Roger Federer: 300 Weeks At No. 1 Is Pretty Incredible, Probably One Of My Biggest Accomplisments

Proud to be HIS fan !!!

October 11th, 2012 at 1:50 pm

Fantastic federer!

October 11th, 2012 at 2:39 pm

Congratulations to Roger! 299 or 300 wouldn’t have mattered to me. Hope he enjoys these milestones and it fuels him to keep winning big titles! Let’s start with winning Shanghai ;)

Ps. Regarding another older gentleman and friend of fed’s- tommy Haas is playing fantastic tennis. Surely janko was not all there but tommy looked very fast, aggressive, the backhand looked fantastic. Hope he gives novak a scare tomorrow!

October 11th, 2012 at 2:48 pm

Take a bow, Mr. Federer! The greatest tennis star since borg!

So many tennis players waste their talent or unable to maximize their potential – gasquet, safin, berdych, agassi. It is not at all easy to harness talent. Imagine having about 20 options everytime you play a shot. Yet Federer, who is definitely one of the most talented guys to play tennis, if not THE most, has been able to put all that potential/talent to the ultimate use – to stand at the apex of tennis’ mount olympus! He is, for now, the God of the tennis universe!

October 11th, 2012 at 3:54 pm

I like your style Rafael.

October 11th, 2012 at 4:35 pm

Greatest of the greatests!

October 11th, 2012 at 4:39 pm

It seems to me the Fed fans are losing all sense of perspective. They should be worrying about Novak and Andy who are his rivals at this moment in time whilst Rafa is off the tour. #stupid

October 11th, 2012 at 4:46 pm

“Sometimes you’re just happy playing. Some people, some media unfortunately don’t understand that it’s okay just to play tennis and enjoy it. They always think you have to win everything, it always needs to be a success story, and if it’s not obviously what is the point. Maybe you have to go back and think, Why have I started playing tennis? Because I just like it. It’s actually sort of a dream hobby that became somewhat of a job. Some people just don’t get that ever.”
– a “winning is not everything” type quote from the world’s #1 and holder of countless records. Incredible fed!

October 11th, 2012 at 4:46 pm

Rafael. Be careful what you say. What goes up must come down!! #withabang

October 11th, 2012 at 4:49 pm

you must know it Giles. Rosol force-fed it to you guys on centre court, just a few months back!

October 11th, 2012 at 4:53 pm

if you would like to see the tennis special edition to celebrate roger federer 300 weeks number 1 click the link below:
tt.tennis-warehouse. com /showthread . php? t=439831

October 11th, 2012 at 4:54 pm

let’s check who is the 1st stupid person that mentioned rafa in their post, 1st on this thread!

take a guess guys!

October 11th, 2012 at 4:56 pm

none other than giles! LOL!

you want us to curse rafa on this thread too?

it’s like a guy who drops his pants and bends over in a prison!

October 11th, 2012 at 4:58 pm

Get outta here with that mess, Giles and Rafael. purposefully coming over here on this celebratory thread with the fan wars .

October 11th, 2012 at 5:02 pm

Congrats to Federer! 300 is a nice, round number, and I’m sure he’s not done adding to it yet! He really did have to earn his #1 ranking today and I hope he’s getting some sleep so he can be ready to tackle Cilic tomorrow.

C’mon Roger!

October 11th, 2012 at 5:18 pm

couldn’t agree with you more dari, Novak needs to be put down a peg or too – far too confident and so bloody sure of himself! he needs a wake-up-call!! but congrats to our Roger! now lets take out Cilic!

October 11th, 2012 at 5:43 pm

Federer is guaranteed of 302 weeks at No.1 (unless Djokovic plays Basel or Valencia as a wildcard).

Federer’s 302 weeks is just 10 weeks short of 6 complete years of being No.1 for every week of the year.
To put this in perspective, only four tennis players in 135 years of tennis history share the record of being the undisputed No. 1 for six years in their careers — yet they likely were not No.1 for every week of those six years (note: weekly No.1 records were not kept before 1973):
– Pete Sampras: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
– Pancho Gonzales: 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959
– Bill Tilden: 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1931
– William Renshaw: 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886

Federer has now won 870 matches. In six more wins Federer will pass John McEnroe (875) for fourth place.

Federer’s 1,064 total matches is No. 7 on the all time list. In 13 more matches, he was pass John McEnroe (No. 6) and Stefan Edberg (No. 5) for No. 5 on the list of most total matches played.

This Swiss-German Flash on Roger Federer’s Hunt for Records:
Just click on the list on the right-hand side of the flash window.
http://www.20min.ch/interaktiv2010/Infografiken/Federer_2010/examples/index.html

– 76 career titles

– 17 grand slam titles

– 6 World Tour Finals titles

– 21 Masters 1000 tournament titles

– 237 consecutive weeks No.1

– 300 total weeks No.1

October 11th, 2012 at 6:30 pm

Add these Federer’s achievements over the past 52 weeks (300 total weeks at No. 1; 17 grand slam titles; 6 World Tour Finals titles) to this January 2010 ATP article on….

“ATP: Federer’s records that might stand the test of time. ”

Roger Federer has set many records that may never be broken. Like Mozart and Michelangelo, Roger “Federer’s body of work ranges from exceptional to sublime. The Swiss has set multiple records that will likely stand the test of time. Below we look at 10 of Federer’s most amazing feats and quantify the chances of the achievements being matched or topped during his lifetime.”

1. Winning five consecutive titles at two different Grand Slam tournaments

2. Winning 16 Grand Slam titles in the span of 27 majors

3. Reaching 18 of 19 consecutive Grand Slam finals between Wimbledon 2005 and Australian Open 2010

4. Reaching 23 consecutive Grand slam semi-finals (or better) from Wimbledon 2004 to Australian Open 2010

5. Winning 24 consecutive finals

6. Reaching all four Grand Slam finals in the same season three times

7. Three-year period of dominance *

8. Holding the No. 1 ATP Ranking for 237 consecutive weeks

9. Sixty-five consecutive grass-court match wins

10. Winning one Grand Slam title a year for eight consecutive years**

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/DEUCE-Tennis/Federer-No1/DEUCE-Australian-Open-2010.aspx

* 7. Three-year period of dominance: Between 2004-2006 Federer went on a tear that is unlikely to be matched during any future three-year period, compiling a 247-15 match record. His season records during that time were 74-6 (2004), 81-4 (2005) and 92-5 (2006). He won a stunning 34 titles, including eight Grand Slams, nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000s and two Tennis Masters Cup titles. Had he served out the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup final against David Nalbandian [instead of losing in a fifth-set tie-break] Federer’s season record that year would have been 82-3, the same as John McEnroe’s unrivaled match record in 1984.

* 7. Roger Federer’s 173-9 match record in 2005-06: Federer produced unrivaled back-to-back seasons of brilliance in the middle of the decade. He went 81-4 in 2005 and 92-5 in ’06, winning 23 titles during that span, including five Grand slam titles and eight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crowns.

** As of 2012 Nadal won a slam for eight consecutive years, so Nadal has a good chance to break this record in 2013 (unless Federer, Djokovic, etc stop him).

October 11th, 2012 at 6:35 pm

so glad someone else likes compiling stats etc. i enjoy reading them! yay roger!

October 11th, 2012 at 9:01 pm

Andrea,

Me too! :-)

October 11th, 2012 at 9:20 pm

Chase his (multiple) records if you can!

October 11th, 2012 at 10:26 pm

Congrats to Fed and his fans; that’s quite a feat! His consistency and longevity have been fabulous.

October 11th, 2012 at 11:52 pm

Well done my feddy bear….Hope you get more and more in ur life….Dying to c u in London..Hope i get to c my GOD!!!

October 12th, 2012 at 1:12 am

Great list Dave.. Players will probably get one chance in their career to match or break some of those streaks. With those kind of odds its really hard to see them being broken anytime soon.

October 12th, 2012 at 1:31 am

Roger Federer remembers the moment he first ascended to No. 1 in the ATP Rankings in 2004: “I do remember it very vividly, actually,” Federer told media in Shanghai Thursday. “It’s not one of those moments that happens and then you forget. It took me a lot of great performances to get there. I had an opportunity I think in the match against Roddick in Montréal. Lost 7-6 in the semis there against him. It took me to win Wimbledon, the World Tour Finals, then basically get to the finals of the Australian Open. After beating Ferrero in the semis, I knew I clinched it, but obviously I wanted to finish the tournament on a high note by winning the Australian Open as well.”

“I remember after the semis how happy I was becoming World No. 1. It was for me back then sort of the ultimate accomplishment next to winning Wimbledon. That all happened in a span of sort of nine months, which was so intense, huge relief in some ways, but a big satisfaction. Here I am eight years later, even more. It’s pretty special. Obviously I lost the World No. 1 ranking a few times, but I also stayed a long time once I got there. I always felt tennis was easier for me playing as World No. 1 than actually getting there.”

Federer said that he still played for the love of the game and not just for all the success that comes his way.

“Sometimes you’re just happy playing. Some people, some media unfortunately don’t understand that it’s okay just to play tennis and enjoy it. They always think you have to win everything, it always needs to be a success story, and if it’s not obviously what is the point.”

“Maybe you have to go back and think, Why have I started playing tennis? Because I just like it. It’s actually sort of a dream hobby that became somewhat of a job. Some people just don’t get that ever.”

http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/10/41/Shanghai-Thursday-Federer-Recalls-Rise-To-Top.aspx

October 12th, 2012 at 1:41 am

just another bit of data to add to daves statistics: this is the 100th time that federer has played a 1000 masters tournament in his career (not counting the year end championship);

don’t know where he stands in a list of record number of participations as i can’t find that information compiled anywhere, but having won 21. reached 33 finals and 45 semis in his first 99 appearances, he probably has the best percentage record of success at these events

October 12th, 2012 at 1:47 am

Thanks Rahul. You’re right that most of Federer’s records are unlikely to be broken. And even if his 17+ slams record is matched or broken, that player is unlikely to match his No.1 records (300 total weeks, 237 consecutive weeks) which is the other criteria for being a great player. What makes Federer so unique are the comprehensiveness of his records. It’s no fluke, what he has done.

In this list of ATP World Tour records since 1973, Federer’s name appears 151 times (just do a ‘find’ or ‘search’ of the page). No other player’s name appears so often: Lendl is second with 104 and Sampras third with 99. This indicates that Federer’s achievements records are so comprehensive and pervasive in scope that he overshadows everybody else at least in the modern era.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATP_World_Tour_records

No athlete succeeds and dominates in everything. Thus it’s hilarious whenever a few desperate souls try to make a mountain out of a molehill over a few minor stats, such as Fed’s H2H, Fed’s Davis Cup, etc. When Federer holds over 90% of what matters — and no one else comes close — the remaining 10% is not important.

****

Hi xmike: in absolute terms (total numbers) Federer has a slightly better overall record than Nadal.

However in relative terms (percentage), it can be argued that Nadal has a slightly better record than Federer: final (21/69 vs 21/100), final (31/69 vs 33/100), semifinal (43/69 vs 45/100), match winning percentage (83% vs 77%). This is due to Nadal dominating the clay events (check data) as well as playing less total masters events compared to Federer (69 to 100).

Nadal: 21 titles, 31 finals, 43 semifinals; 69 Masters 1000 events played; 230–47 match win-loss (83% match winning percentage)

Federer: 21 titles, 33 finals, 45 semifinals; 100 Masters 1000 events played; 268–77 match win-loss (77% match winning percentage)

Data from wikipedia: ATP world tour records, Roger Federer career statistics, Rafael Nadal career statistics.

October 12th, 2012 at 2:44 am

Agreed Dave, also his achievements in the WTF are not given enough prominence. Not only is he beating the top 8 players, he is beating the top 8 players of that year, the guys in form… Its amazing he has won that tournament without losing a match 5 times if Im not mistaken.

October 12th, 2012 at 3:01 am

Congrats to Roger and his fans on reaching another milestone in his career,what a fantastic achievement.

October 12th, 2012 at 4:49 am

Nobody questions Nadal’s greatness on clay.

But outside of clay, he is good, but not great. almost 3/4 of his titles, masters, slams, or otherwise, are on clay. His percentages are pretty ordinary outside of clay.

October 12th, 2012 at 10:35 am

I also love reading all the stats, records, etc. I do smile at the comment that Roger should be “worried” about the Djoker or Murray. As long as he plays, of course, Roger wants to win. But he has the records that they want. Of course on any given day, the top players can beat each other and do it convincingly (Cincy 2012 final, Olympic Games final, Dubai final)If Roger is on form and playing his game, he really doesn’t have anything to worry about.

October 12th, 2012 at 12:54 pm

I would say 300 weeks at No.1 is simply an incredible feat. I do not think this record is going to be broken for a while. I would rank this achievement next to the Roger’s semi and quarter streak at majors. It is amazing that despite his resume already overflowing, Roger still has the motivation to scale to even greater heights. It is this hunger and ever lasting urge which has made him a Champion for such a long period of time unparalleled in Tennis history. I think players like Roger blossom once in two/three centuries. It will be a while since we will see another Roger like player in the Tennis World. A win at Shanghai nodoubt will strengthen Roger’s case going into the indoor season where he has lot of points to defend. Although some say the dominance of Roger makes Tennis boring, I am starving more of such boring Tennis. Allez Roger !!

October 13th, 2012 at 12:14 am

I rate Federer’s 300 weeks at No.1 as equal in achievement to his 17 grand slams. Both are keystones of tennis greatness. Only the greatest tennis players have been able to reach and keep the No.1 ranking for long lengths of time. It requires sustained consistency of results in the right events at the right times year after year. In a way, it’s easier to peak for the grand slams or parts of the year than it is to maintain a high level throughout the year necessary to remain No.1. For highly ranked players, being No.1 in ranking is a big prize.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ATP_number_1_ranked_singles_players#Weeks_at_number_1

October 13th, 2012 at 12:57 am

Rahul, you’re right that Federer won five of his six WTF titles without losing a match (he lost only one round robin match in 2007). In comparison, Pete Sampras lost lost one round robin match in all five year-end championships he won.

In the ATP site, see the player’s ranking breakdowns: the World Tour Finals is listed as the “World Championship”. The opponents are the cream of the ATP. Until 2007 the final was best-of-five-sets. The WTF’s honor roll of champions since 1970 is as good as the best grand slams. The WTF is legitimately the fifth most prestigious tournament in tennis, after the four slams.

October 13th, 2012 at 1:13 am