Although Roger Federer’s achievements in winning twenty Grand Slams and numerous other tournaments is well-known, there are numerous other records that the Swiss great has set in his playing career with which people may be less familiar.
Here are some of them.
Most aces in a Wimbledon final
In the 2009 final against the American Andy Roddick, Federer served 50 aces, as he triumphed 16 – 14 in the fifth set. That is an individual record, whilst with Roddick serving 27 of his own, the aggregate for the two players was the highest seen in a Wimbledon title.
Most losses in tournament finals
One record that he must be less proud of is that he holds the record for the most losses in the final of tournaments in the Open Era. The previous holder of the record was Ivan Lendl, but Federer went past his mark when he lost to Dominic Thiem in the final of Indian Wells in 2019. That sequence has since been extended to 54 losses, with his defeat to Djokovic in the Wimbledon final of that same year.
Match wins at Grand Slams
Despite his recent injury problems, Federer still holds the record for the number of match wins. He has 369 compared to 334 for Djokovic and 310 for Nadal. To put that into comparison, among retired players, Jimmy Connors finished top of the pile with 233 victories to his name.
Other Grand Slam records
Federer also holds a slew of other Grand Slam records.
They include Grand Slam appearances (91) although he shares that with Feliciano López of Spain, most semi-finals (46) and most quarter-finals (58). He also leads the way when it comes to the most consecutive finals, semi-finals, and quarter-finals in Grand Slam history.
He won 105 points in a row against Isner
Playing the American John Isner at the US Open in 2007 he won 105 points in a row without making an unforced error, an almost unheard of level of consistency. Needless to say he went on to win the title that year.
A Multiple Multi-Tournament Winner
There are some tournaments, apart from Grand Slams, where Federer has just become a serial winner over the years. In fact, he has won five or more titles in seven different tournaments.
In particular, both the Halle Open and the Swiss Indoors Championship have both seen him lift the trophy ten times each, whilst he has triumphed at the Dubai Championships on eight occasions.
He loves playing on grass
Nobody has won more grass court titles in the open era on grass, and he currently has won 19 tournaments on the surface. He once won 56 consecutive matches on grass until he lost to Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final. No wonder many consider him the greatest grass court player of all time.
He is very good on hard courts as well
The Swiss master has won 71 hard court titles, more than any other player in history and all also holds the record for the longest winning streak on hard courts – 56 matches without defeat.
Unbeaten on blue clay
In 2012 the organisers of the Madrid Masters decided to experiment and change the playing surface of the tournament from red to blue clay. It was not a success. The new surface proved more slippery, and the bounce of the ball was highly uneven, much to the annoyance of the players. The ATP decided that it would not be tried again but, as Federer won the tournament, he can claim to be the only man unbeaten on blue clay.
The Laureas Awards
Since they were first bestowed in 1999, no sports figure, male or female, has won more Laureas World Sports Awards then Federer. The awards, given annually, honour individuals and teams from the world of sports, and Federer has won Sportsman of the Year four times and Comeback of the Year once.
In fact, tennis players tend to dominate the awards. Among his great rivals, Novak Djokovic is a four-time winner whilst Rafael Nadal has collected it twice. And the most successful female athlete has been Serena Williams, who is also a four-time winner.
He has never retired injured during a match
Although Federer has not played very much in the past two years following knee surgeries, he has never actually retired injured in the course of a match. That makes him the only player on tour who can claim such a record.
He has had to retire from tournaments before, most notably before the 2014 ATP tour finals in London, when he had to pull out of the final against Djokovic with a knock. The Serb was subsequently declared the winner.
