Roger Federer (3)
2003: Grand Slam breakthrough at Wimbledon
In 2003, Federer won his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, beating Andy Roddick in the semifinals and Mark Philippoussis in the final.[57][58] In doing so, he joined the likes of Björn Borg, Pat Cash and Stefan Edberg as the only singles players to win both the junior and senior Wimbledon titles.[29] In August he had a chance to take over the No. 1 ranking for the first time from Andre Agassi if he made it to the Montreal final. However, he fell in the semifinals to Roddick, in a final-set tiebreaker, leaving him 120 points behind Agassi.[59] This, coupled with early losses to David Nalbandian at Cincinnati and the US Open, denied Federer the chance to become No. 1 in 2003.[60]
Federer won his first and only doubles Masters event in Miami with Max Mirnyi, beating the pair of Leander Paes and David Rikl in the final.[61] He then reached the singles final of the Rome Masters on clay, which he lost to Félix Mantilla.[62] Federer reached nine finals on the ATP Tour and won seven of them on four different surfaces, including the 500 series events at Dubai and Vienna, defeating Jiří Novák and Carlos Moyá in the respective finals.[63] Lastly, Federer won the year-end championships over Andre Agassi, finishing the year as world No. 2, narrowly behind Andy Roddick by only 160 points.[64]
2004: Imposing dominance
In 2004, Federer won three Grand Slam singles titles, becoming the first person to do so in a single season since Mats Wilander in 1988. His first major hard-court title came at the Australian Open over Marat Safin, making him the world No. 1 for the first time.[65] He then won the Indian Wells on hardcourts and the Hamburg Masters on clay, beating Tim Henman and Guillermo Coria in the finals respectively, snapping the latter's 31-match winning streak on clay.[66] Federer won his second Wimbledon crown over Andy Roddick.[67]
At the Summer Olympics in Athens, Federer was the clear favorite after claiming the world No. 1 ranking for the first time earlier in the year.[65] However, he lost in the second round to 18-year-old Tomáš Berdych.[68] He then won the Canada Masters, defeating Roddick in the final.[69] At the US Open, Federer defeated the 2001 champion, Lleyton Hewitt, for his first title there.[70] Federer also won his first tournament on home soil by capturing the Swiss Open in Gstaad and he wrapped up the year by winning the year-end championships for the second time after beating Hewitt in the final.[71]
His 11 singles titles were the most of any player in two decades, and his record of 74–6 was the best since Ivan Lendl in 1986.[72]
2005: Consolidating dominance
In 2005, Federer failed to reach the finals of the first two Grand Slam tournaments, losing the Australian Open semifinal to eventual champion Safin after holding match points, and the French Open semifinal to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.[73] However, Federer reestablished his dominance on grass, winning Wimbledon for a third time by defeating Andy Roddick.[74] At the US Open, Federer defeated Andre Agassi in the latter's last major final.[75][76]
Federer also took four Masters wins: Indian Wells, Miami and Cincinnati on hard court, and Hamburg on clay.[75] The win in Miami was particularly noteworthy as it was the first final contested between Federer and Nadal. Federer recovered from two sets down to take the final in five sets. Furthermore, Federer won two ATP 500 series events at Rotterdam and Dubai.[75] Federer lost the year-end championships to David Nalbandian in five sets while playing through a foot injury that sidelined him for almost the rest of the season after September.[77] He maintained his position as No. 1 for the entire season.[75]
That year, Federer won 11 singles titles, which tied his mark during the 2004 season. Federer's 81 match victories were the most since Pete Sampras in 1993, and his record of 81–4 (95.2%) remains the third-best winning percentage in the Open Era behind John McEnroe's 1984 and Jimmy Connors's 1974.[78]
2006: Career-best season
The 2006 season was statistically the best season of Federer's career. In November 2011, Stephen Tignor, chief editorial writer for Tennis.com, ranked Federer's 2006 season as statistically the second-best season of all time during the Open Era, behind Rod Laver's Grand Slam year of 1969.[79]
Federer won 12 singles titles (the most of any player since Thomas Muster in 1995 and John McEnroe in 1984) and had a match record of 92–5 (the most wins since Ivan Lendl in 1982). Federer reached the finals in an astounding 16 of the 17 tournaments he entered during the season.[80]
In 2006, Federer won three Grand Slam singles titles and reached the final of the other, with the only loss coming against Nadal in the French Open.[80] This was Federer and Nadal's first meeting in a Grand Slam final. He was the first man to reach all four finals in a calendar year since Rod Laver in 1969. Federer defeated Nadal in the Wimbledon Championships final. In the Australian Open, Federer defeated Marcos Baghdatis,[81] and at the US Open, Federer defeated 2003 champion Roddick.[80] In addition, Federer reached six Masters finals, winning four on hard surfaces and losing two on clay to Nadal. Federer, however, consistently pushed Nadal to the limit on clay throughout the season taking him to fourth-set tiebreakers in Monte-Carlo and Paris, and a thrilling match in Rome that went to a deciding fifth-set tiebreaker.[82]
Federer won one ATP 500 series event in Tokyo and captured the year-end championships for the third time in his career, again finishing the year as world No. 1.[81] Federer only lost to two players during 2006, to Nadal four times in finals, and to 19-year-old Andy Murray in the second round of the 2006 Cincinnati Masters, in what was Federer's only defeat before the final of a tournament that year.[83] Federer finished the season on a 29-match winning streak, as well as winning 48 of his last 49 matches after the French Open.[84]
Near the end of the season, he won his hometown tournament, the Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland for the first time, having finished runner up in 2000 and 2001, and missing the tournament in 2004 and 2005 due to injuries.[85]
