Roger Federer became the first man to win 15 grand slams by defeating Andy Roddick in the Men’s Final at Wimbledon. The Swiss Master survived another epic final to win his sixth Wimbledon and record his 19th win against Andy Roddick.

Federer admitted after the match that it was “staggering” to win a record 15th grand slam title in just 25 events.

Roger Federer holds numerous singles records. He is one of only six male players to achieve a career Grand Slam. Federer has played an unprecedented 20 career Grand Slam finals, and as of July 2009 Federer has reached the semi-finals of the last 21 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, a record streak spanning over five years; the second player in the list has only 10.As a result of Federer’s successes in tennis, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for four consecutive years (2005–2008).

Federer was born in Binningen, near Basel, to Swiss national Robert Federer and South Africa-born Lynette Du Rand. In addition to tennis, he also played football as a boy and considered becoming a professional footballer before deciding to pursue a tennis career. Federer also appears to be somewhat of a cricket fan.

In April 1999, he debuted for the Swiss Davis Cup team against Italy and finished the year ranked World No. 66.During that time, he was the youngest player in the top 100. He also competed in his first Grand Slam tournament at the French Open.Federer’s first ATP tournament victory came in February, 2001.

Federer supports various charities. He established the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003 to help disadvantaged people and to promote sports. He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF in 2006. Since then, he has visited South Africa and Tamil Nadu, one of the worst tsunami-affected areas in India. He has also appeared in UNICEF public messages to raise public awareness of AIDS.

Federer is married to former Women’s Tennis Association player Miroslava “Mirka” Vavrinec. They met while competing for Switzerland in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Vavrinec retired from the tour in 2002 because of a persistent foot injury and has since been working as Federer’s public relations manager.

career achievements

• Singles championships

• 1. Federer has won 15 Grand Slam titles, breaking the all-time male record of 14 by Pete Sampras.

• 2. Federer won five consecutive men’s titles at Wimbledon from 2003-07, matching a feat achieved only by Bjorn Borg in the open era.In 2009 he won his sixth Wimbledon, one behind Sampras and Renshaw record of 7.

• 3. Federer holds the open era record for most consecutive US Open titles at five (2004-08).The previous open era record for a male player was three consecutive US Open titles by both Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe.Federer, Sampras, and Jimmy Connors have won a male open era record five US Open titles.

• 4. Federer is the only player in tennis history to win at least five consecutive titles at two different Grand Slam tournaments (2003-07 Wimbledon, 2004-08 US Open). He is also the only player in tennis history to win the same two Grand Slam tournaments back to back for four consecutive years (2004-07).

• 5. Federer’s victory at the 2004 US Open marked the first time in the open era that anyone had won his first four Grand Slam finals.He eventually won his first seven Grand Slam finals before losing to Rafael Nadal in the 2006 French Open final.Federer, Richard Sears, and William Renshaw are the only male players in tennis history to win their first seven Grand Slam singles finals.

• 6. At the 2007 Australian Open, Federer became the fourth man in the open era to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set. The last man to do this before Federer was Borg at the 1980 French Open.Since then only Rafael Nadal accomplished this feat at the 2008 French Open. The only other man to win the Australian Open during the open era without dropping a set was Ken Rosewall in 1971.

• 7. At the 2006 Australian Open, Federer became the first man to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles since Sampras in 1993-94.Federer repeated this feat at the 2007 Australian Open, making him the only man to do this twice in the open era.

• 8. By winning the 2007 Australian Open, Federer became the only male tennis player to win three different Grand Slam tournaments at least three times each (3 Australian Opens, 4 Wimbledons, and 3 US Opens).

• 9. Federer is the only male player in tennis history to win at least two Grand Slam titles for four consecutive years (2004-2007). In 2009 he aqain won two consecutive Grand Slams (French Open and Wimbledon).Sampras is the only other man to win two Grand Slams in a calendar year four different times (1993-95, 1997), but unlike Federer not in consecutive years.

• 10. Federer is the only male player in tennis history to win three Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year three different times in his career (2004, 2006, 2007).

• 11. Federer won his first 12 Grand Slam finals outside of the French Open, an all-time record. This streak included three titles at the Australian Open, five at Wimbledon, and four at the US Open. His first loss outside of the French Open came at Wimbledon 2008, just before winning his fifth U.S. Open. His only five losses in Grand Slam singles finals are 3 at the French Open, 1 at Wimbledon and 1 at the Australian Open - all to Nadal. Federer also won his first eight hard court Grand Slam singles finals, an all-time record.

• 12. Only Federer (6 Wimbledons and 5 US Opens), Sampras (7 Wimbledons and 5 US Opens) and Borg (6 French Opens and 5 Wimbledons) have won two different Grand Slam tournaments at least five times. However, only Federer managed to win 5 consecutive grand slam tournaments of two separate events.

• 13. By winning the 2007 Australian Open, Federer won his 6th Grand Slam title in his last 7 attempts, an open era male record. Federer’s 7 Grand Slam titles in 9 attempts, 8 in 10 attempts, 9 in 13 attempts, 10 in 14 attempts, 11 in 16 attempts, 12 in 18 attempts, 13 in 22 attempts, and 15 in 25 attempts are all-time male records.

• 14. Federer is the only male player in tennis history to win 6 Grand Slam titles in two years (2006-07), 8 in three years (2004-06, 2005-07), 11 in four years (2004-07), 12 in five years (2003-07, 2004-08), 13 in six years (2003-08) and 15 in seven years (2003-09). 11 Grand Slam titles in four years is an all-time record, male or female.

• 15. Federer has won at least one Grand Slam title for seven consecutive years (2003-09) trailing only Borg (1974-81) and Sampras (1993-2000) who hold the open era male record of eight consecutive years.

• 16. Federer has defeated eleven different opponents in Grand Slam finals, an all-time male record.

• 17. Federer is the sixth man to win all four Grand Slams after Fred Perry, Don Budge (1938), Rod Laver (1962 & 1969), Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi. Federer is the third man to win all four in the open era after Laver and Agassi, and the second man to win all four on three different surfaces (hard, clay and grass) after Agassi.

• 18. Through 2009 Wimbledon, Federer’s match record in Grand Slam singles tournaments is 182–26, giving him an 87.5 winning percentage. The only other male players in the open era with winning percentages over 80 are Bjorn Borg (89.8), Rafael Nadal (85.7), Pete Sampras (84.2), Jimmy Connors (82.6), Ivan Lendl (81.9), John McEnroe (81.5), Andre Agassi (80.9) and Boris Becker (80.3).

• 19. During the open era, Only Federer (6 Wimbledon), Sampras (7 Wimbledon) and Borg (6 French Open) have won the same Grand Slam 6 times or more.

• 20. In 2009, Federer has won the longest fifth set in Wimbledon Final (16-14).

• 21. During the open era, Federer (2009) is the fourth player to win French Open and Wimbledon in the same calender year after Laver (1969), Borg (1978-80) and Nadal (2008). Borg holds the record for winning French and Wimbledon in the same calender year for three consecutive years (1978-80).