Roger Federer today won his 19th grand-slam title with a straight-sets victory over Marin Cilic. It was the first time in his eight Wimbledon wins that he has gone through the tournament without dropping a set - but the winning feeling was just as familiar as ever.
2003 Wimbledon
Beat Mark Philippoussis 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 7-6 (7-3)
Seeds beaten: Two. Highest seed beaten: Andy Roddick (5). Sets dropped: One
Final length: 1h 56m
A 21-year- old Federer won his first grand-slam title against the unseeded Philippoussis, having failed to get past the quarter-finals in his first 16 grand-slam appearances. After beating Sampras on Centre Court in 2001, the Swiss youngster was knocked out of the 2002 tournament in the first round leading many to view him as a “bottler”. He sunk to his knees and, with tears in his eyes, lifted his hands to the skies when he knew the title was his. Federer became the first man to win the boys’ and men’s championship since Stefan Edberg in 1983.
2004 Australian Open
Beat Marat Safin 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 6-2
Seeds beaten: Three. Highest seed beaten: Juan Carlos Ferrero (3). Sets dropped: Two
Final length: 2h 15m
Newly crowned as world No 1, and without a coach after the departure of Peter Lundgren, Federer easily overcame his Russian opponent – who had spent over 17 hours on the court before the final, beating Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick in the process – despite not being at his best. Pundits and players alike began to wonder if Federer could dominate men’s tennis. “If Pete [Sampras] had a weakness, it was his backhand and really that only caused him problems on clay. Roger has everything but Pete was really, really tough,” Safin said.
2004 Wimbledon
Beat Andy Roddick 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4
Seeds beaten: Three. Highest seed beaten: Andy Roddick (2). Sets dropped: Two
Final length: 2h 31m
A stuttering Federer found his form after a second rain break, saving six break points in the fourth set to maintain his 100 per cent record in grand-slam finals. Though Roddick was renowned for his booming serve, Federer hit 12 aces to his opponent’s 11. “I threw the kitchen sink at him but he went to the bathroom and got his tub,” Roddick said.
2004 US Open
Beat Lleyton Hewitt 6-0, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0
Seeds beaten: Four. Highest seed beaten: Lleyton Hewitt (4). Sets dropped: Three.
Final length: 1h 51m
Federer became the first man to win his first four grand-slam finals in the open era, dishing out two bagels to Hewitt in a combined 43 minutes. It was a far cry from the 2003 Davis Cup semi-final between the pair when the Australian came back from two sets down to win in five sets – one of eight Hewitt wins in 13 encounters. Hewitt was on a 16-match winning streak at the time.
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2005 Wimbledon
Beat Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
Seeds beaten: Five. Highest seed beaten: Andy Roddick (2). Sets dropped: One
Final length: 1h 41m
Bouncing back from semi-final eliminations in the first two grand-slams of the season, Federer became the third man to win three Wimbledon titles in a row in the open era, following in the footsteps of Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg. “For me, he’s the most complete player I’ve seen,” Richard Krajicek said.
2005 US Open
Beat Andre Agassi 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7-1), 6-1
Seeds beaten: Four. Highest seed beaten: Lleyton Hewitt (3). Sets dropped: Three
Final length: 2h 20m
“He’s the best I’ve played against,” Agassi, eight-times grand-slam winner, said after he was beaten in four sets at Flushing Meadows. Federer became the first man to win back-to- back Wimbledon and US Open titles in the open era. Sampras won his sixth grand-slam aged 23, while Federer had just turned 24.
2006 Australian Open
Beat Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2
Seeds beaten: Three. Highest seed beaten: Nikolay Davydenko (5). Sets dropped: Five
Final length: 2h 46m
Federer came back from a set and a break down to beat Baghdatis, an unseeded 20-year- old from Cyprus. He continued to match Sampras’s feats, this time becoming the first man to win three consecutive grand-slams since the American did so in 1993/94. As Rod Laver handed over the trophy, the Federer waterworks were open for business once more.
2006 Wimbledon
Beat Rafael Nadal 6-0, 7-6 (7-5), 6-7 (2-7), 6-3
Seeds beaten: Three. Highest seed beaten: Rafael Nadal (2). Sets dropped: One
Final length: 2h 50m
Federer broke Bjorn Borg’s record of 41 grass-court wins in a row against Richard Gasquet in round one, extending the record to 48 as he won his fourth Wimbledon title. Having lost to the 20-year-old Nadal at Roland Garros – the only title still to elude him – Federer had instant revenge. They would go on to battle the next two French Open and Wimbledon finals.
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2006 US Open
Beat Andy Roddick 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
Seeds beaten: Three. Highest seed beaten: James Blake (5). Sets dropped: Two
Final length: 2h 26m
Tiger Woods was courtside to cheer on Federer, rather than his countryman Roddick, as he won his ninth grand slam, surpassing Ken Rosewall, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl and Agassi. A hat-trick of US Open titles in succession meant he tied Lendl as the only man to achieve the feat in the open era.
2007 Australian Open
Beat Fernando González 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 6-4
Seeds beaten: Five. Highest seed beaten: Andy Roddick (6). Sets dropped: None
Final length: 2h 20m
Bjorn Borg won the 1980 French Open without losing a single set. Not until the 2007 Australian Open did another man manage it, when Federer achieved the feat for the first time in his career. (He had to wait more than ten years to do it again.) This was Federer’s seventh successive grand-slam final. The sequence would eventually end at ten.
2007 Wimbledon
Beat Rafael Nadal 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-2
Seeds beaten: Five. Highest seed beaten: Rafael Nadal (2). Sets dropped: Three
Final length: 3h 45m
The Federer tears returned as he wrapped up a fifth consecutive Wimbledon crown, and a 54th consecutive grass-court win to boot. Borg was the only man to have won five in a row previously – not even Sampras managed more than four. This was the fourth of nine grand-slam finals between the pair.
2007 US Open
Beat Novak Djokovic 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4
Seeds beaten: Three. Highest seed beaten: Novak Djokovic (3). Sets dropped: Two
Final length: 2h 26m
With Nadal already rivalling Federer at the top, a 20-year-old Novak Djokovic reached his first grand-slam final at Flushing Meadows. The future world No 1 broke Federer in each set but was unable to make them count. “We’re going to have many more battles I think,” Federer said.
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2008 US Open
Beat Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2
Seeds beaten: Four. Highest seed beaten: Novak Djokovic (3). Sets dropped: Three
Final length: 1h 51m
Federer began the final major of the season without a grand-slam title to his name, having succumbed to Djokovic in the semi-finals at Melbourne, and to Nadal in finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. A 21-year-old Murray, who would soon become the fourth member of the “Big Four”, was blown away by Federer, now one title short of Sampras’s 14.
2009 French Open
Beat Robin Söderling 6-1, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
Seeds beaten: Four. Highest seed beaten: Juan Martín del Potro (5). Sets dropped: Six
Final length: 1h 55m
Nadal, for so long the obstacle to Federer’s French Open dreams, was surprisingly defeated by Söderling in the fourth round. His absence enabled the Swiss to complete a full house of major titles. He became only the sixth man to win all four, and tied Sampras on 14 grand-slam titles.
2009 Wimbledon
Beat Andy Roddick 5-7, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 16-14
Seeds beaten: Five. Highest seed beaten: Andy Roddick (6). Sets dropped: Three
Final length: 4h 18m
Twelve months after his five-set defeat to Nadal, Federer took another opponent to five sets, but this time he ended up taking home the title. Federer did not break Roddick’s fearsome serve until the 77th and final game of the match. “He’s a stud, a great guy, humble, a legend,” Pete Sampras said as he watched Federer overhaul his record number of grand-slam titles.
2010 Australian Open
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Beat Andy Murray 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11)
Seeds beaten: Five. Highest seed beaten: Andy Murray (5). Sets dropped: Two
Final length: 2h 41m
This was Federer’s 18th grand-slam final in the last 19 tournaments. In contrast, Murray was appearing in a final for just the second time. As with their meeting in the 2008 US Open final, Federer sealed an easy straight-sets victory.
2012 Wimbledon
Beat Andy Murray 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4
Seeds beaten: Four. Highest seed beaten: Novak Djokovic (1). Sets dropped: Five
Final length: 3h 24m
Federer had not made a grand-slam final since his win in Melbourne two years earlier, while Murray – now a grand-slam champion himself – was aiming to be the first Briton to win the men’s Wimbledon singles in 76 years. The Swiss came back from losing the first set to win his 17th grand-slam title, while Murray’s tears in defeat endeared him to a previously ambivalent nation.
2017 Australian Open
Beat Rafael Nadal 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Seeds beaten: Four. Highest seed beaten: Stan Wawrinka (4). Sets dropped: Seven
Final length: 3h 37m
The Federer-Nadal rivalry had not graced a grand-slam final since the 2011 French Open, but at Melbourne at the start of the year, the two men had one last five-set hurrah under the Melbourne floodlights. Five years after his last title – and at 35 years of age – Federer won number 18 while also becoming the first man to win five or more titles at three different grand-slam events.
2017 Wimbledon
Beat Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4
Seeds beaten: Five. Highest seed beaten: Milos Raonic (6). Sets dropped: None.
Final length: 1h 41m
Though Ken Rosewall remains the oldest major champion (37), the Swiss is the second-oldest grand-slam champion having added two titles to his collection in 2017 at the age of 35 (the first time in eight years he has won two in a calendar year). It was the third time Federer made the final at Wimbledon without dropping a set, but the first time he went on to win the whole thing in straight sets.