Did you know…

34 quirky, crazy fun-facts and observations about Fed and his world .

17 off-court and 17 on-court

( all of you may know some and some of you may know all, but still…. )

Off-court

Happy Birthday

Both born on the 8th of August. Both on top of their game. One playing, the other

acting. Roger Fedman – Dustin Hoffman

Fedrock

Fed stated in an interview that he listened to ACDC as a pre-match ritual.

He has been to see them live twice, but never in Dubai !!!

( ACDC has not come to Dubai yet )

Brand Equity

+ 4 =

RF-Fragrances ( the precursor ) + Rocco Forte Hotels ( the inspiration )

= RF ( Nike designed )

The most famous monogram in sport

Milk(a) Federer

Milk has an early connection with Fed.

Emmi, leading Swiss dairy was one of the earliest sponsors of Fed ( if not the first ) since 2002 before he

became an international star.

And then Juliette of course…..

Anything for the have-nots

Fed despises push-ups and prefers weights instead .

But when an Indian businessman offered to donate 500 USD per push-up for ‘poor tennis kids’ Fed was

right there, on stage, in a suit, doing 30.

Raising 15000 USD alongwith his hero Pete Sampras.

The Power of 10

Fed has something in common with all these footballers who sported the 10 number to achieve great success.

As per Pierre Paganini, Fed’s physical trainer, the key to Fed’s incredible physical fitness , apart from the

standard gym etc. is…..

10 hours of undisturbed sleep every night.

‘Court’manteaus

Fedal, Fedrinka, Fedberg are some famous ones. Some easily coinable ones are Fedbandian, Fedfin,

Feddick, Fedkovic etc.

But coming soon in June 2016, is an illustrated biography by Mark Hodgkinson, called Fedegraphica.

Agent 017

Fed had gone on record after his triumph in Wimbledon 2012 that he watched three Bond movies during the

tournament, to relax.

Which three ? Your guess is as good as mine.

But, there is still chance for Fed to play Bond.

Behind every successful man…

Two undisputed GOATs. For the uninitiated ,Fed with Sachin Tendulkar, ace batsman. Phenomenal mutual

respect between the two.

Coincidentally, both are married to women who are fairly older than them. It figures, right.

Tell me a story…

Two Swiss legends. One pierced the apple, the other knocked off the can, Story has it that both are true.

We will never know, will we.

Mount Fedmore

This meme shows Federer as the lone non- American amongst Michael Phelps ( swimming ), Michael Jordan

( Basketball ) & Babe Ruth ( Golf ).

Looks like Connors, McEnroe, Agassi & Sampras were not even considered.

Goodwill

One of the favourite movies of the ‘cerebral’ Fed

But with more than 2 million followers on Twitter, Fed need not go goodwill hunting !!!

Non-violinist

Fed tried his hand at the violin for the 75th anniversary of the Lucerne Festival sponsored by Credit Suisse, whom he

endorses.

As he himself says ,he better stick to tennis ( after some discordant playing )

You can check it out at http://www.classicfm.com/music-news/latest-news/roger-federer-plays-violin-lucerne-festival/

at your own peril

Mixed Doubles ??

Not a new on-court partner, but the Argentinian President - Cristina Koerchner - who had a message

for the girls that though she found Fed a ‘cute boy’ he is married and has twins too.

So hands off !!!

Best of both worlds

Two GOAT contenders ( ?? ) with the HGOAT ( Hottest Girl Of All Time ) – not coined by me, I should hasten to

add, just came across it on the net !!!

Fekira – UNICEF Ambassadors and Shakirafa in the Gypsy video.

Home away from home

Fed normally stays at the on-site Jumeira Creekside Hotel during the Dubai Open but for the past 2 years has

stayed at his own apartment with full family.

Somewhere, up, in one of those high-rises at the Dubai Marina.

The Young Ones

Two Wimbledon regulars - one off-court and the other on it.

One a bachelor boy, one a family man. One 74 & the other just turning 34

Congratulations, celebrations & jubilations as Cliff would sing

On-court

Out of this world

Interviewer : Who are the best players in tennis history ?Marat Safin : Borg, Sampras, Nadal

Interviewer ( surprised ) : What about Federer ?

Marat Safin : Oh Federer, I thought you said on planet Earth.

Heads or (pony)tails

Weeks as No 1 – 302 Weeks as No 1 – 1

Fed – Rafter – H2H – 0 -3( So much for Head-to-Head )

Underhead Smash

Nate Ferguson, ace racket stringer has one smashed racket – against Rafa in 2005. Fed did not give the

other one he smashed against Novak in 2009

There’s something about Miami

Swiss Family…

Between them, they have won everything - all Grand Slam titles, Year-end Finals, Davis Cup, Hopman Cup, Olympics Gold in doubles and…..

Olympics Gold in singles too.

That’s where Mr. Rosset is one up on Fed !!!

The Indian Connection

Sania Mirza was in the same IPTL team as Fed ( India Aces ) and she won Wimbledon recently with Martina

But this year Fed is leading UAE Royals

For crying out loud

Marco & Fed cried alternatively during their first match ( not after, during !!! ) when they were 12. Don’t know about Marco, but we haven’t seen the

end of Fed crying yet.

Was hoping during this Wimbledon. Will wait for it.

Fed Set Go

We all know that Fed has reached the Finals of 9 ATP World Tour Finals and won 6 of them.

In the Round Robin stage, however, Fed’s dominance is unparalleled. Of these nine times, he has qualified for the semis with a 3-0 score a whopping seven times.

Two Much

Though others have double-bagelled extremely lowly-ranked players, Fed is the only one has who has done it

at the semi-finals of a major event and that too an opponent who was a French Open champion the

previous year.

Roger Federer – Gaston Gaudio – 6 - 0, 6 - 0Tennis Master Cup Semis, 2005 in Shanghai

The Big Points

Games won : Roddick - 39 Federer - 38Break Points converted : Roddick - 2 Federer -

1

Poor Andy, still ended up losing in the Wimbledon 2009 final enabling Fed to overhaul

Sampras and get back to No 1.

Left, Right, Left….

Goran – the greatest server in tennis history - over 1000 aces

Wild spirit & Wild card Wimbledon Winner

Fed took his help by practising with him to defeat Rafa is the 2007 Wimbledon final. In order to unravel the leftie

mystery.

Dubious Record

What do these two legends have in common ? Longevity – yes.

But they both just won 4 games in a Grand Slam final – Connors against Mac at Wimbledon and Fed against Rafa

at French Open.

It happens sometimes…

Shock Tactics

The single-handed backhand is dying. The first nail in the coffin is pictured right here !!!

Of course Fed is not jumping ship. But he has stated that he finds it tough to play this ugly shot as his chest pains.

But he wished he had Agassi’s two-handed backhand.

Don’t cry for me Argentina

Nalbandian ended Fed’s streak of wins in 24 consecutive finals reached, in the 2005 Masters Cup

Canas ended Fed’s 41 match streak at Indian Wells, protecting his namesake Vilas’s record of 46.

Delpo ( 0 in H2H ) ended Fed’s 20 match streak in majors at the US Open 2009 finals

Contemporaries

Ivan Ljubicic – born 1979 – CoachFernando Gonzalez – born 1980 - Coach

Andy Roddick - born 1982 – CommentatorDavid Nalbandian – born 1982 - Retired

Marat Safin – born 1980 – PoliticianNikolay Davydenko – born 1981 –Retired

Mardy Fish – born 1981 – Retiring this yearLleyton Hewitt – born 1981 – Retiring this year

Roger Federer – born 1981 – World No. 2

Fedborg vs Macrafa

Borg & Fed’s 5 consecutive Wimbledon streak was ended by McEnroe & Nadal respectively ( both lefties )

Borg & Fed both lost their first and last matches against Mac & Rafa too.

Fed has a chance to change the equation though.

Volley & Serve

Elegance. Single-handed backhand. Most difficult to beat on fast surfaces. Winners of both Junior & Senior

Wimbledon titles. Keen squash players. Impeccable court-side manners….

The similarities are aplenty. But above all… Both have been rated as the best when it comes to sportsmanship.

Super-combo.

Roderer / Rover

Laver won The Calendar Grand Slam in 1962 & 1969. Fed is closest to this amazing feat - 3 majors in a

year thrice and 3 majors in a row twice.

The striking coincidence is that Laver was born on 9th August 1938. As he was born in Australia, it would

have been 8th August in Switzerland !!!

Wishing Roger Federer a very happy and momentous 34th birthday and

hope that he continues to be fit and continues to enthral millions around

the world for as long as possible.