MAIN Sports Sports Stars Roger Federer

Most recently in the news for his history making Wimbeldon win, Roger Federer is on the comeback trail after a downward slide in 2008 that ranked him No. 2 behind his strongest and most consistent rival over the past several years, Rafael Nadal.

Born on August 8th 1981 in Basel, Switzerland, Federer began his tennis career at the age of 8, working his way up to make it to No. 1 in the world in the junior championships by 1998. That same year he turned pro, and by 2001 was ranked No. 1 in his home country.

As fate would have it, a groin injury slowed his progress that year and into next. However, the tennis champ made a triumphant return in 2003 when he won against Mark Philippoussis at Wimbledon, his first Grand Slam title.

Since then, Federer has enjoyed astounding success as the No. 1 seeded player in the world, with more than $6 million in prize winnings, while becoming the first player since Swedish champ Mats Wilander to win three Grand Slam titles in a single season.

At Wimbledon, Federer took another Grand Slam honor when he beat Andy Roddick for the 2005 men's title, and in another much-publicized match with Andre Agassi defeated the 35-year-old veteran player in an epic 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1 battle at the U.S. Open that same year.

In 2006, Federer faced yet another showdown at the 2006 Australian Open against unseeded Marcos Baghdatis in the men's final winning 5-7 7-5 6-0 6-2 for his seventh Grand Slam title.

The Swiss champ's winning streak was abruptly halted by 20-year-old Rafael Nadal, at the 2006 French Open, but battled back against the Spaniard to win his 4th straight title at Wimbledon in July. In September, he defeated American champ Andy Roddick to take the men's title at the U.S. Open men's final, and two months later beat James Blake for the Master's Cup title in Shanghai.

In February 2007, Federer broke the record set by Jimmy Conners with his 161st straight week at the top of the ATP rankings.

He continued to astonish fans with his first clay court defeat of nemesis, Rafael Nadal, on at Hamburg in mid-May. The victory set up a dramatic showdown at the 2007 French Open, resulting in Nadal reclaiming his title as the "king of clay" by winning the 2007 French Open title over Federer 6-3 4-6 6-3 6-4.

In June, Federer won his fifth straight Wimbledon title against Nadal, tying the record for most consecutive Wimbledon wins with tennis great Bjorn Borg.

In August, the world champ played in a closely-fought final at the U.S. Open against 20-year-old Serbian Novak Djokovic (to whom he lost in August in a stunning defeat at the Rogers Masters in Montreal).

However, Federer showed his best moves against the young upstart, winning 7-6 7-6 6-4 over Djokovic to become the first player ever to win four consecutive U.S. Open titles.

He again faced nemesis Rafael Nadal at the 2008 French Open and went down in defeat against the Spaniard. However, the Swiss champ finally won his first French Open title in 2009 after defeating Robin Soderling, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 6-4.

Most recently, Federer's victory at Wimbledon over American champ Andy Roddick put him in the record books with a total of 15 grand slam career wins.

More about Roger Federer around the Web:

Roger.Federer.com - The official site featuring the latest news and schedule, press releases, scores and results, fan club address, guest book. Access to the photo gallery with free registration.

Yahoo! Tennis Profile - Roger Federer - Headline news, photo gallery, career stats.

Roger Federer - Wikipedia - The online encyclopedia with an extensive profile on the tennis champ including a complete biography, video clips, career stats and awards list.

Roger Federer News - Breaking news headlines and feature stories about the athlete from various sources around the Web.

Roger Federer Express - Major fan site with extensive photo galleries, vital stats, interview archive, forum.

also see-> Andre Agassi | Roger Federer | Lleyton Hewitt

Anna Kournikova | Rafael Nadal | Andy Roddick | Marat Safin

Maria Sharapova | Serena Williams | Venus Williams

Australian Open | French Open | Monte Carlo Masters

Wimbledon | U.S. Open