See How Roger Federer celebrates his birthday despite not ranking for the first time since..
Roger Federer celebrates his 41st birthday today. Roger is one of the oldest players left on the Tour, but this August 8 brings one notable difference. Federer does not have an ATP ranking on his birthday for the first time since 1997.
Roger has not competed for over a year, losing all his points and leaving the ATP ranking for the first time in 25 years. Federer earned his first ATP points in September 1997 at 16. A teenager lost in the qualifying round of the ATP event in Gstaad in July 1997 before entering those Bossonnens events, his first professional tournaments in the main draw.
In four events played on outdoor clay, Roger made two semi-finals. He lost them against the 2nd seed Daniele Balducci and the top seed Agustin Garizzio.
Roger Federer turns 41 today.
Federer scored eight wins that month in Bossonnens and found himself on the verge of the top-800.
Making significant progress through the ATP ranking list, Roger entered the top-100 two years later and cracked the top-20 in February 2001. The Swiss entered the top-10 in May 2002 following the first Masters 1000 title in Hamburg.
He played well in the next 15 months and missed a chance to conquer the ATP throne in the summer of 2003. Roger kicked off the 2004 season with his first Australian Open title and became world no. 1 and a dominant figure for the next four and a half years.
After a couple of seasons spent behind the leading players, Federer bounced back between 2017 and 2019. He claimed Majors and Masters 1000 crowns and finished 2019 ranked 3rd behind his everlasting opponents Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic.
The Swiss reached the 2020 Australian Open semi-final before announcing a knee surgery. He underwent another in May and skipped the rest of the season, hoping for a fresh start in 2021. Roger played five tournaments in the previous season, reaching the Wimbledon quarter-final as the oldest player in the Open era but still struggling with knee issues.
Federer underwent the third surgery last summer and has not played since then. The Swiss Maestro should compete again in the Laver Cup in London in September and at home in Basel later this year, wishing for another season on the Tour in 2023.
