Twenty-four years and 103 titles – a closer look at Roger Federer’s career

Roger Federer will play his final professional tennis match alongside his great rival Rafael Nadal on Friday night.

Federer and Nadal – with 42 grand slam titles between them – are representing Team Europe in doubles at the Laver Cup, and will face Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe of Team World in what is likely to be an emotional occasion at London’s O2 Arena.

Here, the PA news agency picks out some defining statistics behind Federer’s extraordinary singles career.

Overcoming inconsistency

This consistency stemmed from his calmness on court, but the 20-time major champion once had a reputation for losing his temper and throwing his racket during matches, which led to some early ups and downs that persisted for far longer than any of his modern-day rivals.

Federer was hailed as the next tennis superstar after defeating Pete Sampras in the fourth round of Wimbledon 2001 – when the American was going for his fifth consecutive title – but he went on to lose in the quarter-finals to Tim Henman before crashing out in the first round the following year against the unseeded Mario Ancic.

By the time he reached his first major final in 2003, he had played 309 tour-level singles matches across five years.

Sampras had only 110 matches to his name before his first major final at the 1990 US Open, while Nadal had played just 127 before he won his first French Open in 2005.

Britain’s Andy Murray waited a long time before lifting a grand slam title at the US Open in 2012, but he had already established himself by reaching four finals beforehand, the first of which came immediately after his 200th match in 2008.

Conquering America

Federer would go on to dominate the sport after reaching – and winning – his first grand slam final in 2003.

The Swiss great won 15 of 25 majors between his Wimbledon successes in 2003 and 2009, breaking Sampras’ record for all-time grand slam wins in the space of just six years.

Federer has played 30 Americans in his singles career and holds a winning record over all of them.

In total, he has won 105 of 118 singles matches against US players, with his win rate of 89 per cent higher than any nationality that he has faced more than 50 times.

Thanks in part to Federer’s success, American men are currently on a 75-major drought that stretches back to Roddick’s US Open win in 2003.

The ‘Big Three’

Despite enjoying a period of individual dominance, Federer will be remembered as one of three all-time greats that defined a remarkable era.

Between them, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic have won 63 of 77 majors since Wimbledon 2003.

The Swiss was largely peerless in collecting his first 12 grand slam titles within four-and-a-half years, but defeat to Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final signalled a new phase in his career.

This is borne out by his performances in the latter stages of events.

Federer converted 49 of his 65 semi-finals into tournament wins between 2003 and 2007 – a success rate of 75 per cent.

Between 2008 and 2015, Federer reached 92 semi-finals but only went on to lift 35 trophies, with his success rate having halved to 38 per cent.

Federer’s career appeared to be drawing to a close in 2016, when defeat to Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon semi-final preceded a six-month absence from the tour.

However, rumours of his demise proved to be premature as the Swiss made a glorious comeback in 2017.

Under the guidance of coach Ivan Ljubicic, the 35-year-old Federer won four matches against top-10 opponents – including three five-setters – to lift his 18th major trophy at the Australian Open.

The tactic paid dividends against Nadal, who he defeated in the final from a break down in the fifth set.

It was Federer’s first win in a major over his arch rival since Wimbledon 2007, and it triggered a run of five wins in his final six matches against Nadal.

Before working with Ljubicic, Federer had lost 23 of their 34 meetings.

Shortly after defending his Australian Open title in 2018, Federer returned to the top of the rankings at the age of 36 and became the oldest men’s number one in history.

He would make one further major final at Wimbledon, losing in heartbreaking fashion to Djokovic in 2019, before injuries plagued his final two years on tour.

Fans’ favourite

The Swiss appeared to enjoy the support of the crowd in many of his 1,526 singles matches, no matter where he was playing or who he was up against.

The ATP Fans’ Favourite award has been handed out at the end of each year since 2000, with Federer winning the vote for the past 19 years in a row.