8 Reasons Federer Is The Greatest Tennis Player of All Time

Incredible Records, Facts and Stats About Roger Federer

Roger Federer, file photo. (Credit: Wiki Commons/James Marvin)

He’s polite, handsome, intelligent — and quite possibly the best men’s singles tennis player of all time. A veritable dinosaur on the court at 30 years old, Roger Federer has compiled a stunning resume of accomplishments. And as he proved last Sunday on the great lawns of Wimbledon, he’s not done yet.

This month Federer set a record when he played  in his eighth Wimbledon final. Take a look at eight other amazing accomplishments Federer has achieved so far in his career.

1. Grand Slam titles — 17

Federer has won 17 Majors in nine years — from his first championship win at Wimbledon in 2003 against Mark Philippoussis to his most recent victory at Wimbledon against Andy Murray.

Although he has won five more Grand Slam titles than any other men’s singles player (Roy Emerson won 12); five women’s singles players have racked up more than 17 Majors titles — Margaret Court won 24 between 1960 and 1975, and Steffi Graf won 22 between 1987 and 1999.

2. Grand Slam finals — 24

Federer shattered the previous record for a men’s singles player reaching the Grand Slam finals in his career — Ivan Lendl now runs a distant second with 19 Grand Slam finals.

3. Consecutive weeks at #1 — 237

Federer blew past Jimmy Connors’ record of 160 consecutive weeks ranked as the number one men’s singles player in the world — by more than 77 weeks (from February 2, 2004 to August 17, 2008). His consecutive run at the top spot also surpasses the women’s record of 186 weeks, held by Steffi Graf.

4. Consecutive quadfecta of Grand Slam finals

Federer is the only men’s singles player to reach the finals of all four Majors two years in a row — which he did in 2006 and 2007.

5. Consecutive U.S. Open titles — 5

In tennis’ Open Era (1968 forward), Federer’s five wins from 2004 to 2008 set the record for men’s singles consecutive titles on the courts in Flushing Meadows, NY.

6. Consecutive Wimbledon finals — 7

Federer is the only male player in history to make it to the final round on the green grass in England seven times in a row — he reached the last match on the grass Centre Court each year from 2003 to 2009.

7. Consecutive Grand Slam finals — 10

The 2007 U.S. Open saw Federer play in his tenth Grand Slam final in a row (the streak began in 2005 at Wimbledon) — blasting a pre-Open Era record of seven consecutive Majors finals set more than 70 years previously by Jack Crawford in 1934.

8. Consecutive titles at two different Grand Slams — 5

In 2008, when Federer won his fifth consecutive U.S. Open, he also became the first male player in tennis history to win the title at two different Grand Slams five years in a row — having won Wimbledon from 2003 to 2007, crushing Bjorn Borg’s previous record of four consecutive titles at two Grand Slams (the French Open from 1978 to 1981, and Wimbledon from 1976 to 1980).

Fed also surpassed Borg’s record of winning the same two Grand Slams in consecutive years when he won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open from 2004-2007. Borg’s record was still an impressive three-year streak winning both the French Open and Wimbledon (from 1978-1980).