First a postage stamp and now 2 whole streets named after Roger Federer!

It was in 2007, when Roger Federer was presented with a postage stamp issued in his honor in Switzerland; this was the first time ever that a living person had been depicted on a Swiss stamp. The stamp has a face value of one franc.

World number one tennis player Roger Federer of Switzerland gestures after unveiling a giant replica stamp, during the launch of a Swiss postage stamp bearing his portrait, 10 April 2007 in Basel. To commemorate Federer’s record-breaking streak at the top of the ATP world rankings for 161 consecutive weeks, the Swiss Post issued a one Swiss franc stamp to honor the 25-year-old, 10-time Grand Slam Champion. Living persons are not normally presented with the distinction. AFP PHOTO / FABRICE COFFRINI (Photo credit FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images)

And then it was in 2012, when Federer was honored with a street named after him in Halle, Germany, where he holds the record of winning the grass court title 8 times. In the singles, Roger Federer (2003–06, 2008, 2013–15) holds the record for most overall titles (eight), most consecutive titles (four), as well as most finals (ten, 2003–06, 2008, 2010, 2012–15).

Today, He will be honored again, with a Roger Federer Allee in the city of Biel, at Swiss Tennis headquarters. The Allee will link the Swiss Tennis Academy to Tissot Arena. He will inaugurate it in person.

It is an amazing honor for our Swiss Maestro. He has trained there in his younger days and it was here that he picked up French since he only used to speak Swiss German; he has a special place in his heart as he also met his wife Mirka here for the first time. As it is widely known, they officially became a couple years later at the Sydney Olympics where they even shared a kiss.

Roger Federer will play in Madrid next; his fans will be hoping for him go all the way in Madrid.

Roger Federer Wins Hearts despite loss in the French Riviera

Roger Federer won hearts! He charmed us just like the beautiful Azure Coast. He played absolute sublime and beautiful tennis and reminded us all, that he still has the power to entrance us with his elegant and graceful game.

Roger Federer suffered a shocking 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 defeat by the Frenchman Tsonga at the quarter-finals of Monte Carlo Rolex Masters. After this huge setback loss, the Head2Head between them stands at 11-6 in Roger’s favor.

In the first set, it was the Swiss Maestro who made the initial breakthrough, as he broke Tsonga’s serve to take a 2-1 lead. Tsonga broke back the very next game to bring it level on serve at 2-2.  At 3-3, Roger broke Tsonga again and held onto his serve to take a lead of 5-3, with Tsonga serving to stay in the first set. On Tsonga serve with score at 5-3, and 30-40 it was Roger Federer who got a break again as Tsonga hit a backhand wide to take the first set. With first set under his belt, Roger Federer was all poised to make his way through to semi-final.

The second set started with an initial break by Tsonga as he took a 2-0 lead. At 1-3, both Roger and Tsonga exchanged breaks as Tsonga held on 4-2 lead in 2nd set. Tsonga broke Roger again to take a 5-2 lead which made him serve for the second set at 5-2. The Frenchman held on to serve comfortably to take 2nd set 6-2 and took the match onto the decider.

Third set saw both players holding on to their serve until 5-5. After holding his serve in a tensed 10th game, it was Tsonga who broke Roger serve and took him to a 6-5 lead in the decider. Tsonga serving for the match at 6-5, gave another opening to Roger when he trailed by 0-30, but the Frenchman held on to his nerves and took the set and the match from the maestro with a score of 3-6,6-2,7-5 to progress to semi-finals.

Roger Federer said, “I thought I was going to win the match maybe after the first set and the beginning of the third. But that doesn’t matter really. It was a good intense match. I’m satisfied with how the body reacted. So many good things this week. It’s all positive for me.”

“Number one, it’s good to play a tournament after having had surgery. Number two, it was good to play one match. It was good to have a match with a rest, then to play again. Now it was good to play back-to-back, yesterday and today. Then it was good to play 2 hours 10 minutes today.”

“My fitness coach is here. I trained really hard for the pre-tournament stuff. I hope my knee and my body are going to be okay the next couple of days. If I’m good, I might go practise tomorrow as well just to get the body into a rhythm of playing four days straight at a very intense level.”

“I’m returning a lot better. It’s better than other beginnings of the clay-court season. I’ll have to keep that and my serve will come along as I play more matches. It was a good tournament, a good match, exactly what I was hoping for and more, so I’m very happy!”

Watching Roger play this whole tournament after so long was so amazing! Every shot he made, his footwork, his gliding, it was reminiscent of the classic Federer that we have come to love and admire. It was like a sweet reward after being deprived of something that we adore. And the standing ovation from the crowd for him was so touching and heartening; he has well deservedly earned the capacious adulation and adoration that he gets, over the years because of his game as well as his off-court conduct. Whether he wins or loses, he endears his fans to him with his positive attitude. He inspires us all to keep on doing what we love and never to let the failures blow us off our path. He loves tennis, it is his passion and he wants to continue his passion. And he has made us make him our passion, we all always love him and he will always be our no. 1.

Here’s hoping he can continue playing sublime and beautiful tennis and go the distance in the next tournament! We shall be happy and proud fans no matter what.

Please let us know what you feel about him in the comments below.

 

Federer’s Victorious March Continues with Stylish Tennis

Roger Federer may have been off tour for two months but the Swiss maestro showed no signs of an off form when he took only 68 minutes to take down Bautista Agut in straight sets by 6-2, 6-4 in third round match of Monte Carlo open to take Roger to his 1069th career match win. He improved his undefeated Head2Head against Agut to 5-0. He echoed his love for tennis with a stylish display and an ambition to win.

He served well and was good with baseline play too, and was ready for net play whenever he got the chance to attack. Federer serve was massive today, hitting 67% of his first serves and won 77% and 65% on first and second serves respectively

The crucial point of Roger’s victory turned out to be his break point conversion rate (50 %) which  was quite good and his ability to move forward to the net (18/25 net points won) helped him in clinching with 29 winners with just 21 unforced errors.

“As the match progressed, I felt better and better, once I made the break, I was able to relax a little more. I’m happy with what I did. He’s a good player.” Roger said.

“As long as I can go into a match feeling alright, then during the match I’m not thinking about it,” said Roger of his recovery from knee surgery.

“I’m getting closer to the peak in the sense of maximum movement against the best players on a tough surface. I’ll be resting for the next couple of weeks anyway, so even if I get a setback for a couple of days, I can take as much time as I need. I feel like I’m in a great place right now.”

Bautista forced Federer to engage in longer rallies between the points as much as possible but he couldn’t get much success and his first serve percentage was only 53% and only managed to hit 8 winners and converted only 2 net points out of 9. His winning percentage on first serve per was massive 77 % but he couldn’t make his cut against Federer. Although he played a few aggressive points but couldn’t break federer serve even once. His aggressive and elegant style was evident with his signature shots, powerful strokes and his graceful footwork.

Roger Federer will be facing the Frenchman Tsonga in the QF against whom his Head2Head is leading by 11-5. Their previous meeting came two years ago at Toronto Masters 1000 final where the Frenchman prevailed with a straight set victory of 7-5,7-6. He will be a tough opponent for the maestro and we can expect some pulsating tennis from both the players. Here’s hoping our champ comes out on top in today’s match.

Let us know your reactions to the match below.

 

 

The King is Back!

It was like he’d never been away. Did he ever take an injury break? It certainly didn’t look like it. He played his first match after the injury break like his normal self; looking at his movements, an injury is not even discernible. He moved and glided like a ballet dancer. He was poetry in motion. After being sidelined since the Australian Open, Roger Federer raced into the third round of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters on Tuesday in his first match back on the ATP World Tour, dismissing Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-4

Federer has showed no signs of rust on Court Rainier III as he swept past Garcia-Lopez in 75 minutes. He started off very well weaving his magic with Wilson wand and painting the lines for Winners on both wings.

By his fifth game, Federer’s backhands and forehands stung and snapped at Garcia-Lopez like guard dogs, driving him back off the baseline. Garcia-Lopez whacked a pair of double-faults in the sixth game of the first set, allowing Federer to take a 4-2 lead. Federer played a few sloppy points in the next game, but an unreturnable serve and a terrific, rally-ending, down-the-line backhand at 15-40 saved him. He went on to hold and serve out the set.

Ballet Dancer- “Poetry in motion”

As the match progressed, Federer looked untroubled before a rare blip saw him broken at love, when serving for the match at 5-2. But he concluded his straight-set victory by winning his next service game

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Like Many Nike athletes, Federer is wearing the black and gold Nike Kobe Bryant tribute senakers for his 2nd round match. They have the date 4-13-16 embroidered near the heel, commemorating the day Bryant will play his last NBA game.

“I think in a way it was a perfect match,” said Federer. “It was close in the beginning, then I was able to go on a roll. Points were cut short by virtue of me serving better and returning better, getting second serves, taking advantage of that fact.

“At the end, again, I had to fight for it. I went through different phases in the match. Also emotionally. I was excited and tense in the beginning just because it’s a first round. It’s my first match back. So it was nice to go through all these emotions.

 

Read Federer’s press conference transcript after match Here.

Like many Nike athletes, Federer is wearing the black and gold Nike Kobe Bryant tribute sneakers these days. They have the date 4-13-16 embroidered near the heel, commemorating the day Bryant will play his last NBA game. Roger was also a part of a video tribute to Bryant. It is amazing to see Roger give such a beautiful tribute to a fellow athlete.

It was a beautiful match replete with all his signature shots and moves. Hoping to see more of him in action in the third round, where our champ will face Roberto Bautista Agut (ATP 17).

Let us know your thoughts on his first match.

 

 

The Most Exciting Comeback in the Tennis World; and it belongs to Roger Federer

The last time we saw Roger Federer play, was in the Australian Open 2016 Semi Final against Novak Djokovic, almost 75 days ago, which he eventually lost. He had been playing sublime tennis till then and there were many moments of pure wizardry, sheer delight and ecstasy. The loss was most certainly heart-breaking, He could have won but it was just bad day at the office.

Now, after almost 75 days, Federer is set to make a comeback on the ATP world Tour. After being sidelined from competitive tennis for more than 2 Months because of a surgery to repair torn meniscus on his knee, which he reportedly suffered a day after his semifinal loss to Novak Djokovic, Federer seems to be ready for his 1st match on Tuesday against Garcia Lopez in the 2nd Round of Monte Carlo Clay Masters. It will be intriguing to see how Federer comes back after surgery.
He tweeted this development, in a typical Federer style, a story with emojis, much to the shock and amusement to his fans.

🇦🇺🌤🌏🏃🏻💨🎾💔🙏🏼❤️🇦🇺😴⏰😳🙃🆕🌄🗣ouch😵🤕🚶🏻✈️🇨🇭🌨🌍scan😧😩🏥💉🌡💊😷🛌💤🤔☝🏼️🙏🏼😤💭(🏆🎾)👍🏼😉😀

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) February 4, 2016

Trying to be 🕸🕷man. 🔙 at it! pic.twitter.com/0CvCzDZobY

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) February 23, 2016

“I woke up, I don’t exactly remember what happened. I think I was going to run a bath for the girls. I made a very simple movement, turned back, and heard a click in my knee. I went to the zoo. My Left leg was swollen. I came back and had an MRI done in Switzerland. Saw a doctor right after the MRI. He said I had to have surgery on Tuesday. I did that in Switzerland. Here I am seven weeks and two days later. I am so disappointed to have to miss Rotterdam and Dubai as they are two of my favourite tournaments on the ATP World Tour,” said Federer, who is the reigning champion in Dubai having won the title for the seventh time last March.

“While this is an unfortunate setback, I feel grateful that up until now I have remained mostly healthy throughout my career,” the Swiss added. “My doctors have ensured me that the surgery was a success and with proper rehabilitation, I will be able to return to the Tour soon.”

He had been tweeting his rehab progress quite a lot, he also posted a video of him hitting on court.

An update on my knee recovery, and a cool slow mo: https://t.co/12qnl7hXQA pic.twitter.com/2eCfVlJjJw

— Roger Federer (@rogerfederer) February 26, 2016

Federer was expected to come back in Miami masters itself, but he had withdrawn at the last moment citing Stomach Virus, making his fans wait for 2 more weeks to watch him wield his magic on court.

He has been in Monte Carlo to practice since the past 10 days. He said he feels fine and is ready to play. He does not see his recent lack of matches as an issue.

“It’s like starting the season, so if you’re physically fine and you’re fresh mentally – as I am now – there’s no reason why you can’t win,” he said.

“Maybe you’re lacking a bit in the key moments because your confidence is different. But I have the confidence as I’ve played well over the past six months. And it’s the start of the clay-court season so it’s new for everybody. Here I’ve had lots of time to prepare so I’m really ready for this tournament.”

His fans have been waiting with bated breath to see their idol back in action. When someone as dominant and consistent as Federer, is out of action for a long time, it feels like the universe is spinning backwards or time has ceased to exist. His consistency is unmatchable and it’s hard to imagine tennis without his artistic and graceful balletic movements on the court and his aesthetic and precise shots. And it’s not just the fans, but also the veterans of the sport and the media, everyone wants to see him make a successful comeback. Everyone roots for him! The crowd support for him at any tournament is usually about 95 percent at least. We all are waiting to see him healthy and playing at a high level soon and Monte Carlo will be the perfect Launchpad for him to test his knee. We sure hope he can make a successful comeback, just like Michael Jordan once did, and, win titles like him. Today, as he plays his first match, we are all going to be ecstatic and super excited to see him play again and see him weave pure magic on court again.

If you are a Roger fan and you are as excited as us, please do share it with us through comments in the comment box.