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Roger Federer

Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who, in 2004, became the world's top tennis player.

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  • Oui, c'est moi [Yes, it's me].
    • To the audience just after losing to Rafael Nadal in their 3rd successive French Open final (2008).
  • He's like a cat with seven lives...Nine lives? How many do they have? [Questioner: Nine.]. Yeah, I thought so. Seven would have been easy.
    • On Lleyton Hewitt after his semfinal win at Cincinnati Masters, 2007.
  • Previously I always thought it was just tactical and technique, but every match has become almost mental and physical—I try to push myself to move well. I try to push myself not to get upset and stay positive, and that's what my biggest improvement is over all those years. Under pressure I can see things very clear.
  • All four of those are on grass, whereas I have to play some on a hard court!
  • It's just unreal, I'm shocked myself. I've played good matches here, but never really almost destroyed somebody.
  • It's a match for him to forget and for me to remember.
  • It's great...being there till the end, seeing an empty locker room and a full stadium.
  • Because people sometimes miss it, and sometimes they don't have it, they want it. And when they have it, they don't want it.
  • I would so like to be Lenny Kravitz.
  • Oh, I wish my cow was here to see this. (after a great point against André Agassi,(Rally For Relief, 2005) referring to the cow he was given after winning Wimbledon 2003.
  • It's nice to be important, but it's most important to be nice. (when he was asked about his popularity after winning Wimbledon 2007)

About Roger Federer


  • It’s a combination of how many grand slams have you won, how many tournaments have you won, how many years you were number one and he’s got all those combinations. The body of work is phenomenal and now he has got that French Open and I think he can just go on and sip Margaritas for the rest of his life.

  • What he’s done over the past five years has never, ever been done—and probably will never, ever happen again. Regardless if he won there or not, he goes down as the greatest ever. This just confirms it. Now that he has won in Paris, I think it just more solidifies his place in history as the greatest player that played the game, in my opinion. I’m a huge Laver fan, and he had a few years in there where he didn’t have an opportunity to win majors. But you can’t compare the eras. And in this era, the competition is much more fierce than Rod’s.

  • His win today at the French Open, tying Pete Sampras’s record for major titles and the completion of a career grand slam firmly places him in a special place as the greatest player of all time. He has earned his place and he has proven he belongs. Roger is a champion for the ages.


  • Roger Federer will undoubtedly become the greatest tennis player to have graced the sport if he wins the French Open. It ends the discussion of where he fits in the history of the game. If it wasn't for (four-times champion Rafael) Nadal, he probably would have won a handful of these things. So nobody would underestimate where he deserves to fit in this game. He's extraordinarily talented and talk about grace on court, watching him play is something special to see and if he does it tomorrow, he'll know what an accomplishment it was.

  • He’s the most complete tennis player in the history of tennis, that’s for sure. With all due respects to (Andre) Agassi and (Pete) Sampras and the rest of the gang. But I never felt so uncomfortable against any of the players before.
    • Marat Safin, after losing 2009 Australian Open 3rd Round to Federer

  • I had a great tournament but I came up against, in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game today.
    • Andy Murray, after losing 2008 US Open Final to Federer

  • You guys are brutal. Absolutely brutal. The guy has only made two Grand Slam finals this year. I would love his bad year. I would love it.

  • For me, in my prime, I felt unbeatable. In Roger's days, he's unbeatable. It's really hard to put one guy over the other. Having said that, I think Roger is dominating the game much more than I ever did. I think he's going to go on and pass 14 and win 16, 17, 18 majors. I think he's going to break all records.

  • I had a taste of what the best is tonight and I think Roger has that extra gear. He has good volleys and he has this little backhand flick that honestly, I have never seen before... it’s something that I didn’t have. I am happy with my performance tonight. I hung in there right until the end.


  • I played unbelievable, and if it was not Roger Federer on the other side of the net I would have won, 400 per cent.
    • Tomas Berdych, No. 10 in the world, Davis Cup tie, Sept. 23, 2007

  • He's an artist on this surface. He can stay back. He can come in. No weaknesses. Federer could win Wimbledon six, seven, eight times. He can play on any kind of surface, he is so complete. And if he continues the way he has been doing and stays away from injuries and still has the motivation, he will be the greatest player ever. I think the motivation is the key thing and he has the motivation to continue to play for another three or five years.
    • Bjorn Borg, winner of 11 Grand Slams, at Wimbledon 2007.

  • He's the most gifted player that I've ever seen in my life. I've seen a lot of people play. I've seen the (Rod) Lavers, I played against some of the great players—the Samprases, Beckers, Connors', Borgs, you name it. This guy could be the greatest of all time. That, to me, says it all.

  • He's probably the greatest player that ever lived.
    • John McEnroe, BBC Wimbledon 2006 live broadcast.

  • He can beat half the guys with his eyes closed!
    • John McEnroe, BBC Wimbledon 2006 live broadcast.

  • If you want to be a tennis player, then mould yourself on Roger Federer. I won three Wimbledon titles and I wish I could play like him.
    • John McEnroe.


  • Yes, I really hit with him when he was 15, during a tournament in Basel, and I knew then he would be good, but not this good. If he stays healthy, it will actually be a miracle if he doesn't win more Grand Slams than Pete [Sampras]. The way he picks his shots is unbelievable. He is fast, he has a great volley, a great serve, great backhand, great everything. If I was his coach, what can I tell him? He is a magician with a racket. Even when he is playing badly, which is rarely, he can still do things with his racket nobody else can do.

  • Well, I think when I look at Roger, I mean, I'm a fan. I mean, I'm a fan of how he plays, what he's about, just the fact that I think he's a class—I don't know him personally, but seems like he's a class guy on and off the court. He's fun to watch. Just his athletic ability, what he's able to do on the run. I think he can and will break every tennis record out there.





  • The best way to beat him would be to hit him over the head with a racquet. Roger could win the Grand Slam if he keeps playing the way he is and, if he does that, it will equate to the two Grand Slams that I won because standards are much higher these days.

  • He's the best I've ever played against. There's nowhere to go. There's nothing to do except hit fairways, hit greens and make putts. Every shot has that sort of urgency on it. I've played a lot of them (other players), so many years, there's a safety zone, there's a place to get to, there's something to focus on, there's a way. Anything you try to do, he potentially has an answer for and it's just a function of when he starts pulling the triggers necessary to get you to change to that decision.

  • He hits that short chip, moves you forward, moves you back. He uses your pace against you. If you take pace off, so that he can't use your pace, he can step around and hurt you with the forehand. Just the amount of options he has to get around any particular stage of the match where maybe something's out of sync is—seems to be endless. His success out there is just a mere reflection of all the things that he can do.

  • There's probably not a department in his game that couldn't be considered the best in that department. You watch him play Hewitt and everybody marvels at Hewitt's speed, as well as myself. And you start to realize, `Is it possible Federer even moves better?' Then you watch him play Andy [Roddick], and you go, `Andy has a big forehand. Is it possible Federer's forehand is the best in the game?' You watch him at the net, you watch him serve-volley somebody that doesn't return so well and you put him up there with the best in every department. You see him play from the ground against those that play from the ground for a living, and argue he does it better than anybody.

  • He's a real person. He's not an enigma. Off the court he's not trying to be somebody. If you met him at McDonald's and you didn't know who he was, you would have no idea that he's one of the best athletes in the world.

  • I think there's—he's the main guy and then there's probably four or five of us that are—I don't know. Maybe we need to do just a tag team effort or something, join forces, you know, like Power Rangers or something.

  • He's probably the most talented person to ever carry a racquet around—the shots that he can come up with, the way he's kind of become a totally complete player. But I think off the court, it's huge. There have been a lot of good champions, but he's just classy. He is never high and mighty in the locker room or anything like that.
    • Andy Roddick.

  • Roger is at the top, and he's the only person at the top, regardless of how much people want to make rivalry comparisons and this, that and the other. He's the best player in the game. There's no question in my mind.
    • Andy Roddick, after losing to Federer in the Final of 2006 US Open.


  • He hasn't changed a bit. He hasn't been arrogant in the locker room. He never is. That's great to see someone that does it with class. He doesn't intentionally get in anyone's face. He doesn't put people down.

  • He is on his way to becoming possibly the greatest of all time. But he's still human.


  • We have a guy from Switzerland who is just playing the game a way I haven't seen anyone—and I mean anyone—play before. How fortunate we are to be able to see that. If he stays healthy and motivated—and the wonderful feel he has stays with him—he is the kind of guy who can overtake the greatest.
    • Boris Becker, winner of 6 Grand Slams.



  • Roger Federer is the only guy I watch for his strokes. He is just beautiful. He can hit every single shot you could ever think of. John [McEnroe] and Ilie [Nastase] were very talented but you always knew there were some shots they couldn't hit. Not with Federer. I would go and watch him practice, he's so good.
    • Ivan Lendl, winner of 8 Grand Slams.


  • I thought Ellsworth Vines and Don Budge were pretty good. And Gonzalez and Hoad could play a bit, too, but I have never seen anyone play the game better than Federer. He serves well and has a great half-volley. I've never known anyone who can do as many things on a court as he can.

  • I've never enjoyed watching someone playing tennis as much as Federer. I'm just in awe. Pete Sampras was wonderful but he relied so much on his serve, whereas Roger has it all, he's just so graceful, elegant and fluid—a symphony in tennis whites. Roger can produce tennis shots that should be declared illegal.
    • Tracy Austin.

  • He's the best player I've ever played against, full stop ... and he was just too good today.
    • Tim Henman, after losing in the 2nd round of Wimbledon 2006 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.




  • Maybe I could win more championships and prize money if Federer was not in the same age with me, but you have to know that there is something money can not buy—that's playing against Federer.

  • He is the best man in the game, on and off the court, and he has a great personality. I enjoy so much having opportunities to compete against him.

  • I am so proud to have him around. It is very pity that I am not able to play with Pete Sampras, but it's OK, I can see Federer on the tour. I could tell my grandson someday that I have competed against the greatest player on the planet.

  • Today I was playing my best tennis, trying lots of different things, but nothing worked. When you're playing like that and he still comes up with all those great shots you really have to wonder if he's even from the same planet.



  • He's Roger. What can you say?
    • Mario Ancic after their quarter final at Wimbledon 2006.

  • Just about everything he does is pretty impressive. So, yeah, 50 titles at any age is impressive. 50 titles at 26 is incredible. 50 titles with 11 of them being Grand Slams, and I think now 14 being Masters Series, that's just phenomenal.

  • He's not just number one, he's the best in history. He has 12 Grand Slams and I'm sure he'll get the record (14). He can do it all. He serves very well, he has a very good forehand and backhand. He has no weak points.
    • David Ferrer after his loss in Shanghai 2007
 
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