Roger Federer has announced he will retire from tennis after the Laver Cup in London next week. Below is a timeline of the 20-time Grand Slam champion’s rise to the top of the game:
2001: Bursts onto the scene by ending American Pete Sampras’ 31-match winning streak at Wimbledon in the fourth round before losing to Tim Henman in the quarter-finals.
2002: Became first Swiss to finish in the top 10 and play in a season-ending ATP Finals since Jakob Hlacek was No. 8 in 1988.
2003: Made his Grand Slam breakthrough the following year at Wimbledon, defeating Mark Philippoussis in the final for the first of eight grass-court titles.
2004: The Swiss showed off his muscle by winning three majors — the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, making him the first man to do so in a season since Mats Wilander in 1988.
He also became the first player in the Open Era to win his first four Grand Slam finals.
2005: Defended Wimbledon and US Open titles after failing to reach the finals of the year’s first two majors.
2006: Reached all four Grand Slam finals, winning Australia, Wimbledon and USA among 12 titles and a 92-5 win-loss record. For the third year in a row, he is ranked number one in the ATP rankings.
2007: Became the first player in history to reach all four Grand Slam finals in multiple years, winning at Melbourne Park, Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.
2008: Extends his streak of winning at least one Grand Slam to six straight years by capturing the US Open crown in a season plagued by illness and injury.
Won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with Stan Wawrinka at the Beijing Games.
2009: Won his only French Open crown after arch-rival Rafa Nadal’s 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros ended in the fourth round. Won his 15th major at Wimbledon, surpassing Sampras’ record.
2010 began with a fourth win at the Australian Open before stepping onto the big stage.
2012: Won a record 17th major at Wimbledon and won the men’s singles silver medal at the 2012 London Games, losing to Andy Murray.
2013: Struggled with a back injury and did not complete a Grand Slam until 2017.
2017: Returned from a six-month injury layoff to win the Australian Open and, at 35, became the oldest player to win a Grand Slam since Australia’s Ken Rosewall won at Melbourne Park in 1972 at the age of 37.
Became the first man to win Wimbledon eight times, defeating Marin Cilic in the final.
2018: Won her sixth Australian Open and became only the fourth player after Margaret Court, Serena Williams and Steffi Graf to win 20 or more major singles titles.
The win helped him tie Rod Laver’s record of winning four majors after turning 30.
2022: After several knee surgeries in recent years, Federer announces his retirement from tennis.
