Roger Federer (German pronunciation: ['rodZ@r 'fe:d@r@r]; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 2 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is regarded by many fans, players and analysts as the greatest tennis player of all time. Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles--the most in history for a male player--and has held the world No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a record total of 308 weeks, including 237 consecutive weeks. After turning professional in 1998, he was continuously ranked in the top ten from October 2002 to November 2016.

Federer entered the top 100 ranking for the first time on 20 September 1999 and started at the 1999 Marseille Open defeating the reigning champion of the 1998 French Open, Spaniard Carlos Moya. His first final came at the Marseille Open in 2000, where he lost to fellow Swiss Marc Rosset. Federer won the 2001 Hopman Cup representing Switzerland, along with Martina Hingis. The duo defeated the American pair of Monica Seles and Jan-Michael Gambill in the finals. Federer would later say that his experience with Hingis "definitely helped me to become the player I am today." Federer's first singles win was at the 2001 Milan Indoor tournament, where he defeated Julien Boutter in the final. Although he won his first title already in 1999 on the Challenger tour, winning the doubles event in Segovia, Spain with Dutchman Sander Groen, the final was played on Federer's 18th birthday. In 2001, Federer made his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open, losing to former world No. 2 and eventual finalist Alex Corretja. His run to the French quarterfinals launched him into the top 15 for the first time in his career.  His international breakthrough came at the 2001 Wimbledon Championships, where a 19-year-old Federer faced the four-time defending champion and all-time Grand Slam leader Pete Sampras. The teenage Swiss stunned the seven-time Wimbledon champion and No. 1 seed in a dramatic five-set epic to reach the quarterfinals. In the quarters he faced Englishman Tim Henman, eventually losing in an overtime fourth-set tiebreaker. Federer's breakthrough at Wimbledon signaled the record-breaking dominance he would display at the All England Club over the next two decades.  The first final he reached at the prestigious Masters level came at the 2002 Miami Masters event, where he lost to former and future world No. 1 Andre Agassi on hard court. Federer won his first Master Series event at the 2002 Hamburg Masters on clay, over Marat Safin; the victory put him in top 10 for the first time. Federer made 10 singles finals between 1998 and 2002, of which he won four and lost six. He also made six finals in doubles. Of note are Federer and partner Max Mirnyi's defeat in the final of the Indian Wells Masters in 2002, and their victory in the same year in the final of the Rotterdam 500 series event. Federer had won the latter a year earlier with partner Jonas Bjorkman. He finished 2001 with an ATP ranking of No. 13, and 2002 was the first year he was ranked within the top 10, finishing at No. 6.

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