Roger Federer

Roger Federer is the Swiss tennis player whose record 15 Grand Slam singles titles have made him the dominant men's player of his time and one of the greatest of all time. Federer turned pro in 1998 after a stellar career in junior competition. He made a name for himself in 2001 by beating defending champion Pete Sampras in a match at Wimbledon before being knocked out himself in the quarterfinals. Federer won the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 2003, and in 2004 he again won Wimbledon and added the Australian and U.S. Opens, with only a third-round loss in the French Open keeping him from the Grand Slam. Federer won his third consecutive Wimbledon in 2005, defeating Andy Roddick in the finals for the second year in a row. He then defeated Andre Agassi for his second straight U.S. Open title. In 2006 he lost to Rafael Nadal in the finals of the French Open, beat Nadal in the finals at Wimbledon and defeated Roddick to win the U.S. Open. His 2007 victories at the Australian Open, Wimbledon (again beating Nadal) and the U.S. Open, plus a 2008 win at the U.S. Open, gave him a total of 13 Grand Slam men's singles titles, one short of Sampras's career record of 14. He tied Sampras with a win at the French Open in 2009; his win also meant he had won each of the major titles at least once. Federer then passed Sampras with 15 major titles when he beat Roddick in the Wimbledon finals on 5 July 2009.

Extra credit: Rafael Nadal broke Federer's five-year streak at Wimbledon in 2008, beating him in a five-set thriller for the men's singles championship. Nadal withdrew from Wimbledon 2009 for health reasons... Federer's father is Swiss, but his mother is from South Africa... Federer had no coach during 2004, the year he was first ranked as the world's best tennis player... Federer married his longtime girlfriend, Mirka Vavrinec, on 11 April 2009; they have twin girls, Charlene Riva and Myla Rose, born 23 July 2009.