Roger Federer

Roger Federer ( ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who as of November 2012 is ranked World No. 2 by the ATP. Many sports analysts, tennis critics and former and current players consider Federer the greatest tennis player of all time. He owns several men's world records of the Open Era: holding the World No. 1 position for 302 weeks overall; a 237-consecutive-week stretch at the top from 2004 to 2008; winning 17 Grand Slam singles titles; reaching the finals of each Grand Slam tournament at least five times (an all-time record); and reaching the Wimbledon final eight times. He is one of seven men, and one of four in the Open Era, to capture the career Grand Slam, and one of three (with Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal) to do so separately on clay, grass, and hard courts. Federer also shares the Open Era record for most Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open with Agassi (4 titles), at Wimbledon with Pete Sampras (7 titles) and at the US Open with Jimmy Connors and Sampras (5 titles). Federer's ATP tournament records include winning six ATP World Tour Finals, winning 21 ATP Masters 1000 titles (a record shared with Nadal), playing in the finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (a record matched by Novak Djokovic), and one of the three (alongside Agassi and Djokovic) in winning seven.

Federer has appeared in 24 men's Grand Slam finals, with ten in a row, both records, and appeared in 18 of 19 finals from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships through to the 2010 Australian Open. He is the only man to reach the semifinals of 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments, from the 2004 Wimbledon Championships through the 2010 Australian Open. At the 2012 Wimbledon men's championship, he reached his 32nd Grand Slam semi-final and seventh trophy, both records. At the 2012 US Open, he reached a record consecutive 34th Grand Slam quarter-final. He has also won the most matches, 247, in men's Grand Slam tournaments. He also won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and the Olympic silver medal in singles at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. He spent eight years (2003–2010) continuously in the top 2 in the year-end men's rankings and ten (2003–2012) in the Top 3. His rivalries with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, making for a "trivalry", are considered some of the greatest of all time.

Federer has won the ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favorite Award a record ten times straight (2003–2012) and the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award (voted for by the players) a record eight times (2004–2009, 2011-2012), both being awards indicative of respect and popularity. He also won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2006. In 2011, in a South African poll, he was voted the second most trusted and respected person in the world, next to Nelson Mandela. He was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a record four consecutive years (2005–2008). Federer is at times referred to as the Federer Express, shortened to Fed Express or FedEx, and the Swiss Maestro, or just Maestro.