As part of his duties as UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Federer has recorded a public service announcement to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS. The video which the popular and well-respected Swiss athlete recorded in English, German and French, will be released on World AIDS Day on 01 December 2007.
Last Monday, 26 November, marked Federer's 200th consecutive week as world number one in men's tennis. He has been ranked at the top since 02 February 2004 after he won his second Grand Slam title at the 2004 Australian Open.
The Swiss tennis superstar surpassed Steffi Graf's all-time record of 186 straight weeks as number one last August 27. He also broke Jimmy Connor's record (for men's tennis) of 160 straight weeks last 26 February.
He now sets his sights on the record of 286 weeks for the total number of weeks at number one held by no other than Pete Sampras. Tennis greats Jimmy Connors (268 weeks) and Ivan Lendl (270 weeks) are also ahead of Federer in the record books. But they, like Sampras, accumulated their total weeks at number one over several "reigns"--which makes Federer's accomplishment all the more amazing.
Ever since Federer took the top spot, four ATP players have trailed him as number two: Juan Carlos Ferrero for two weeks, Lleyton Hewitt for 25 weeks, Andy Roddick for 44 weeks and Rafael Nadal for a 123 weeks, which is coincidentally a record in itself for the longest time a male tennis player has been ranked number two.
The ATP Tennis official website has an article that nicely summarizes Federer's achievements since becoming number one and has once again assembled a photo gallery in tribute.
Photo credit:
The world number one has been recognized once more for his achievements on and off the court: he has been named one of the Men of the Year by GQ magazine for the year 2007. Included in the article about the Swiss tennis star is a tribute written by the legendary Bjorn Borg, and yet another stunning photo of Federer.
Honored along with the "Court King" are former US president Bill Clinton, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, Pixar director and producer Brad Bird and several Hollywood stars including Tom Hanks, James McAvoy and Daniel Craig.
Photo credit: Liz Collins
David Ferrer, Federer's challenger for the recent Masters cup title, has just edged out the champion for this year's Golden Bagel Award™. Since both players were tied at seven "bagels apiece--that is, sets won to love--the winner had to be determined by counting the number of "fries" or "breadsticks" (6-1 sets) each had given out: Federer had fourteen "fries" while Ferrer had eighteen.
The award is given "all in good fun" by Side Spin Productions to the top eight player who hands out the most "bagels"during the season. Federer previously won the inaugural Golden Bagel Award™ in 2004 when he had twelve "bagels" and then again last year when he produced a whopping eighteen "bagels".
The Side Spin website now even includes the "bagel histories" of several past tennis greats like Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.
Goodness! What else is there to say about what this great champion is capable of doing?!
Our tennis superstar capped yet another stunning season with his fourth Masters Cup title in five years. The world number one simply outclassed David Ferrer in straight sets, 6-2 6-3 6-2, in the finals of the season-ending championship held in Shanghai.
Ferrer had come into the finals as the only undefeated player in the tournament. He had defeated the likes of world number two Rafael Nadal and world number three Novak Djokovic in the round-robin stage and American number one Andy Roddick in the semifinals. But at the finals he had the misfortune of colliding with the tennis world's version of the Great Wall of China.
Indeed, the Spaniard's dazzling game showcased in his four previous matches seemed to have quailed in the presence of greatness across the net.
Both players had nervy starts with each falling behind on their first service games. But it was Ferrer who first succumbed to the pressure as he immediately fell behind after losing serve to love in the third game. After that, it was fairly routine for Federer to take the opening set.
The second set was no different although Ferrer began more confidently only to lose serve in the seventh game. Federer himself provided the highlights of the match during this set with an acutely angled backhand in the fourth game. He also produced a similarly brilliant backhand winner after a long exciting rally in the ninth game on the way to a second break of serve to take the second set, much to the delight of his cowbell-ringing fans.
Federer could have taken the crown at that point had this been a best of three but as this was a best of five match, Ferrer had at least one set to look forward to.
Egged on by flag-waving fans and a trumpet player in the crowd, Ferrer held three break points on the Swiss' serve early on in the third set but a supremely steady Federer fought them all off. And so instead of providing the hapless Spaniard more opportunities to get back into the match, the third set only served to prolong his agony. The defending champion was only too happy to put his opponent out of his misery as he converted a beautiful cross-court forehand from the baseline at match point and roared in triumph as Ferrer helplessly watched the ball go past him.
Federer was clearly delighted with his performance--and it was obvious as well as he signed the camera lens after the match--and rightly so. He had hit 30 winners to Ferrer's 10, 29 errors to Ferrer's 38 and he won 83% of the points when his first serve went in.
This 53rd career title for Federer was a fitting way to salvage a tournament that began so disappointingly with a shock loss to Fernando Gonzales in his opening match. His tenth loss of the season had come in the wake of two consecutive losses to David Nalbandian and caused many to speculate that the world number one was finally coming to the end of his reign.
The Masters Cup title also his eighth title for the year and brings his total winnings for the year to a record of over US$10M. On top of that, he was given yet another new car, a Mercedes--which I suppose he can easily exchange instead for "more CDs"!
Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
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