Roger Federer's 2015 tennis season began on 4 January 2015 at the

2015 Brisbane International The 2015 Brisbane International was a tournament of the 2015 ATP World Tour and 2015 WTA Tour. It was played on outdoor hard courts in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was the sixth edition of the tournament and took place at the Queensland T ...

. Federer added a new tactic nicknamed the SABR ("Sneak Attack by Roger") to his strategy. Like the prior season, he reached 11 finals. Highlights from this season include winning his 1000th career match in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, surpassing 9000 aces in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, winning his first red clay court title in almost 6 years at the Istanbul Open, and two major runner-up finishes at both Wimbledon and the US Open. Despite the success, Federer dropped a rank to No. 3, ending the year with 6 titles.

Year summary

Australian Open and early hard court season

Brisbane International

Federer opened his season for the second consecutive year in

after reaching the final in 2014. He defeated

John Millman John H. Millman OLY (born 14 June 1989) is an Australian professional tennis player and commentator. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in October 2018. He has won one ATP title in his career. Personal life Millman ...

from a set and 1–3 down in his first match. He dropped only one game in a 39-minute victory over James Duckworth, before defeating

Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved o ...

in the semifinals in under an hour to set up a final against

Milos Raonic Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professio ...

. He recorded 1000 match win during the tournament.

Australian Open

Federer entered the first Grand Slam of the year as the second seed. He opened his campaign for his fifth crown at Melbourne Park with wins against

Yen-Hsun Lu Lu Yen-hsun (; born 14 August 1983) is a Taiwanese retired professional tennis player, who goes by the nickname Rendy Lu. He won the most titles on the ATP Challenger Tour in tennis history. His favorite surface is hardcourt, though several of ...

and

Simone Bolelli Simone Bolelli (; born 8 October 1985) is an Italian professional tennis player. Bolelli is a Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Australian Open doubles event with Fabio Fognini, together becoming the first all-Italian men's pair to win a ...

but was upset in the third round by

Andreas Seppi Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces. Tennis ca ...

in four sets, his first ever loss against the Italian. This ended his record of reaching at the least the semi-finals of the Australian Open for eleven consecutive years.

Dubai Tennis Championships

Federer opened his campaign for the seventh Dubai crown with a straight sets victory over

Mikhail Youzhny Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...

of Russia and then defeated Spaniard

Fernando Verdasco Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009. His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...

, winning in straight sets after a three-game deficit in the first set. Federer passed through the quarterfinals and semifinals with relative ease, dropping only four games against

Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...

and Borna Ćorić. In the final, Federer defeated world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in two sets. Federer elevated his head-to-head record against Djokovic to 20–17 overall, and 15–13 on hard courts with the straight sets victory. The victory gave Federer a record 7th Dubai crown. He also finished the tournament without dropping a set. During the final match, Federer hit 12 aces and surpassed the 9,000 aces mark in his career total, joining Goran Ivanišević, Ivo Karlović and Andy Roddick as the only players to achieve the mark since aces totals were recorded.

Indian Wells Masters

As the No. 2 seed, Federer started his quest for a fifth title at the BNP Paribas Open with a victory over Argentinian Diego Schwartzman and avenged his earliest Australian Open defeat against Italian

by beating him in windy conditions before claiming his 50th milestone win at the event by defeating American Jack Sock in straight sets. He then breezed past Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals. He extended his winning streak to 10 matches after battling hard in the semifinals against

and defeated him in straight sets to reach a sixth final in the desert. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the final in three sets.

Spring clay court season and French Open

Monte-Carlo Masters

Federer began his clay season at the 2015 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, Monte-Carlo Masters. He opened up against Jérémy Chardy who had beaten him on clay last year in 2014 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Rome. However this time Federer beat him in straight sets. He then played Gaël Monfils in the third round and lost in straight sets.

Istanbul Open

Federer next played at the inaugural Istanbul Open. In his opening match he beat Jarkko Nieminen in straight sets, improving his record against Nieminen to 15–0. The win also gave Federer his 200th clay court win. He then defeated Daniel Gimeno-Traver in the quarterfinals in three sets. In the semifinals, he won in three sets again against Diego Schwartzman to advance to the final, continuing his streak of making at least one clay final a season since 2001. He defeated Pablo Cuevas in the final to claim his 85th career title. It was his first title on clay since he won the 2012 Mutua Madrid Open on blue clay and his first on red clay since he won the 2009 French Open.

Madrid Open

Federer next played at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open, Mutua Madrid Open as the top seed. He lost his opening match to Nick Kyrgios in three tiebreak sets, despite being up a set and a break and squandering two match points.

Italian Open

Federer won his second and third round matches against Pablo Cuevas and Kevin Anderson (tennis), Kevin Anderson in straight sets. He cruised through Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals and Stan Wawrinka in the semifinals, winning both matches in straight sets after being down a break in the first set. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the final in straight sets.

French Open

Federer entered the 2015 French Open, French Open as the second seed. He beat lucky loser Alejandro Falla in the first round and Marcel Granollers in the second round, before reaching the round of 16 by defeating Damir Dzumhur in straight sets. He next played against Gaël Monfils but the match was interrupted due to darkness, after they split the first two sets. The match continued the next day, with Federer prevailing in four sets. He advanced to his 44th major quarterfinal and 11th at Roland Garros, where he lost in straight sets to his compatriot and eventual champion Stan Wawrinka in straight sets.

Grass court season and Wimbledon

Halle Open

Due to the tournament being upgraded to a 500 event, Federer was not given a first round bye. As the top seed and defending champion, Federer beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first round in three tight sets after being down 3–5 in the third set tiebreak. During the match, Federer slipped three times in poor conditions. Federer then beat Ernests Gulbis, Florian Mayer, and Ivo Karlović, all in straight sets, to make his 10th Halle final, where he defeated

to win a record 8th Halle title. By winning he became the third man in the open era to win a tournament eight times after Guillermo Vilas and Rafael Nadal.

Wimbledon

Federer entered Wimbledon as the second seed. He beat Damir Dzumhur, Sam Querrey and Sam Groth in the first three rounds, losing just one set (a tiebreaker) against the Australian to reach the second week of the tournament. He easily beat Roberto Bautista-Agut in the fourth round in straight sets to advance to his 13th Wimbledon quarterfinal and 45th overall. In his first match on Court One of the tournament, he beat Gilles Simon in straight sets to advance to his 10th Wimbledon semifinal. He then played a flawless match to defeat Andy Murray in straight sets and advance to his 10th Wimbledon final in a repeat against Novak Djokovic, becoming the first man to reach 10 Grand Slam finals at a single event in the Open Era. However, Federer was unable to sustain his form against Djokovic as he squandered a break in the opening set due to a knee injury and despite a fightback to win the second-set tiebreaker from 3–6 down, he lost the match in 4 sets, committing 35 unforced errors in the process. It marked the first time Federer had lost two back to back finals at Wimbledon, and it again denied him the chance to win a record 18th Grand Slam and a record 8th Wimbledon title to break his shared record of 7 Wimbledon titles with Pete Sampras.

North American hard court season and the US Open

Cincinnati Masters

Federer began his summer hard court season at the 2015 Western & Southern Open, Cincinnati Open as the second seed and defending champion. He defeated Roberto Bautista-Agut in the second round in straight sets before crushing Kevin Anderson (tennis), Kevin Anderson in the third round to advance to the quarterfinals. He beat Feliciano López in straight sets to set up a semifinal clash against Andy Murray. In the semifinal he beat Murray in two tight sets to advance to the final. In the final, he met world No. 1, Novak Djokovic and defeated him in straight sets to win a record 7th Cincinnati title and also deny Djokovic from achieving a historic Career Golden Masters. The win saw Federer regain the No. 2 ranking. It also marked the second time that Federer did not lose a set or have his serve broken at a Masters 1000, having achieved this record at the same tournament back in 2012 Western & Southern Open, 2012. This was also the first time that Federer had beaten the Top 2 players in the world at the same tournament, although this feat hadn't been possible during the years that Federer was ranked in the top 2 himself.

US Open

Federer entered the US Open as the second seed. He easily beat Leonardo Mayer and Steve Darcis in the first two rounds. He then beat Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets to advance to the fourth round where he defeated John Isner in three close sets that included two tiebreaks and finally breaking Isner's serve for the first time in the since the 2013 US Open (tennis), 2013 US Open. He then dominated

in the quarterfinals to advance to his 38th Major semifinal. Facing Stan Wawrinka, Federer triumphed in straight sets to advance to his 7th US Open final since 2009, where he played against Novak Djokovic for the sixth time this year for the championship. In their 42nd meeting overall, Federer lost to Djokovic in four sets, who once again leveled their rivalry to an even 21–21 head-to-head.

Davis Cup World Group-Play-offs

Switzerland played against the Netherlands in the play-offs. After Wawrinka won his match in five sets, Federer won his match against Jesse Huta Galung in straight sets to put Switzerland at a 2–0 lead against the Netherlands. He then played with Marco Chiudinelli in the doubles, but the pair lost to Matwé Middelkoop and Thiemo de Bakker in five sets. The loss did not tire Federer as he went on to beat Thiemo de Bakker in straight sets to put Switzerland back in the World Group.

Asian swing

Shanghai Masters

Federer played at the 2015 Shanghai Rolex Masters, Shanghai Masters as the second seed and defending champion. He lost to qualifier Albert Ramos-Viñolas in the second round in three sets.

European indoor season

Swiss Indoors

Federer started his indoors season at the 2015 Swiss Indoors, Swiss Indoors. As the defending champion, he easily beat Mikhail Kukushkin. He then defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber and David Goffin in three sets to advance to the semifinals. He then beat Jack Sock in straight sets to advance to his 10th straight Swiss Indoors final. He became the first man in the Open Era to achieve this record. Federer faced his archrival Rafael Nadal in their 34th career head-to-head meeting overall and their 21st finals meeting. Federer won in three sets giving him a record-extending 7th Swiss Indoors championship and his sixth title of the season. This was also his first win over Nadal since the 2012 BNP Paribas Open.

Paris Masters

Federer's next tournament was the 2015 BNP Paribas Masters, Paris Masters where he was seeded third. He easily beat

before losing in the third round to American giant John Isner in three sets without ever losing serve.

ATP World Tour Finals

Federer began his fourteenth consecutive year-end championships tournament with a straight sets victory over Tomáš Berdych. He then beat the defending champion, Novak Djokovic in straight sets, handing him his first loss at the year-end championships since 2011 ATP World Tour Finals, 2011. The win over Djokovic also snapped the Serb's 38 match winning streak on indoor courts. With the win, Federer advanced to the semifinals for a ATP World Tour records, record-breaking thirteenth time. He then won a tight three-setter against Kei Nishikori despite being up a set and a break to go undefeated in the round robin stage. In the semifinals, he defeated his compatriot Stan Wawrinka in straight sets after being down a break in the first set to advance to a ATP World Tour records, record-breaking tenth final at the year-end championships, setting up a rematch against Djokovic. He lost to Djokovic in straight sets, which saw their head-to-head rivalry an even 22 matches each by the end of 2015.

All matches

Singles matches

Doubles matches

Singles schedule

Doubles schedule

Yearly records

Head-to-head matchups

Roger Federer has a match win–loss record in the 2015 season. His record against players who were part of the ATP rankings ATP Tour records#Matches played / matches won versus top 10 and Winning percentage, Top Ten at the time of their meetings was . Bold indicates player was ranked top 10 at time of meeting. The following list is ordered by number of wins: * Tomáš Berdych 3–0 * Philipp Kohlschreiber 3–0 *

3–1 * Stan Wawrinka 3–1 * Novak Djokovic 3–5 * Kevin Anderson (tennis), Kevin Anderson 2–0 * Roberto Bautista Agut 2–0 * Pablo Cuevas 2–0 * Damir Dzumhur 2–0 *

2–0 * Andy Murray 2–0 *

2–0 * Diego Schwartzman 2–0 * Jack Sock 2–0 * Thiemo de Bakker 1–0 *

1–0 * Jérémy Chardy 1–0 * Borna Ćorić 1–0 * Steve Darcis 1–0 *

1–0 * James Duckworth 1–0 * Alejandro Falla 1–0 * Jesse Huta Galung 1–0 * Daniel Gimeno-Traver 1–0 * David Goffin 1–0 * Marcel Granollers 1–0 * Sam Groth 1–0 * Ernests Gulbis 1–0 * Ivo Karlović 1–0 * Mikhail Kukushkin 1–0 * Feliciano López 1–0 * Yen-hsun Lu 1–0 * Florian Mayer 1–0 * Leonardo Mayer 1–0 *

1–0 * Rafael Nadal 1–0 * Jarkko Nieminen 1–0 * Kei Nishikori 1–0 * Sam Querrey 1–0 * Gilles Simon 1–0 *

1–0 *

1–0 * Gaël Monfils 1–1 * John Isner 1–1 * Nick Kyrgios 0–1 * Albert Ramos-Viñolas 0–1

Finals

Singles: 11 (6 titles, 5 runners-up)

Earnings

Awards

*ATP World Tour Awards#Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award **Record eleventh award in career (fifth consecutive) *ATP World Tour Awards#ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favorite, ATPWorldTour.com Fans' Favourite **Record thirteenth consecutive award in career

References

External links

*
ATP tour profile
{{Men's Tennis Player Seasons: 2010–2019 Roger Federer tennis seasons, 2015 Roger Federer tennis season 2015 tennis player seasons, Federer tennis season 2015 in Swiss tennis 2015 in Swiss sport