Nadal, Federer feud grabs spotlight

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Rafael Nadal has a new injury -- a tendon problem in his right knee that nearly forced him to forfeit a first-round match at the Australian Open on Monday that he won handily.


Roger Federer, defending champion Kim Clijsters and top-seeded Caroline Wozniacki also were bothered by injuries entering the year's first Grand Slam event, but all advanced and appeared to be over their ailments.


That wasn't the case with Nadal. Hampered by a left shoulder injury late last year, the Spaniard's right knee was heavily taped during his 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 win over Alex Kuznetsov.


"I was sitting on a chair in the hotel, I felt like a crack on the knee ... really strange," Nadal said.


He wasn't completely sure he could play but decided to do so after an MRI exam showed no major damage.


Top seed Novak Djokovic, winner of 10 titles in 11 finals last season, spent just more than 90 minutes in blitzing Italian Paolo Lorenzi, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0, as the defending champion soared into the second round.


Federer's take - at least his public take - has been that he schedules himself well and has no major issue with the length of the season. All is well, Federer says.


Nadal's remarks implied that Federer's breaking of ranks allows him to come out smelling like a rose, while those who publicly bemoan it, like himself, end up looking like whiners.


Nadal didn't deny it Monday. But he added he'd no longer be discussing in public what he should be discussing with Federer in private. "Yesterday, you know, I started, and I say I don't want to talk anymore about this. Finally I talked too much - as usual. That's not gonna happen again," he said.


Meanwhile, Federer seemed almost amused the young rival who has always been so deferential - even reverential - towards him is now his own man. "Things are fine between us, you know. I have no hard feelings," Federer said. "Back in the day he used to say: 'Whatever Roger decides, I'm fine with.' Today he's much more grown up. That he has a strong opinion also creates sometimes good arguments about where you want to move the sport forward to. ... We're always constantly trying to get on the same page, or at least talking about it, so we can do the best for the sport. That's at the end of the day both our goals."


The two are on a path to meet in the semifinals, although meaningful matches between them have been quite rare of late.


Since that epic five-set Wimbledon final in 2008, won by Nadal, the two have met only twice in Grand Slams: at last year's French Open in the final after Federer defeated Novak Djokovic in the semis, and in the 2009 Australian Open final.

Kim Clijsters

Birthdate June 8, 1983 (28 years old)
Birthplace Bilzen, Belgium
Residence Bree, Belgium
Height 5'9'' (174 cm)
Weight 150 lbs (68 kg)
Plays Right-handed
Turned Pro 1997 (16 yrs on tour)


Kim could have done well in almost any sport, but at 6, she chose tennis. By 11, she had won the Belgian Junior Championship, and by 14, she had extensive international junior experience. She turned pro in 1997, at age 14, and in 1998 won two ITF singles titles and three ITF doubles titles.


In 1999, Clijsters won her first WTA Tour singles title and made the fourth round at Wimbledon and the third round at the US Open. She won another WTA singles title in 2000, but didn't do quite as well at the Grand Slams, making only the first and second rounds. 2001 was much better, as Kim won three more WTA singles titles and made the final at Roland Garros, the quarterfinals at the US Open and Wimbledon, and the fourth round at the Australian Open. Kim finished 2001 ranked #5 in the world.


Kim's Grand Slam results dipped in 2002, with her highest round a semifinal at the Australian Open, but the rest of her year was her best yet, as she won four WTA singles titles and the year-end Tour Championships. She finished the year ranked #4.


Clijsters had a great 2003; she won nine WTA singles titles and made the finals at Roland Garros and the US Open and the semifinals at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. She also won seven doubles titles, including Roland Garros and Wimbledon. She held the #1 ranking for 12 weeks in the late summer and finished the year ranked #2. If Kim had any disappointment in 2003, it was her inconsistent play in her two Grand Slam finals, where her high counts of unforced errors were almost certainly due to nerves.

Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer Advance third round after straight set victory

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Rafael Nadal advanced to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday without much trouble from his opponent or his injured right knee. Rival Roger Federer got through without picking up a racket.


Nadal beat German veteran Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in a 2 1/2-hour match, declaring that the twisted tendon in the heavily taped knee was not a concern.


Just before Federer was due on Hisense Arena, the Swiss player found out that his scheduled opponent, Germany's Andreas Beck, had a back injury and had to withdraw.


"Now, I'll just take it easy this afternoon and come out tomorrow and hit intensely, and then I'll be ready for the next match," said Federer, a four-time Australian Open winner.


Nadal, asked after his match if he would have appreciated the same kind of good fortune, was pragmatic.


"Before the day started, yes," he said, smiling. "Now that I've played and won, I'm happy. It was a positive match, but not that demanding. We didn't play four hours, five hours. Three sets, so it wasn't that tough."


Nadal and Federer could meet in the semifinals next week. Top-seeded Novak Djokovic and fourth-seeded Andy Murray, the threats from the other side of the draw, play their second-rounders Thursday.


Two of the women's title contenders, defending champion Kim Clijsters and No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki, both won their second-round matches Wednesday on their way to a potential quarterfinal meeting.


French Open champion Li Na also advanced, defeating Olivia Rogowska of Australia 6-2, 6-2. She could meet Clijsters in the fourth round in a rematch of last year's final at Melbourne Park.


The important point, though, is that Nadal had established a blueprint for this year’s campaign. After the end of last season, when he became so tentative that he was relying on his opponents’ errors for the majority of his points, he has clearly decided to crank up his aggression, just as he did when winning three Grand Slam titles during his barnstorming 2010 season.
“My way has to be the first seven games,” he said afterwards. “I don’t know if it was the perfect match, but I started out playing fantastic. You cannot expect to win easy against nobody, and especially against Tommy Haas [because] he's a fantastic player.”
Perhaps it was fortunate for the Australian Open that Nadal did not get off court in a hurry, because this third day is a little lacking in star quality. The TV companies must have been cursing Andreas Beck, who withdrew with a bad back, because it meant no outing for his illustrious opponent Roger Federer.
In the matches that remained, eighth seed Mardy Fish became the first significant casualty in the men’s draw when he lost in straight sets to Alejandro Falla, the Colombian who is probably best known for taking Federer to a deciding set in the first round of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships.
Speaking afterwards, Fish expressed his exasperation at the repeated appearances of a trainer on court to treat Falla for cramp. “It's my responsibility to put it behind me,” he said, “but I'm a human being. I see that guy's called the trainer three, four times. It's hot, and I'm down two sets to love, and I'm looking for anything to sort of gain the momentum a little bit. I think it had a significant bearing on the third set, for sure.

Roger Federer

Roger Federer,  born 8 August 1981 is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 14 November 2011, he is ranked world no. 4 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). 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.
Federer has appeared in an unprecedented 23 career Grand Slam finals, of which 10 were consecutive appearances, and appeared in 18 of 19 finals over the four and a half years 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 2011 US Open, he reached a record 30th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Federer has won a record five ATP World Tour Finals (shared with Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras) and 18 ATP Masters Series tournaments (second all-time). 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. His rivalry with Rafael Nadal is considered one of the greatest of all time in the sport. In 2011, he was voted the second most trusted and respected human in the world, second only to Nelson Mandela.


Federer was born in Binningen, near Basel, to Swiss national Robert Federer and South African-born Lynette. He holds both Swiss and South African citizenships. He grew up in suburban Münchenstein, near Basel, close to the French and German borders and speaks Swiss German, German, French and English fluently, Swiss German being his native language. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL d'Italia tournament in Rome. 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. 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.


Federer is married to former Women's Tennis Association player Mirka Vavrinec. Mirka and Roger met while both 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. 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). On 23 July 2009, Mirka gave birth to twin girls, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva.


Federer supports a number of charities. He established the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003 to help disadvantaged people and to promote sports. In 2005, he auctioned his racquet from his US Open championship to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF in 2006. 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. 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. He was named a 2010 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in recognition of his leadership, accomplishments, and contributions to society.


n 2007, Federer reached all four Grand Slam singles finals, winning three of them. He won the Australian Open over Fernando González, 7–6, 6–4, 6–4, Wimbledon over Rafael Nadal for the second time, 7–6, 4–6, 7–6, 2–6, 6–2, and the US Open over Novak Djokovic, 7–6, 7–6, 6–4. Federer lost the French Open to Nadal, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6.[50] Federer made five ATP Masters Series 1000 finals in 2007, winning the Hamburg and Madrid titles. Federer won one 500 series event in Dubai and won the year-end championships.




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, 6–2, 7–5, 6–2. Federer was defeated by Nadal in two Grand Slam finals, at the French Open, 1–6, 3–6, 0–6, and at Wimbledon, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–9, 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. Federer lost twice in Master Series 1000 finals on clay to Nadal, at Monte Carlo and Hamburg. 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.


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, 6–1, 7–6, 6–4, and Wimbledon over Andy Roddick, 5–7, 7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 16–14. Federer reached two other Grand Slam finals, losing to Nadal at the Australian Open, 5–7, 6–3, 6–7, 6–3, 2–6, and to Juan Martín del Potro at the US Open, 6–3, 6–7, 6–4, 6–7, 2–6. Federer won two more events, the first at the Madrid Masters over Nadal in the final on clay, 6–4, 6–4. The second was in Cincinnati over Djokovic, 6–1, 7–5, although Federer lost to Djokovic in Basel, 4–6, 6–4, 2–6, later in the year. Federer completed a career Grand Slam by winning his first French Open title and won a men's record fifteenth Grand Slam singles title, which is one more than Pete Sampras's mark of fourteen.
In 2010, Federer continued to reach milestones and achievements. He won the Australian Open. In the final, Federer defeated Andy Murray, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6, whom he had also beaten in the 2008 US Open final. At the French Open, Federer failed to reach a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time since the 2004 French Open, losing to Söderling, 3–6, 6–3, 7–5, 6–4, in the quarterfinals, and losing his no. 1 ranking. Since Söderling eventually lost in the final to Nadal, this tournament also marked the first time since the 2004 French Open that Federer was defeated in a Grand Slam tournament by someone other than the eventual champion. However, at the French Open, Federer won his 700th tour match and 150th tour match on clay. Federer was just one week away from equalling Pete Sampras's record of 286 weeks as world no. 1. This is the first time since 2001 that Federer has entered Wimbledon having won only one title for the year. In a big surprise, Federer lost in the quarterfinal to Tomáš Berdych, 4–6, 6–3, 1–6, 4–6, and fell to world no. 3 in the rankings for the first time in nearly seven years, but he did win his 200th Grand Slam match in the first round. At the 2010 US Open, Federer reached the semifinals, avenging his French Open loss to Söderling in the quarterfinals. Federer lost a five-set match to third seed and 2008 Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic, 7–5, 1–6, 7–5, 2–6, 5–7. Federer made it to four Masters 1000 finals, losing three of them and winning one. At the Madrid Open, he lost to Nadal, 4–6, 6–7. At the Canadian Masters, Federer lost to Murray. At the Cincinnati Masters, Federer won his first title in eight months as he became the first player since Andre Agassi to retain the title, as he beat Mardy Fish in the final. He also equalled Agassi for the number of Masters wins at 17 and tied Bjorn Borg's mark for number of total titles won and moved to just one behind Sampras. His next appearance was in Shanghai, where he lost to Andy Murray for the second time that year in a Masters' Series final. 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. Federer won two straight titles at the Stockholm Open, an ATP 250-level event, and in Basel, an ATP 500-level contest, which brought his tally to 65 career titles, surpassing Pete Sampras' total of 64 titles on the ATP Tour. 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. After hiring Paul Annacone as his coach, Federer entered nine tournaments, won five of them, was runner-up in two, and reached the semifinals of the other two. 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.
At the start of the 2011 season, Federer defeated Nikolay Davydenko, 6–3, 6–4, to win the 2011 Qatar Open without dropping a set, winning his third title at the event following wins in 2005 and 2006. Federer was defeated in straight sets during the semifinals of the 2011 Australian Open by Novak Djokovic, marking the first time since July 2003 that he did not win any four of the Grand Slams he appeared in consecutively. In his next tournament in Dubai, Federer lost the final, 3–6, 3–6, to Djokovic. Federer then entered the first Masters 1000 event of the year, the 2011 BNP Paribas Open, and flew through to the semifinals by defeating Igor Andreev, Juan Ignacio Chela, Ryan Harrison, and Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets. He then fell to Djokovic in three sets, 6–3, 3–6, 6–2, and relinquished the no. 2 ranking to him. Federer also reached the doubles final alongside compatriot Wawrinka, beating rival Rafael Nadal along the way, but they lost to Alexandr Dolgopolov and Xavier Malisse, 4–6, 7–6, 7–10 in the doubles final. Federer then entered the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, defeating Radek Štěpánek, Juan Mónaco, and Olivier Rochus in straight sets.. He then defeated Gilles Simon, when he retired at 3–0 due to a neck injury, setting up a 23rd match-up with arch-rival Rafael Nadal. Nadal dominated the match and beat Federer, 3–6, 2–6, bringing their hard-court head-to-head even at 4–4. Federer then moved on to the 2011 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters and played an impressive match against Philipp Kohlschreiber, defeating him, 6–2, 6–1, in the second round. Federer then moved on to the third round of the tournament and defeated world no. 22 Marin Čilić in similar fashion, 6–4, 6–3. Federer was defeated by world no. 9 Jürgen Melzer in the quarterfinals in a surprising straight-sets loss, 4–6, 4–6, which gave Melzer his first victory against Federer in four meetings. Federer's next appearance was at the Madrid Masters. He struggled through his opening match and barely came out with a win against Feliciano López after three tiebreak games, finishing with a score of 7–6, 6–7, 7–6. He then flew through the next two rounds, defeating Xavier Malisse and Robin Söderling with tallies of 6–4, 6–3, and 7–6, 6–4, respectively. He met Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and fought to advance to the final, winning the first set, but Nadal took control of the rest of the game and defeated Federer, 5–7, 6–1, 6–3. Federer then moved on to compete in the Rome Masters, where he opened with a victory over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6–4, 6–2. He faced Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the third round, but lost a very close match in the third-set tiebreak, 6–4, 6–7, 6–7. Federer then competed in the 2011 French Open, expressing relief that some pressure was off him and that more had come onto Novak Djokovic, who was still undefeated.[61] He won his first round rematch with Feliciano López in straight sets, 6–3, 6–4, 7–6. He faced French wildcard Maxime Teixeira in the second round and achieved a straight-set victory, 6–3, 6–0, 6–2. He defeated Janko Tipsarević of Serbia, 6–1, 6–4, 6–3, in the third round to reach the round of 16. He then defeated Wawrinka in their third meeting of the year in straight sets, 6–3, 6–2, 7–5, to reach his 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. He defeated Gaël Monfils, the last Frenchman in the draw, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6, to setup a semifinal with Novak Djokovic. In the semifinal, Federer ended Djokovic's undefeated streak of 43 consecutive wins and kept him from gaining the world no. 1 status with a phenomenal win, brushing past him with a score of 7–6, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6. This set up a final with Rafael Nadal, to whom he lost, 5–7, 6–7, 7–5, 1–6. At Wimbledon, Federer survived an early tiebreak against Mikhail Kukushkin and won, 7–6, 6–4, 6–2. He then went on to defeat Adrian Mannarino and David Nalbandian with straight-set wins of 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 and 6–4, 6–2, 6–4. He rolled past Mikhail Youzhny, after dropping a close tiebreak to him, winning the match 6–7, 6–3, 6–3, 6–3. He advanced to his 29th Grand Slam quarterfinal, but lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in a shocking five-set loss, 6–3, 7–6, 4–6, 4–6, 4–6. It marked the first time in his career that he had lost a Grand Slam match after winning the first two sets. After Wimbledon, Federer played the Davis Cup match-up between Switzerland and Portugal. Federer won a singles rubber against Rui Machado and a doubles rubber with Stanislas Wawrinka, helping the Swiss team move on to the World Group Play-offs with a sweep of Portugal, 5–0. After receiving a bye in the first round of the 2011 Rogers Cup, Federer beat Canadian wildcard Vasek Pospisil, 7–5, 6–3, in the second round. In a second meeting with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, he suffered a disheartening 6–7, 6–4, 1–6 loss, his second straight defeat at the hands of the Frenchman. He began his run at the 2011 Western & Southern Open as the two-time defending champion with a 6–3, 7–5 win, by snapping a two-match losing streak to Juan Martín del Potro. He then flew by James Blake in straight sets, 6–4, 6–1, but failed to defeat Tomáš Berdych, who had defeated him in the 2010 Wimbledon quarterfinals, and lost in straight sets, 2–6, 6–7. At the 2011 US Open, Federer began with two straight-set wins over Santiago Giraldo and Dudi Sela, winning with 6–4, 6–3, 6–2 and 6–3, 6–2, 6–2 tallies, respectively. He then faced Marin Čilić in the third round, who had surged in the US Open, but defeated him soundly in four sets, 6–3, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2. He then flew past Juan Mónaco with a 6–1, 6–2, 6–0 score, avoiding the impending rain, and repeated his feat with a quick win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, reversing a two match loss streak against him with a win in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3. The win set up a much-anticipated match with Novak Djokovic, touted as a rematch of the previous year's semifinal match. Federer lost an arguably closer match to Djokovic in five sets, 7–6, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6, 5–7, ironically repeating his previous year's result against Djokovic and adding a second loss from two sets up 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. After the 2011 US Open, Federer competed in the Davis Cup in Australia. Citing nagging injuries, he pulled out of the 2011 Shanghai Masters, which Andy Murray successfully defended, hence Federer without defending his ranking points from the 2010 Shanghai Masters final dropped out of the top 3 for the first time since June 2003.[62] Federer made it to the finals of the 2011 Swiss Indoors Basel for the sixth time in a row, after defeating his friend Stanislas Wawrinka in an all-Swiss semifinal, 7-6(5), 6-2. In the final Federer defeated Kei Nishikori, 6-1, 6-3. This was his sixty-eighth career title, the fifth at this tournament.


Federer and Nadal have been playing each other since 2004, and their rivalry is a significant part of both men's careers.Roger Federer is better than Rafa
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). 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.
Nadal leads their head-to-head 17–8. However, most of their matches have been on clay, which is Nadal's best surface. Federer has a winning record on grass (2–1) and indoor hard courts (3–0) while Nadal leads the outdoor hard courts by 4–1 and clay by 12–2. 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. 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. 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 24 times with Federer leading 14–10, 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 (the other again being Nadal) players currently on tour to have defeated Federer in straight sets at a Grand Slam (2008 Australian Open and 2011 Australian Open).
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 24 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 and have coined the current situation "The Trivalry" between Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. 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 7–6, 6–3, 3–6, 7–6, but Djokovic was able to avenge his loss at the 2011 US Open, and Federer lost with a score of 7–6, 6–4, 3–6, 2–6, 5–7. 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 semi was one of the greatest matches in history. Djokovic ended Federer's 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).
This rivalry is part of the "Trivalry" that consists of Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer. This rivalry is one of the greatest in the Open Era and many experts have included Federer vs Djokovic as one of the best hard-court rivalries in the Open Era.


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. 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 6–0, 7–6, 6–0 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.




These two have met 14 times, all hard courts, with Murray leading 8–6. Federer has won each of their Grand Slam matches (both were in the final) in straight sets at the 2008 US Open and 2010 Australian Open 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. Apart from Nadal, Murray is the only other current top ten player to have a positive head to head record against Federer.


One of Federer's longest rivalries is with Andy Roddick. Having met on many occasions, including four Grand Slam finals (three at Wimbledon and one at the US Open), Federer leads 21–2. Federer's dominance on the tour emerged as Roddick rose to World No. 1 ranking in 2003.
In the 2009 Wimbledon final Roddick took Federer to five sets. It included a fifth-set made up of 30 games (a Grand Slam final record) with the match lasting over 4 hours with the final match score of 5–7, 7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 16–14. With that victory, Federer broke Pete Sampras' record of 14 major titles.


Federer currently plays with a customised Wilson Six.One Tour BLX tennis racquet, which is characterised by its smaller hitting area of 90 square inches, heavy strung weight of 12.5 ounces (350 g), and thin beam of 18 millimeters. His grip size is 4 3/8 inches (sometimes referred to as L3). Federer strings his racquets at 21.5kg mains/20kg 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.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."
Federer is one of the highest-earning athletes in the world. He has a contract with Nike footwear and apparel. 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. In Wimbledon 2008 and again in 2009, Nike continued this trend by making him a personalised cardigan. He also has his own logo, an R and F joined together. Federer endorses Gillette, Jura, a Swiss-based coffee machine company, as well as Mercedes-Benz and NetJets. Federer also endorses Rolex watches, although he was previously an ambassador for Maurice Lacroix. Also in 2009 Federer became brand ambassador for Swiss chocolate makers Lindt. In 2010 his endorsement by Mercedes-Benz China was extended into a global Mercedes-Benz partnership deal.