The Roger Federer 20: Swiss legend’s greatest and most important matches ranked after retirement from tennis

Roger Federer is officially retired from tennis.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion called time on a legendary career after playing alongside great rival and friend Rafael Nadal at the Laver Cup, losing to Jack Sock and Frances Tiafoe in his final competitive outing.

20. ATP Finals 2010: A reminder

• Date: November 2010
• Round: Semi-final and final
• Opponents: Novak Djokovic then Rafael Nadal
• Scores: 6-1 6-4 followed by 6-3 3-6 6-1

2010 was a curious year for Roger Federer. It began with a 16th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open, but losses at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon at the quarter-final stage, and in the US Open semi-finals, represented a first challenge to what had been near-complete dominance in the years that had preceded.

Yet, at the ATP Finals in London, Federer produced a timely reminder of his brilliance. He proceeded to the semi-finals – beating Robin Soderling, Andy Murray and David Ferrer without losing a set – before he set about Nadal and Novak Djokovic. He downed Djokovic in the semi-finals before overcoming Nadal in the final.

It drew him level alongside Pete Sampras’ record haul of five ATP Finals titles. He would surpass that a year later.

19. Basel 2019: Title 103

• Date: October 27, 2019
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Alex de Minaur
• Score: 6-2 6-2

18. Wimbledon 2015: Unplayable

• Date: July 10, 2015
• Round: Semi-final
• Opponent: Andy Murray
• Score: 7-5 7-5 6-4

The result meant of the 10 semi-finals he had contested up until that point at SW19, he had won 10 and dropped just one set – against Novak Djokovic in 2012. He would lose to Djokovic in the final in 2015.

17. Wimbledon 2016: Resilience

• Date: July 6, 2016
• Round: Quarter-final
• Opponent: Marin Cilic
• Score: 6-7 4-6 6-3 7-6 6-3

Federer’s gracefulness has often masked the grit, determination and fight that marks any champion. However, against Marin Cilic at Wimbledon in 2016, those characteristics were on full display. The Swiss great was two sets down and staring down the barrel of a quarter-final exit for the first time at Wimbledon since 2011. He fended off three match points in the fourth set tie-break before taking control of the match to seal progression in five. The win was his 307th at a Grand Slam event.

16. Milan 2001: The first

• Date: February 4, 2001
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Julien Boutter
• Score: 6-4 6-7 6-4

The path to greatness started on February 4, 2001. Although 102 titles may have followed, the date Federer won his first ATP title will be forever etched in history. The Swiss great – then aged 19 – beat Rainer Schuettler, Cyril Saulnier, Goran Ivanisevic and Julien Boutter to seal his first ATP crown.

15. Australia 2018: A final Grand Slam

• Date: January 28, 2018
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Marin Cilic
• Score: 6-2 6-7 6-3 3-6 6-1

Federer beat the odds to win in Melbourne in 2017 – as 17th seed he overcame 10th-seeded Tomas Berdych, fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori, fourth-seeded Stan Wawrinka and ninth-seeded Rafael Nadal – but 2018 was a more serene affair, playing just two seeds – Richard Gasquet, seeded 29, and Berdych, seeded 19th – and not dropping a set en route to the final.

14. Davis Cup 2014: A nation rejoices

• Date: November 23, 2014
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Richard Gasquet
• Score: 6-4 6-2 6-2

In the 2014 Davis Cup final, Federer delivered for his country – belatedly.

What’s more, they did it at a raucous Pierre-Mauroy stadium containing 27,000 spectators.

13. Miami 2005: The first ‘Fedal’ final

• Date: April 3, 2005
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Rafael Nadal
• Score: 2-6 6-7 7-6 6-3 6-1

In 2004, an 18-year-old Rafael Nadal had beaten Federer in straight sets in the last 32 at the ATP Masters 1000 Miami in their first meeting.

Their second encounter came at the same tournament a year later but in the final. It looked like Nadal had the Swiss’ number, opening up a two-set lead. However, Federer rallied from 5-3 down in the third set to win a five-set classic. Nadal next lost a match from a two-set advantage in 2015, against Fabio Fognini at the US Open.

12. 2012 Olympics: A mammoth win

• Date: August 3, 2012
• Round: Semi-final
• Opponent: Juan Martin del Potro
• Score: 3-6 7-6(5) 19-17

Federer won it all. Almost. The one accolade missing from his collection: an Olympic singles gold. However, at London 2012, he looked set to put that right at the All England Club after a semi-final for the ages against Juan Martin del Potro – just a month after winning Wimbledon and returning to world No. 1.

Federer lost the first set, took the second on a tie-break and then won the decider 19-17 in a four hour, 36 minute match – a record for a three-set match. Ultimately, he lost the final to home favourite Andy Murray – but his endeavours in the semi-final further burnished his legend.

11. Hamburg 2007: A streak-ending bagel

• Date: May 20, 2007
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Rafael Nadal
• Score: 2-6 6-2 6-0

Nadal has been – at times – untouchable on clay. Having lost to Igor Andreev on April 8, 2005, Nadal went 81 matches undefeated on the surface until May 20, 2007, where he faced Federer in the final of the Hamburg Masters. It was their 11th meeting, seven of which Nadal had won. It was their sixth meeting on clay, with the Spaniard having won their previous five. So when Nadal won the first set, the writing appeared to be on the wall.

However, as the heavy clay in Hamburg began to hamper Nadal, Federer levelled matters before the Swiss star produced a third-set bagel to move to a record of four wins from 11 against his great rival.

10. Masters Cup 2003: The Master emerges

• Date: November 16, 2003
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Andre Agassi
• Score: 6-3 6-0 6-4

Federer broke through from ‘emerging’ star in 2003 to become the dominant force of men’s tennis in 2004. The Swiss had won a first Wimbledon title – his first Grand Slam in July 2003 – but lost in the first round at the French Open and the fourth round at the US Open and Australian Open. At the year-end event – then known as the Masters Cup – he produced a series of memorable wins against Australian Open winner Andre Agassi, French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero and US Open winner Andy Roddick in Houston, Texas in the United States.

Federer finished his round-robin stage with a perfect record of three wins from three, beating Ferrero, Agassi and David Nalbandian before seeing off Roddick in the semi-final and Agassi in straight sets in the final, including a second-set bagel.

9. US Open 2004: The double bagel final

• Date: September 12, 2004
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Lleyton Hewitt
• Score: 6-0 7-6 6-0

If his domination at the 2003 Masters Cup foreshadowed Federer as tennis’ next dominant force, 2004 confirmed it. The Swiss entered the US Open having already won the Australian Open and Wimbledon, beating Marat Safin and Andy Roddick in straight sets respectively. However, his demolition of Lleyton Hewitt in the final of the US Open, where he dished out two bagels, cemented his status as the outstanding, and often untouchable player of the men’s tour. It also marked a run of dominance at Flushing Meadows that would next see him lose in 2009 in the final to Juan Martin del Potro.

8. Australia 2007: The ‘Fed Express’

• Date: January 27, 2007
• Round: Semi-final
• Opponent: Andy Roddick
• Score: 6-4 6-0 6-2

The ‘Fed Express’ hurtled through Andy Roddick at the semi-final stage of the Australian Open in 2007. The Swiss was at his swashbuckling best as he destroyed Roddick.

Here is what ‘A-Rod’ said of the match: “How do I feel? Bad. It’s terrible. I didn’t expect this. I got spanked tonight. After 4-4 he broke me once, then again, again once, again… and it was over 24 minutes later. The chances of his opponent in the final? Slim.”

Federer beat Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets in the final to win for the third time in Melbourne.

7. Wimbledon 2007: Five in a row

• Date: July 8, 2007
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Rafael Nadal
• Score: 7-6 4-6 7-6 2-6 6-2

A classic of the Federer-Nadal rivalry. And the second straight Wimbledon final the pair had contested. Federer had delivered a first-set bagel on his way to a four-set win in 2006, but the 2007 final was a far more competitive affair. Two break points at the start of the fifth set offered Nadal an opening to bring Federer’s SW19 reign of dominance to an end. It was a fleeting window of opportunity that Federer soon closed and would go on to win in five. The win saw him emulate Bjorn Borg’s record of winning five Wimbledon titles on the bounce.

6. Wimbledon 2003: The first Grand Slam

• Date: July 6, 2003
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Mark Philippoussis
• Score: 7-6 6-2 7-6

A further 19 Grand Slams would follow.

5. French Open 2009: The Career Slam

• Date: June 7, 2009
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Robin Soderling
• Score: 6-1 7-6 6-4

Perhaps not his best performance, but maybe the most important, as it completed the ‘Career Slam’. Federer had made the three previous finals – in 2006, 2007 and 2008 – and lost all three to Nadal, winning just two sets in the process, and was served up a bagel in the 2008 final.

4. Wimbledon 2001: The end of a dynasty

• Date: July 2, 2001
• Round: Round of 16
• Opponent: Pete Sampras
• Score: 7-6 5-7 6-4 6-7 7-5

Seeded 15th, Federer faced the four-time defending champion and No. 1 seed Pete Sampras in the fourth round in 2001. He beat the American in five sets in a colossal, fierce match. It marked the end of one Wimbledon dynasty – Sampras would win one more Grand Slam at the US Open in 2002 – and the beginning of another.

3. Wimbledon 2009: Surpassing Sampras

• Date: July 5, 2009
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Andy Roddick
• Score: 5-7 7-6 7-6 3-6 16-14

We all talk about Federer-Nadal, but there was once a time of Federer-Roddick. The Wimbledon final in 2009 was their fourth meeting in a Grand Slam final, and their third in a Wimbledon final. Federer would win all of those encounters.

This effort was Roddick’s most impressive as the American dropped serve just once. Unfortunately, it came in the 30th and last game of the fifth set.

2. Roland-Garros 2011: The finger wag

• Date: June 3, 2011
• Round: Semi-final
• Opponent: Novak Djokovic
• Score: 7-6 6-3 3-6 7-6

Novak Djokovic opened his 2011 season with 41 straight victories, winning the Australian Open, the Dubai Tennis Championships, Indian Wells, the Miami Masters, the Serbia Open, the Madrid Masters and the Italian Open.

He was the outstanding favourite when he met Federer at the semi-final stage of the French Open, with Djokovic having beaten the Swiss three times already that season.

The ace that sealed the match was followed by an iconic finger wag.

1. Australia 2017: Return of the king

• Date: January 29, 2017
• Round: Final
• Opponent: Rafael Nadal
• Score: 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3

Perhaps the most exceptional accomplishment of an already extraordinary career. On January 29, 2017, Federer, seeded 17th at the Australian Open, won an 18th Grand Slam title.

Four and a half years after his last major victory – at Wimbledon 2012 – the Swiss made a prodigious return to the top of the game.