Roger Federer turns 39 - all major match balls to celebrate
Roger Federer celebrates his 39th birthday on Saturday. We look back again at the points that gave the Swiss his 20 Grand Slam successes.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Aug 07, 2020, 06:36 pm
The series of successes began in Wimbledon in 2003, when Federer defeated Mark Philippoussis in the final. Title number two followed at the Australian Open 2004, where Marat Safat lost out in the final. After that, Federer was not only as good as unbeatable at Wimbledon for several years, but also won the US Open five times in a row. It took until 2009 for the first and only triumph in Roland Garros, when Federer defeated Robin Söderling on the Philippe-Chatrier Court.
Federer had to accept the longest break between two major titles between the success at Wimbledon 2012 (in the final against Andy Murray) and the triumph against Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open in early 2017. The jubilee left the biggest chances for title number 21 at Wimbledon last year when he could not use two match points in the fifth set against Novak Djokovic .
Roger Federer will get the next opportunity to top up his account of major successes at the Australian Open in 2021 at the earliest. Until then, the maestro will not play any tournaments. Whether the event in Melbourne will take place at all is a different matter in times like these.