Five best Roger Federer matches

Roger Federer made tennis headlines on Thursday when he announced his intentions to retire following the Laver Cup in London, England later this month. The native of Basel, Switzerland is 41 years old now, and had one of the greatest professional tennis careers ever. He is third all-time in men’s majors won (20), first all-time in most consecutive weeks number one in the world (237), first all-time in Wimbledon titles (eight), second all-time in ATP titles (103), and third all-time in aces (11478). Let’s take a look at five of Federer’s most memorable matches.

5) 2008 Olympic Men’s Doubles Gold Medal Match

In the gold medal match of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland beat Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson of Sweden 6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. For Federer, the gold medal was extremely special. He once told tennis.com, “I’m thrilled. It’s a big moment. It’s a dream come true moment. It comes around maybe once in a lifetime.” Federer and Wawrinka are part of the great success Switzerland has had over the years in Olympic tennis. At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Marc Rosset won gold in men’s singles. At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021, Belinda Bencic won gold in women’s singles.

4) 2018 Australian Open Final

Federer beat Marin Cilic of Croatia to win his 20th and final grand slam title of his career. It took five sets before Federer won 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. This was the second time Federer beat Cilic in a grand slam final. The first time was the 2017 Wimbledon final, where Federer won 6-3, 6-1, 6-4.

3) 2007 Wimbledon Final

One of the greatest rivalries in tennis history, Federer played Spain’s Rafael Nadal 40 times, with Nadal winning 24 occasions, including Nadal having the 14-10 advantage in grand slam matches. Federer beat Nadal in the final of Wimbledon (2006, 2007), and the final of the Australian Open (2017). In the 2007 Wimbledon Final, Federer won 7-6, 4-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-2. Federer won the first set tie-breaker 9-7 and the third set tiebreaker 7-3.

2) 2009 French Open Final

Federer won the career grand slam at the 2009 French Open when he beat Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-1, 7-6, 6-4. It was the only time Federer ever won the French Open and one of 11 ATP titles he had on clay.

1) 2009 Wimbledon Final

Federer beat American Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 3-6, 16-14 in the 2009 Wimbledon final for his 15th grand slam title. At the time 15 was the most ever as Federer passed American Pete Sampras. The match took four hours and 17 minutes, and a major final record 77 games played.