionally, another contemporary Arthur Ashe told Sports Illustrated, "I think Bjorn could have won the U.S. Open. I think he could have won the Grand Slam. But by the time he left, the historical challenge didn't mean anything. He was bigger than the game. He was like Elvis or Liz Taylor or somebody."[25]
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This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2009) |
Borg had one of the most distinctive playing styles in the open era. Borg played from the baseline, with powerful ground-strokes and a double-handed backhand (very rare at the time and unorthodox). He hit the ball hard and high from the back of the court and brought it down with considerable topspin, which made his ground strokes very consistent.[26] There had been other players, particularly Rod Laver and Arthur Ashe, who played with topspin on both the forehand and backhand. Yet Laver and Ashe used topspin only as a way to mix up their shots and pass their opponents at the net easily. Borg was one of the first top players to use heavy topspin on his shots consistently.
Complementing his consistent ground-strokes was his fitness. Both of these factors allowed Borg to be dominant at the French Open.
One of the factors that made Borg unique was his dominance on the grass courts of Wimbledon, where baseliners since World War II did not usually succeed. Some experts attributed his dominance on this surface to his consistency, an underrated serve, and his adaptation to grass courts. Against the best players, he almost always served-and-volleyed on his first serves (but he naturally played from the baseline after his second serves).
Another trait usually associated with Borg is his grace under pressure. His calm court demeanor earned him the nickname of the "Ice Man" or "Ice-Borg."[2]
Borg's physical conditioning was legendary and unrivalled. He could outlast most of his opponents under the most grueling conditions. Contrary to popular belief, however, this wasn't due to his exceptionally low resting heart rate, often reported to be near 35 beats per minute. In his introduction to Borg's autobiography My Life and Game, Eugene Scott relates that this rumor arose from a medical exam the 18-year-old Borg once took for military service, where his pulse was recorded as 38. Scott goes on to reveal Borg's true pulse rate as "about 50 when he wakes up and around 60 in the afternoon."[27] Borg is credited with helping to develop the style of play that has come to dominate the game today.[citation needed]
Tournament | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | SR | W–L | Win % |
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Grand Slam Tournaments | ||||||||||||
Australian Open | A | 3R | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50.00 |
French Open | 4R | W | W | QF | A | W | W | W | W | 6 / 8 | 49–2 | 96.08 |
Wimbledon | QF | 3R | QF | W | W | W | W | W | F | 5 / 9 | 51–4 | 92.73 |
US Open | 4R | 2R | SF | F | 4R | F | QF | F | F | 0 / 9 | 40–9 | 81.63 |
Win–Loss | 10–3 | 11–3 | 16–2 | 17–2 | 10–1 | 20–1 | 18–1 | 20–1 | 19–2 | 11 / 27 | 141–16 | 89.81 |
Year-End Championship | ||||||||||||
The Masters[a] | A | RR | F | A | F | A | W | W | A | 2 / 5 | 15–7 | 68.18 |
Year End Rankings | 18 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Time span | Selected Grand Slam tournament records | Players matched |
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1974 French Open — 1981 French Open |
8 consecutive years winning 1+ title | Pete Sampras Roger Federer |
1976 Wimbledon — 1981 French Open |
41% (11/27) title winning percentage | Stands alone |
1976 Wimbledon — 1981 French Open |
89.8% (141–16) career match winning percentage[28] | Stands alone |
1976 Wimbledon — 1980 French Open |
3 titles won without losing a set | Stands alone |
1977 Australian Open — 1981 US Open |
5 consecutive seasons with match winning percentage of 90%+ | Stands alone |
1976 Wimbledon — 1980 French Open |
60.8% (3066–1973) career games winning percentage | Stands alone |
1978 French Open — 1978 US Open |
66.5% (380–191) games winning percentage in 1 season | Stands alone |
1974 French Open — 1981 French Open |
4 finals reached without losing a set[b] | Rafael Nadal |
1976 Wimbledon — 1980 Wimbledon |
6 existing Grand Slam champions defeated in finals[c] | Stands alone |
1974 French Open — 1981 French Open |
8 different Grand Slam champions defeated in finals | Stands alone |
Grand Slam tournaments | Time Span | Records at each Grand Slam tournament | Players matched |
---|---|---|---|
French Open | 1974–75, 1978–81 | 6 titles overall[29] | Rafael Nadal |
French Open | 1974–81 | 6 finals | Rafael Nadal |
French Open | 1978–81 | 4 consecutive titles[29] | Rafael Nadal |
French Open | 1978–81 | 4 consecutive finals | Ivan Lendl Rafael Nadal Roger Federer |
French Open | 1978 & 1980 | 2 wins without losing a set[29] | Rafael Nadal |
French Open | 1978 | 79.9% (127–32) win–loss games single tournament | Stands alone |
French Open—Wimbledon | 1978–80 | 3 "Channel Slams"^: Winning both tournaments in the same year[20] | Stands alone |
French Open—Wimbledon | 1974–81 | French Open (6) & Wimbledon (5) titles combination | Stands alone |
Wimbledon | 1976–80 | 5 consecutive titles[3][20] | Roger Federer |
Wimbledon | 1976 | Only player to win title without losing a set | Stands alone |
Wimbledon | 1973–81 | 92.72% (51–4) match winning percentage | Stands alone |
Wimbledon | 1976–81 | 41 consecutive match victories | Stands alone |
Time span | Other selected records | Players matched |
---|---|---|
1975–81 | 82.72% (608–127) career match winning percentage (all surfaces)[30] | Stands alone |
1973–81 | 70.52% (67–28) career match winning percentage against top 10 players[31] | Stands alone |
1977–80 | 4 consecutive seasons with match winning percentage of 90%+ | Stands alone |
1979–80 | 2 winning streaks of 35+ matches | Roger Federer |
1975–81 | 16 titles won as a teenager | Rafael Nadal |
1973–80 | 33 consecutive Davis Cup match wins[10] | Stands alone |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Björn Borg |
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Persondata | |
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Name | Borg, Bjorn Rune |
Alternative names | |
Short description | Swedish tennis player |
Date of birth | 6 June 1956 |
Place of birth | Stockholm, Sweden |
Date of death | |
Place of death |
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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 | ![]() |
7–6(7–5), 6–2, 7–6(7–3) |
Winner | 2004 | Australian Open (1) | Hard | ![]() |
7–6(7–3), 6–4, 6–2 |
Winner | 2004 | Wimbledon (2) | Grass | ![]() |
4–6, 7–5, 7–6(7–3), 6–4 |
Winner | 2004 | US Open (1) | Hard | ![]() |
6–0, 7–6(7–3), 6–0 |
Winner | 2005 | Wimbledon (3) | Grass | ![]() |
6–2, 7–6(7–2), 6–4 |
Winner | 2005 | US Open (2) | Hard | ![]() |
6–3, 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–1 |
Winner | 2006 | Australian Open (2) | Hard | ![]() |
5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2006 | French Open (1) | Clay | ![]() |
6–1, 1–6, 4–6, 6–7(4–7) |
Winner | 2006 | Wimbledon (4) | Grass | ![]() |
6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3 |
Winner | 2006 | US Open (3) | Hard | ![]() |
6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 |
Winner | 2007 | Australian Open (3) | Hard | ![]() |
7–6(7–2), 6–4, 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2007 | French Open (2) | Clay | ![]() |
3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 2007 | Wimbledon (5) | Grass | ![]() |
7–6(9–7), 4–6, 7–6(7–3), 2–6, 6–2 |
Winner | 2007 | US Open (4) | Hard | ![]() |
7–6(7–4), 7–6(7–2), 6–4 |
Runner-up | 2008 | French Open (3) | Clay | ![]() |
1–6, 3–6, 0–6 |
Runner-up | 2008 | Wimbledon (1) | Grass | ![]() |
4–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 7–6(10–8), 7–9 |
Winner | 2008 | US Open (5) | Hard | ![]() |
6–2, 7–5, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2009 | Australian Open (1) | Hard | ![]() |
5–7, 6–3, 6–7(3–7), 6–3, 2–6 |
Winner | 2009 | French Open (1) | Clay | ![]() |
6–1, 7–6(7–1), 6–4 |
Winner | 2009 | Wimbledon (6) | Grass | ![]() |
5–7, 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5), 3–6, 16–14 |
Runner-up | 2009 | US Open (1) | Hard | ![]() |
6–3, 6–7(5–7), 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 2–6 |
Winner | 2010 | Australian Open (4) | Hard | ![]() |
6–3, 6–4, 7–6(13–11) |
Runner-up | 2011 | French Open (4) | Clay | ![]() |
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 | ![]() |
Hard | ![]() |
6–3, 6–0, 6–4 |
Winner | 2004 | ![]() |
Hard | ![]() |
6–3, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 2005 | ![]() |
Carpet (i) | ![]() |
7–6(7–4), 7–6(13–11), 2–6, 1–6, 6–7(3–7) |
Winner | 2006 | ![]() |
Hard (i) | ![]() |
6–0, 6–3, 6–4 |
Winner | 2007 | ![]() |
Hard (i) | ![]() |
6–2, 6–3, 6–2 |
Winner | 2010 | ![]() |
Hard (i) | ![]() |
6–3, 3–6, 6–1 |
Winner | 2011 | ![]() |
Hard (i) | ![]() |
6–3, 6–7(6–8), 6–3 |
Outcome | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 2008 | ![]() |
Hard | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
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 |
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Persondata | |
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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 |