Roger Federer was born on August 8, 1981, and is a Swiss professional tennis player that is currently ranked No. 2 in the world behind Rafael Nadal. He was previously the World No. 1 ranked player for a record number of weeks, 237 weeks to be exact. He took the World No. 1 ranking in February of 2004 and held it until August of 2008 which is when his long time tennis rival, Rafael Nadal, took over. He has won a total of 13 Grand Slam Singles Titles, which includes 3 Australian Open Titles, 5 Wimbledon Titles and 5 US Open Titles.
Where He Is Now -
Roger Federer has had a fairly average year so far, with some excellent wins and some disappointments. In August of this year he lost the World No. 1 title to his long time tennis rival, Rafael Nadal. In the 2008 Madrid Masters, he reached all the way to the semifinals without losing a single set, before he lost to Andy Murray. He became the all time leader in career prize monies at the same time, having earned more than $123 billion dollars by the end of the tournament, surpassing the former World No. 1 champion Pete Sampras in this regard. The 2008 season was the first season since 2003 that Federer did not win a regular season Masters Series title, but he still won a number of tournaments and titles throughout the season.
Career Highlights -
- Ranked World No. 1 for a surprising 237 consecutive weeks
- Currently ranked World No. 2 behind Rafael Nadal
- 13 Grand Slam Singles Titles,
- 3 Australian Open Titles
- 5 Wimbledon Titles
- 5 US Open Titles
- 4 Tennis Masters Cup Titles
- 13 ATP Masters Series Titles
- Olympic Gold Medal in Doubles
- 10 Consecutive Grand Slam Men's Singles Finals
Interesting and Inspirational Quotes -
"I like to play against guys who have beaten me, especially early in the career, try to get them back, ... He was a tough opponent for me for a long, long time."
"I wasn't feeling so good like the last few times but maybe that's got something to do with him because he really came in a lot and never gave me the rhythm."
"That game was huge, absolutely, ... I was not so happy the way I was playing, especially in the second set. Third was getting better, especially after that pass. I really felt that shift in momentum. I took advantage of that. In the fourth set, I started to feel like I'm really in control again where I didn't feel that way at all before. I had the feeling actually momentum was all on his side."
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Player Profile: Tiger Woods Tiger Woods may be out of commission for the 2008 season, but he is never really out of mind. When he first burst onto the scene and turned golf on its ear, no one really knew what to expect. This upstart kid went on to numerous championships, endorsement deals and......
Rafael Nadal was born on June 3, 1986. He is a Spanish tennis player that has been regarded as the No. 1 ranked men's tennis player in the world since August 18 of 2008. He has already won five Grand Slam Singles titles and won the 2008 Olympic gold in singles tennis. He has also won the last four French Open titles in singles, joining the player Bjorn Borg as one of the only two men to have won four titles consecutively. He is the second Spaniard to have won the Wimbledon tournament, another win that he took this year in 2008. He is known for having a rivalry with Roger Federer, which is considered to be the greatest rivalry in the history of tennis according to many tennis critics. He was ranked world no. 2 behind Roger Federer for 160 weeks up until he took the World No. 1 space in August of this year. Nadal is known for being particular successful on clay courts, and has a 22-1 record on clay courts.
Where He Is Now -
The year 2008 has been a great year for Rafael Nadal, who finally overcame Roger Federer for the World No. 1 position in August. As of September of this year he had a win loss record of 77 - 9 and had won eight singles titles, including a Gold in the Olympic games, Wimbledon and the French Open. He also had a winning streak of 32 matches which was his career best, and during this period of time he managed to capture five titles. Rafael Nadal began his year in India, then reached the Australian Open semi finals for the first time, before reaching the 2008 Master Series Miami for the second time. He did especially well during the spring clay court series, as his specialty is playing on clay courts.
Career Highlights -
- Ranked World No.1 since August, 2008
- 46 Finals
- 39 Singles
- 31 Wins
- 5 Grand Slam Tournament Wins
- 1 Olympic Gold (2008)
- 12 ATP Masters Series
- 13 ATP Tour
- 8 Runners Up
- 7 Doubles Wins
Interesting and Inspirational Quotes -
"To be honest, I haven't felt at my best since this tournament began. I didn't feel good with the court or the balls. But those are excuses. You have to accept when you don't play well and somebody else does."
"I don't want to think about it because I always want to stay the same, ... I only want to think about next week. I'm happy I've won a grand slam, three Masters Series and five [other] tournaments, but I can't think about that now. I'll think about it at the end of the year."
'I lost a little bit of confidence about me, ... I am not playing good this week...There are moments when you don't have the confidence and this is one of those moments."
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Andy Murray was born on May 15, 1987 and is a professional tennis player from Scotland who also happens to be the highest ranking player in Britain at current. He officially broke into the ATP Top 10 on April 16, 2007, and reached a career high of No. 4 ranking following the 2008 United States open where he reached all the way to the final, but eventually lost to Roger Federer in that round. Although previously coached by American coach Brad Gilbert, who is a prolific author of tennis instruction books as well as a pro tennis play himself, Andy Murray is now coached by Miles Maclagan along with a team of fitness experts. While born in Glasgow in Scotland, Murray's current residence is in London, UK.
Where He Is Now -
In late November of 2007, Andy Murray decided to leave his coach Brad Gilbert in place of what he referred to as "a team of coaches". He trained hard during the off season, working with numerous fitness experts, and came into the 2008 series feeling better prepared than he ever had before. He sealed a fourth career title in 2008 at the 2008 Quatar Exxon Mobil Open, defeating the top seed and current World Number 4, Nikolav Davydenko by 6-4, 6-3 in the semi final round. Then he went on to defeat the up and coming Stanislas Wawrinka from Switzerland by 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in a final that was really tight, pushing Murray back up into the Top 10. He won his fifth career title in Marseille and defeated Roger Federer in Dubai but had to leave in the quarter finals.
Career Highlights -
Andy Murray's career record in singles is 146-63 and his career record in doubles is 20-30. He has 7 singles career titles, and his highest ranking was No. 4 as of September of 2008. He has played in a total of four singles grand slams, the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. His results were 4R, 3R, QF and F respectively. He holds no doubles titles currently, and his highest ranking in doubles has been No. 89 as of April 2, 2007.
Interesting and Inspirational Quotes -
"I like playing against serve-and-volleyers because returning is one of my best things that I do on the court. So playing against him, it kind of suits me a bit more than him playing against me." - Andy Murray
"Pretty much all the matches I have lost in ATP tournaments have been very close so I know this is not out of my depth now and I am just looking forward to starting again next year." - Andy Murray
"I'd probably live a few years longer if we had more of them. We knew it was imperative to get off to a good start and we certainly had some jump in our step. We were skating. We are afraid of being embarrassed here if we didn't play hard." - Andy Murray
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Lleyton Hewitt was born on February 24, 1981 and is a former World No 1 tennis player that hails from Australia. He became the youngest male ever to obtain a number 1 ranking in 2001. He has numerous career achievements, awards and wins, including a 2001 US Open win, a 2002 Wimbledon Men's Singles Title, and 34th place on Tennis Magazine's top 40 Players since 1965. As of August of 2008, Lleyton Hewitt is ranked as number 56 in the world, mainly because he sustained a hip injury that is requiring him to sit out the rest of this year's season in favor of hip surgery.
Hewitt is very well known for his competitive nature and the fact that his matches are won using consistency, fitness, aggression and highly skilled foot work.
Where He Is Now -
After Wimbledon this year, Lleyton Hewitt had to miss out on the Montreal and Cincinnati Masters because his hip required a sufficient amount of rest after an injury if he was going to play in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the Beijing Olympics he managed to defeat Jonas Bjorkman in the first round, but he lost to the second seed, Rafael Nadal. In the opening round of his doubles match with Chris Guccione against Agustin Calleri and Juan Monaco from Argentina, Hewitt and Guccione prevailed 18-16 after the match went into an advantage third set. After the Olympics had ended, because Hewitt had sustained further damage to his already injured hip, he was forced to pull out of the United States open. At this point, Lleyton Hewitt is taking some much needed time off, skipping the remainder of the season to focus on having hip surgery instead. He plans to return in time for the Sydney Invitational, however, and has high hopes of doing well in the Australian season come summertime.
Career Highlights -
Lleyton Hewitt has won numerous awards and has a variety of different tournament wins under his belt. He has won 26 career singles finals, including 2 Grand Slams, 2 Tennis Master Cups, 2 ATP Masters Series and 20 ATP Tours. His most recent career singles finals win was March 5, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada in the United States against a player named Jürgen Melzer. He has been a runner up when competing in fourteen separate events, with the most recent being a match against James Blake in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 6, 2006. He has won two career doubles finals, in August and September of 2000.
Interesting and Inspirational Quotes -
“Every tournament I've played so far this year I've put myself in a position to win. The last six Grand Slams I've played I've lost to the eventual winner, so I'm obviously doing something extremely right. I've just got to take that next step to hold up the trophy.” - Lleyton Hewitt
“I've had a different preparation this year. I did a lot of hard work and training so that I'd last right through the Australian summer.” - Lleyton Hewitt
“Especially big ties. When we've played the finals before, quite often I'd played the Masters Cup and the whole indoor circuit and a lot of matches and maybe I was physically run down a little bit going in,” - Lleyton Hewitt
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Andrew Stephen Roddick, better known as Andy Roddick, was born on August 30, 1982. He is an American professional tennis player, and has been considered to be the World No. 1 as well. Right now he is considered to be the eighth ranked player in the entire world, as of August 18 of this year. In the 2006 and 2007 ATP Race he finished sixth, and in the 2003 United States Open he became a Grand Slam Singles champion. He has reached as far as thee additional Grand Slam finals, including Wimbledon twice and the United States Open once, but each of those three times he lost to Roger Federer.
Andy Roddick is best known for his powerful serves and forehands, and he currently holds the record for the fastest serve ever recorded in professional tennis, which clocked in at a startling 155 miles per hour, or 249.4 kilometers per hour. Roddick was a member of the victorious United States Davis Cup team when the team won the 2007 Davis Cup. Roddick was responsible for defeating Dmitrv Tursunov of the Russian Davis Cup Team; the Russian Davis Cup team was the defending champion team at the time of the finals.
Where Is He Now -
Roddick started out his 2008 Tennis career quite strongly with a defeat against Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in a match of 6–3, 6–0 along with a Russian Marat Safin in a match of 6–3, 6–3 which allowed him to reach AAMI Kooyong Classic final for a total of four seasons consecutively. In the Final, he managed to beat Marcos Baghdatis 7–5, 6–3 which allowed him to win the tournament for the third consecutive year.
In the 2008 Australian Open, he was seeded sixth. He defeated Lukas Dlouhy from the Czech Republic at 6-3, 6-4, 7-5. In the second round he went on to defeat Michael Berrer, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Unfortunately in the third round he lost to the number 29 seed by the name of Philipp Kohlscreiber of Germany to 4–6, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6, 6–8. Despite losing during the third match, Roddick managed to serve a career high of 42 aces. In San Jose California he won his 24th career title as well as his 3rd overall title at the SAP Open, defeating the Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek in straight sets, 6–4, 7–5. In order to concentrate on the 2008 United States Open, Roddick bowed out of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Career Highlights -
Roddick has the fastest serve ever recorded in professional tennis at 249.4 kilometers per hour or 155 miles per hour. He also has the fastest serve in the history of the United States open at 152 miles per hour. Roddick also won the 2004 ESPY award for Best Male Tennis Player. In 2005 he won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award of the Year due to his charity efforts. His Andy Roddick Foundation sells blue wristbands like the Lance Armstrong Livestrong wristbands which say "No Compromise" on them.
Interesting and Inspirational Quotes
“Call me All-American, but I love Ham and Cheese sandwiches. And not just any old ham and cheese sandwich... My mother's is the best. I've tried many times to make these sandwiches on my own, but it's never the same.”
“That's the weird part for me, ... Being famous never feels normal. I don't know if it will ever become normal.”
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Pete Sampras was born in 1971 and grew up in the Washington DC area of the United States. He is considered to be one of the most gifted male players in the sport and has one numerous titles, medals and cups throughout his long and illustrious career. Although he is now retired, he remains to this date one of the winningest tennis players in the world.
He discovered tennis early on, but it wasn’t until he hit the age of seven, when his family moved to California that he began to take it seriously. He was considered by many to be a prodigy in the game and from the first time he picked up a racket, it was clear that he was destined for greatness.
At the tender age of 16, Sampras turned pro and by 1990 he was beating fan favorite Andre Agassi. It was at this match that he even beat the illustrious John McEnroe, a feat that not many other players have ever managed to accomplish. Although his career had its ups and downs, Sampras remained a strong player through it all.
What is he doing now?
Sampras is now retired, but he is still active in charity work and still plays in exhibition matches throughout the world. His form is still top notch and he frequently beats opponents without breaking a sweat. Truly, Sampras is one of the best tennis players to come along in many generations.
Championships:
Year Championship Opponent in Final Score in Final
1990 US Open (1) Andre Agassi 6–4, 6–3, 6–2
1993 Wimbledon (1) Jim Courier 7–6, 7–6, 3–6, 6–3
1993 US Open (2) Cédric Pioline 6-4, 6–4, 6–3
1994 n Open (1) Todd Martin 7–6, 6–4, 6–4
1994 Wimbledon (2) Goran Ivanišević 7–6, 7–6, 6–0
1995 Wimbledon (3) Boris Becker 6–7, 6–2, 6–4, 6–2
1995 US Open (3) Andre Agassi 6–4, 6–3, 4–6, 7–5
1996 US Open (4) Michael Chang 6–1, 6–4, 7–6
1997 n Open (2) Spain Carlos Moyá 6–2, 6–3, 6–3
1997 Wimbledon (4) Cédric Pioline 6–4, 6–2, 6–4
1998 Wimbledon (5) Goran Ivanišević 6–7, 7–6, 6–4, 3–6, 6–2
1999 Wimbledon (6) Andre Agassi 6–3, 6–4, 7–5
2000 Wimbledon (7) Patrick Rafter 6–7, 7–6, 6–4, 6–2
2002 US Open (5) Andre Agassi 6–3, 6–4, 5–7, 6–4
Interesting and Inspirational Quotes:
“The difference of great players is at a certain point in a match they raise their level of play and maintain it. Lesser players play great for a set, but then less.”
“I let my racket do the talking. That's what I am all about, really. I just go out and win tennis matches.”
“I just had to hang in there and make sure I was dictating play,”
“This is more about just getting myself a little busier and focused on something I used to be good at. It's time this year to do a little more. Last year, I was kind of floating along.”
“When you retire, you take time away, you don't want to have anything to do with tennis. After two years of having fun and not doing much in the sport, you get a little bored and want to know what's the next chapter in your life. Last year was a turning point 'What am I going to do next?' and I had to make a decision.”
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Easily one of the most volatile players ever to grace the sport of tennis, and well known for his signature line, “you cannot be serious,” John McEnroe is forever etched into the minds of tennis fans throughout the world. His hot temper, raw natural talent and his penchant for disagreeing with the referees got him into trouble more than once, but he remains one of the best players the game has ever seen.
He was born in 1959 and got into tennis early in life. His early education in the sport paid off, and over the course of his career he landed eight grand slam titles. All told, McEnroe won 155 titles a feat that few players have been able to achieve. Considered to be one of the most talented, if not one of the loudest players in history, McEnroe inspired thousands of people to take up the sport and many have gone onto greatness since then.
His rivalries with other players in the 1980’s were a journalist’s dream, particularly the one with Bjorn Borg that played out over the course of many years. He also got into numerous verbal altercations Jimmy Connors and countless refs throughout his career. Never afraid to say what he thought, McEnroe channeled this into writing a book, which was an instant success on the New York Times Best Seller List.
Often the subject of parodies on comedy shows, McEnroe has also appeared in many different commercials. One of the most remembered was for Nike, where he took fellow tennis star Pete Sampras out on the court and showed him how to throw a tantrum.
What is he doing now? In 2006, McEnroe became one of the oldest players to return to the sport when he left retirement to play and win in competition. He is still active in the sport and plays in competitive games as well as exhibition matches.
His high profile marriage to Tatum O’Neill and their resulting breakup was the subject of many controversial books and it is clear that even in semi-retirement, McEnroe continues to be a pop culture icon, for better or for worse.
Championships:
Singles
Year Championship
1979 US Open
1980 US Open (2nd)
1981 Wimbledon
1981 US Open (3rd)
1983 Wimbledon (2nd)
1984 Wimbledon (3rd)
1984 US Open (4th)
Doubles
Year Championship
1979 Wimbledon
1979 US Open
1981 Wimbledon (2nd)
1981 US Open (2nd)
1983 Wimbledon (3rd)
1983 US Open (3rd)
1984 Wimbledon (4th)
1989 US Open (4th)
1992 Wimbledon (5th)
Interesting and Inspirational Quotes:
“What is the single most important quality in a tennis champion? I would have to say desire, staying in there and winning matches when you are not playing that well.”
Everybody loves success, but they hate successful people”
“You cannot be serious!”
“The important thing is to learn a lesson every time you lose. Life is a learning process and you have to try to learn what's best for you. Let me tell you, life is not fun when you're banging your head against a brick wall all the time.”
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Andre Agassi has become a fixture in the tennis world, and thanks to a series of high profile relationships, sponsorship deals and a great will to win, he has become an indelible fixture of pop culture as well. His gold medal win in the Olympics, and the sheer number of championships he has won speak for themselves. In addition to being a media darling, Agassi knows tennis – and he knows it well.
Born in 1970 in Nevada, Andre’s father was certain that one of his sons would become a tennis player. In fact, it was his dream that at least one of them would go on to win four grand slams, a feat that Andre actually did accomplish. Although his father drove him hard, this gave him the foundation he needed to become a star in this game.
Out of all the male tennis players in history, Andre is the only one to have won a Golden Slam. After realizing his father’s dream of winning four Grand Slams, he career faltered a little bit due to back problems, but he managed to go out on top, despite the fact that he lost the last game that he played.
Andre remains one of the most well respected figures in the sport and is certainly one of the most talented. Few have come close to reaching his sheer amount of triumphs, but he has undoubtedly inspired a whole new generation to try to go for the gold and follow in his footsteps.
What is he doing now?
Due to severe back problems, Andre has now retired from tennis. He currently is married to Steffi Graff and they have two children. He stays busy with his charitable foundation and recently opened up a school in Las Vegas, his home town, for troubled and at risk youths.
Championships:
Year Championship
1992 Wimbledon
1994 US Open
1995 Australian Open
1999 French Open
1999 US Open (2nd)
2000 Australian Open (2nd)
2001 Australian Open (3rd)
2003 Australian Open (4th)
Interesting and Inspirational Quotes:
“Nothing can substitute for just plain hard work. I had to put in the time to get back. And it was a grind. It meant training and sweating every day. But I was completely committed to working out to prove to myself that I still could do it.”
“It has meant a lot to me to challenge the best players in the world and to beat them. And it means a lot to me to be out here and fighting for the title and, you know, it hurts not to win it.”
I think I've always had the shots. But in the past, I've suffered too many mental lapses. Now, I'm starting to get away from that and my mental discipline and commitment to the game are much better. I think I'm really taking a good look at the big picture. That's the difference between being around for the final or watching the final from my sofa at home.”
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