ABN AMRO Bank N.V

200px
Type	Temporary public ownership
Industry	Financial services
Founded	1991
Headquarters	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Key people	Gerrit Zalm (CEO)
Products	Asset management Commercial banking Investment banking Private banking Retail banking
Operating income	6.797 billion Euros (2010)[1]
Profit	(414) million Euros (2010)[1]
AUM	153.0 billion Euros (September 30, 2011)[2]
Total assets	419.282 billion Euros (September 30, 2011)[2]
Total equity	11.772 billion Euros (September 30, 2011)[2]
Owner(s)	Kingdom of the Netherlands
Employees	24,947 (September 30, 2011)[2]
Website	www.abnamro.com

ABN AMRO Bank N.V. is a Dutch state-owned bank with headquarters in Amsterdam. It was re-established, in its current form, in 2009 following the acquisition and break up of ABN AMRO Group by a banking consortium consisting of Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Santander and Fortis. Following the collapse of Fortis, the acquirer of the Dutch business, it was nationalized by the Dutch government along with Fortis Bank Nederland.

The bank is a product of a long history of mergers and acquisitions that date back to 1765. In 1991 Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN) and Amsterdam and Rotterdam Bank (AMRO, which was in itself the result of a merger, see main article on AMRO Bank) agreed to merge to create the original ABN AMRO. By 2007 ABN AMRO was the second largest bank in the Netherlands and eighth largest banks in Europe by assets. At that time the magazine The Banker and Fortune Global 500 placed the bank at number 15th^[3] in the list of world’s biggest banks and it had operations in 63 countries, with over 110,000 employees.

In 2007 the bank was acquired, in what was at that time the biggest bank takeover in history, by a consortium made up of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, Fortis bank and Banco Santander, of which the first two got into serious trouble as a result of the takeover. The large amount of debt that had been created to fund the takeover had depleted the banks' reserves just at the time the Financial crisis of 2007–2010 started. As a result the Dutch government took over and nationalized the Dutch parts of the operations which had primarily been allocated to Fortis to stop it failing. The UK government took effective control over the divisions allocated to RBS due to its financial bail-out of the British bank. The remaining parts of ABN AMRO held by the consortiums RFS Holdings B.V., notably the overseas businesses, were merged with RBS, Santander, sold off or shut down.

The Dutch government appointed former Dutch finance minister Gerrit Zalm as CEO to restructure and stabilise the bank and in February 2010 the bank was split into two separate organizations. One owned by the Dutch government called ABN AMRO Bank N.V. and the other owned by The Royal Bank of Scotland Group named The Royal Bank of Scotland N.V.^[4][5] On this date the Dutch owned businesses legally demerged from those owned by RBS.^[6] The Dutch government owned the ABN AMRO name and used it for the parts of the bank they purchased while other companies within the Group were renamed or closed down.^[7]

In 2010 ABN AMRO Group the owner of ABN AMRO Bank was created by merging the former sections of ABN AMRO Nederland, ABN AMRO Private Banking, together with Fortis Bank Nederland as well as formerly Fortis owned private bank MeesPierson and International Diamond and Jewelry Group. This started operating under the name ABN AMRO on 1 July 2010 at which time Fortis bank name officially ended. The Dutch government has said it would remain state owned at least until 2014 after which it would consider a public stock market listing for the new bank.

History[link]

See also the articles on AMRO Bank and Algemene Bank Nederland

Early years[link]

In 1824 King William I established the Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (NHM) a trading company to revive trade and financing of the Dutch East Indies and it would become one of the primary ancestors of ABN AMRO. The NHM merged with the Twentsche Bank in 1964 to form Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN). In the same year the Amsterdamsche Bank which was established in 1871 merged with the Rotterdamsche Bank which was established in 1873 (as part of merger that included Determeijer Weslingh & Zn. from 1765) to form AMRO Bank. In 1991 ABN and AMRO Bank agreed to merge to create ABN AMRO.

Through these mergers and acquisitions, ABN AMRO gained a large number of overseas companies and branches. From the NHM organisation it had a significant branch network in Asia and the Middle East. One of these the Saudi Hollandi Bank which was the old NHM Jeddah branch and in which ABN AMRO still had a 40% stake, caused questions in the Dutch parliament from the political Party for Freedom. Another the Hollandsche Bank-Unie (HBU), which was created from the merger of the Hollandsche Bank voor de Middellandsche Zee (HBMZ) and the Hollandsche Zuid-Amerika Bank in 1933, gave ABN AMRO an extensive network of branches in South and Central America. In 1979 ABN expanded into North America with the acquisition of Chicago based LaSalle National Bank.

After the merger of ABN and AMRO Bank in 1991, ABN AMRO continued to grow through a number of further acquisitions, including in 1996 the purchase of suburban Detroit based Standard Federal Bank and in 2001 the Michigan National Bank both of which were rebranded as LaSalle National bank.

ABN Amro purchased The Chicago Corporation, an American securities and commodities trading and clearing corporation in fall 1995.^[8]

Other major acquisitions included the Brazilian bank Banco Real in 1998 and the Italian bank Antonveneta in 2006. It was also involved in the controversial acquisition of the Dutch local government mortgage and building development organisation, the Bouwfonds^[9] in 2000. ABN AMRO sold the Bouwfonds as a going concern in 2006.

Reaching a cross roads[link]

ABN AMRO had come to a crossroads in the beginning of 2005. The bank had still not come close to its own target of having a return on equity that would put it among the top 5 of its peer group, a target that the CEO, Rijkman Groenink had set upon his appointment in 2000. From 2000 until 2005, ABN AMRO's stock price stagnated.

Financial results in 2006 added to concerns about the bank's future. Operating expenses increased at a greater rate than operating revenue, and the efficiency ratio deteriorated further to 69.9%. Non-performing loans increased considerably year on year by 192%. Net profits were only boosted by sustained asset sales.

There had been some calls, over the prior couple of years, for ABN AMRO to break up, to merge, or to be acquired. On February 21, 2007, the call came from the The Children's Investment Fund Management hedge fund which asked the Chairman of the Supervisory Board to actively investigate a merger, acquisition or breakup of ABN AMRO, stating that the current stock price didn't reflect the true value of the underlying assets. TCI asked the chairman to put their request on the agenda of the annual shareholders' meeting of April 2007.

Events accelerated when on March 20 the British bank Barclays and ABN AMRO both confirmed they were in exclusive talks about a possible merger.

Acquisition battle[link]

On March 28, ABN AMRO published the agenda for the shareholders' meeting of 2007. It included all items requested by TCI, but with the recommendation not to follow the request for a breakup of the company.^[10]

ABN AMRO Insurance headquarters in Zwolle.

However, on April 18, another British bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) contacted ABN AMRO to propose a deal in which a consortium of banks, including RBS, Belgium's Fortis, and Spain's Banco Santander Central Hispano (now Banco Santander) would jointly bid for ABN AMRO and thereafter break up the different divisions of the company between them. According to the proposed deal, RBS would take over ABN's Chicago operations, LaSalle, and ABN's wholesale operations; while Banco Santander would take the Brazilian operations and Fortis, the Dutch operations.

On April 23 ABN AMRO and Barclays announced the proposed acquisition of ABN AMRO by Barclays. The deal was valued at €67 billion. Part of the deal was the sale of LaSalle Bank to Bank of America for €21 billion.^[11]

Two days later the RBS-led consortium brought out their indicative offer, worth €72 billion, if ABN AMRO would abandon its sale of LaSalle Bank to Bank of America. During the shareholders' meeting the next day, a majority of about 68% of the shareholders voted in favour of the breakup as requested by TCI.^[12]

The sale of LaSalle was seen as obstructive by many: as a way of blocking the RBS bid, which hinged on further access to the US markets, in order to expand on the success of the group's existing American brands, Citizens Bank and Charter One. On May 3, 2007, the Dutch Investors' Association (Vereniging van Effectenbezitters), with the support of shareholders representing up to 20 percent of ABN's shares, took its case to the Dutch commercial court in Amsterdam, asking for an injunction against the LaSalle sale. The court ruled that the sale of LaSalle could not be viewed apart from the current merger talks of Barclays with ABN AMRO, and that the ABN AMRO shareholders should be able to approve other possible merger/acquisition candidates in a general shareholder meeting. However in July 2007, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that Bank of America's acquisition of LaSalle Bank Corporation could proceed. Bank of America absorbed LaSalle effective October 1, 2007.

ABN AMRO in Sydney.

On July 23 Barclays raised its offer for ABN AMRO to €67.5bn, after securing investments from the governments of China and Singapore, but it was still short of the RBS consortium's offer. Barclay's revised bid was worth €35.73 a share — 4.3% more than its previous offer. The offer, which included 37% cash, remained below the €38.40-a-share offer made the week before by the RFS consortium. Their revised offer didn't include an offer for La Salle bank, since ABN AMRO could proceed with the sale of that subsidiary to Bank of America. RBS would now settle for ABN's investment-banking division and its Asian Network.

Acquisition and break up[link]

On July 30 ABN AMRO withdrew its support for Barclays’ offer which was lower than the offer from the group led by RBS. While the Barclays offer matched ABN AMRO’s “strategic vision,” the board couldn’t recommend it from “a financial point of view.” The US$98.3bn bid from RBS, Fortis and Banco Santander was 9.8% higher than Barclays’ offer.

Barclays Bank withdrew its bid for ABN AMRO on 5 October, clearing the way for the RBS-led consortium's bid to go through, along with its planned dismemberment of ABN AMRO. Fortis would get ABN AMRO's Dutch and Belgian operations, Banco Santander would get Banco Real in Brazil, and Banca Antonveneta in Italy and RBS would get ABN AMRO's wholesale division and all other operations, including those in Asia.

On October 9, the RFS consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland, bidding for control of ABN AMRO, formally declared victory after shareholders, representing 86 percent of the Dutch bank’s shares, accepted the RFS group’s €70bn offer. This level of acceptance cleared the way for the consortium to take formal control. The group declared its offer unconditional on October 10, when Fortis completed its €13bn rights issue. Thus the financing required for the group’s €38-a-share offer, which included €35.60 in cash, was realised. Rijkman Groenink, Chairman of the Managing Board of ABN AMRO, who heavily backed the Barclays offer, decided that he would step down.^[13]

Impact of the 2008 financial crisis[link]

RBS[link]

On 22 April 2008 RBS announced the largest rights issue in British corporate history, which aimed to raise £12billion in new capital to offset a writedown of £5.9billion resulting from the bad investments and to shore up its reserves following the purchase of ABN AMRO.

On 13 October 2008, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced a UK government bailout of the financial system. The Treasury would infuse £37 billion ($64 billion, €47 billion) of new capital into Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc, Lloyds TSB and HBOS Plc, to avert financial sector collapse. This resulted in a total government ownership in RBS of 58%.

As a consequence of this rescue the chief executive of the group Fred Goodwin offered his resignation, which was duly accepted.

In January 2009 it was announced that RBS had made a loss of £28bn of which £20bn was due to ABN AMRO.^[14] At the same time the government converted their preference shares to ordinary shares resulting in a 70% ownership of RBS.^[15]

Fortis[link]

ABN AMRO headquarters in Amsterdam.

On July 11, 2008, the CEO of Fortis, Jean Votron, stepped down after the ABN AMRO deal had depleted Fortis' capital.^[16][17][18] The total worth of Fortis, as reflected by its stock value, was at that time a third of what it had been before the acquisition, and just under the value it had paid merely for the Benelux activities of ABN AMRO.^[19]

Fortis announced in September 2008 that it intended to sell its stake in RFS Holdings, which includes all activities that have not been transferred yet to Fortis (i.e. everything except Asset Management).^[20][21]

Disposals and renaming[link]

In 2008, RFS Holdings completed the sale of a portfolio of private equity interests in 32 European companies managed by AAC Capital Partners to a consortium comprising Goldman Sachs, AlpInvest Partners and the Canada Pension Plan for $1.5 billion through a private equity secondary market transaction.^[22][23]

In September 2009, RBS rebranded the Morgans sharedealing business in Australia as RBS Morgans in September 2009.^[24] This followed the rebranding of the ABN AMRO Australia unit to RBS Australia in March that year.^[25]

On 10 February 2010, RBS announced that branches of the businesses it owned in India^[26] and the United Arab Emirates were to be rebranded under its name.^[27] HSBC Holdings said it would buy the Indian retail and commercial banking businesses of Royal Bank of Scotland for $1.8b.^[28][29]

Dutch government ownership[link]

Continuing problems in the Fortis operations in the 2008 financial crisis led to the Dutch state obtaining full control (for €16.8bn) of all Fortis operations in the Netherlands, including those parts of ABN-AMRO then belonging to Fortis. The Dutch government and the De Nederlandsche Bank president have announced the merger of Dutch Fortis and ABN AMRO parts will proceed while the bank is in state ownership.^[30]

In January 2009, it was reported that shareholders in Belgium-based Fortis plan to file a lawsuit against the Belgian government over its handling of the carve-up of the troubled financial services group and are also considering a case against the Dutch government. The initial outcome of the lawsuit favours the Dutch state.

On 9 February 2010, the businesses of ABN AMRO acquired by the Dutch state were legally demerged from the RBS acquired businesses. This created two separate banks within ABN AMRO Holdings, The Royal Bank of Scotland and the new entity named ABN AMRO Bank, each licensed separately by the Dutch Central Bank.^[31]

ABN Amro acquired the specialist on-line mortgage provider Direktbank Hypotheken as part of the nationalisation and from the 1 January 2011 it stopped selling these products under this brand to the public. It absorbed the mortgage business into its own products under the ABN AMRO brand as well as Florius brand.^[32]

Goldman Sachs SEC lawsuit[link]

ABN Amro was mentioned by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) SEC in court fillings when it sued Goldman Sachs and one of Goldman's collateralized debt obligation (CDO) traders on April 16, 2010. The SEC alleges that ABN Amro was on the wrong side of the CDO instruments Goldman was creating and that Goldman defrauded both IKB (a German bank) and ABN-Amro in failing to disclose that the CDO's ABN Amro was purchasing were not assembled by a third party, but instead through the guidance of a hedge fund that was counterparty in the CDS transaction. This hedge fund, Paulson & Co., stood to reap great financial benefit in the event of default.^[33]

Bank operations[link]

ABN AMRO Bank has offices in 15 countries, but all but 5,000 of its 32,000 employees are in the Netherlands. Businesses include a private bank focusing on high-net-worth clients in 14 countries and a commercial and merchant banking operation, which is a player in specialist markets such as energy, commodities and transportation as well as brokerage, Clearing & Custody.^[34]

Financial data[link]

Source: OpesC'

Alumni[link]

Former employees of ABN AMRO:

• Vladimer Gurgenidze - Prime Minister of Georgia (2007-2008)
• John Hewson - Member of the Australian House of Representatives (1987-1995)
• Joop Wijn - Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs (2006-2007)
• Graeme Le Saux - English football player

Marketing[link]

Name usage and spelling[link]

The bank refers to itself as ABN AMRO in all capitals, based on an acronym of the two originating banks names Algemene Bank Nederland and the Amsterdam and Rotterdam Bank, in the second case the first two letters of each town make up the AMRO. The letters in 'ABN' are pronounced separately and 'AMRO' is pronounced as a word. For this reason some media spell the name as 'ABN Amro'. In written text both versions are used, although the bank itself uses only the uppercase version. In verbal conversations the bank is sometimes referred to as just ABN bank.

Logo and style[link]

The green and yellow shield logo was designed by the design house Landor Associates for ABN AMRO in 1991 and has been used as a brand for the bank and all its subsidiaries.

Sponsorships[link]

ABN AMRO was the main sponsor of Ajax Amsterdam football club between from 1991 to 2008. The sponsor logo was (at the time) the only one in the world to be printed vertically down the right hand side of the front of the shirt.

See also[link]

	Netherlands portal
	Companies portal

• History of banking
• Primary dealers
• European Financial Services Roundtable

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: ABN AMRO

• ABN AMRO website
• ABN Video and Audio on MarketWatch

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Roger Federer Federer at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships Country  Switzerland Residence Bottmingen, Switzerland Born (1981-08-08) 8 August 1981 (age 30) Binningen, Switzerland Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) Turned pro 1998[1] Plays Right-handed (one-handed backhand) Career prize money $ 70,658,944 Singles Career record 841–190 (81.57% in ATP (World) Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup) Career titles 74 (ATP World Tour and Grand Slam) (4th in the Open Era) Highest ranking No. 1 (2 February 2004) Current ranking No. 3 (28 May 2012) Grand Slam Singles results Australian Open W (2004, 2006, 2007, 2010) French Open W (2009) Wimbledon W (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009) US Open W (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) Other tournaments Tour Finals W (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011) Olympic Games 4th place (losing bronze-finalist) (2000) Doubles Career record 119–78 (60% in ATP World Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup) Career titles 8 (ATP World Tour and Grand Slam) Highest ranking No. 24 (9 June 2003) Current ranking No. 1263 (19 March 2012) Grand Slam Doubles results Australian Open 3R (2003) French Open 1R (2000) Wimbledon QF (2000) US Open 3R (2002) Other Doubles tournaments Olympic Games Gold Medal (2008) Last updated on: 26 March 2012. Olympic medal record Competitor for  Switzerland Men's Tennis Gold 2008 Beijing Doubles

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]}

Personal life[link]

Childhood and early life[link]

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]

Marriage and family[link]

Federer's family watching him in Indian Wells, 2012.

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]

Outreach and charitable efforts[link]

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]

Tennis career[link]

Pre-1998: Junior years[link]

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.

1998–2002: Early career in the ATP[link]

Federer at the 2002 US Open

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]

2003–2007: Breakthrough and dominance[link]

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]

Federer during the 2005 Wimbledon Championships, where he won his third consecutive title

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]

2008 to present[link]

Federer at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where he won a gold medal in doubles

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]

External images
	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.

Rivalries[link]

Federer vs. Nadal[link]

Nadal and Federer during the 2006 Wimbledon Championships final

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.

Federer vs. Djokovic[link]

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 vs. Murray[link]

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 vs. Hewitt[link]

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.

Federer vs. Roddick[link]

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.

Federer vs. Nalbandian[link]

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.

Playing style[link]

Federer at the 2007 Davidoff Swiss Indoors.

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]

Equipment, apparel, endorsements[link]

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]

Career statistics[link]

Grand Slam tournament performance timeline[link]

Information in these tables is updated only once the player's participation in the tournament has concluded.