Roger Federer junior years
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tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player Roger Federer's main accomplishments as a junior player came at Wimbledon, where, in 1998, he won both the singles tournament over
Irakli Labadze Irakli Labadze ( ka, ირაკლი ლაბაძე, tr, ; born June 9, 1981) is a Georgian retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 42, which he attained in July 2004. He is the first Georgian playe ...
, in straight sets, and the doubles with Olivier Rochus, over the team of
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
and
Andy Ram Andreas "Andy" Ram ( he, אנדי רם; born April 10, 1980) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. He was primarily a doubles player, and competed in three Olympics. He is the first Israeli tennis player to win a senior Grand Slam ...
, also in straight sets. In addition, Federer was a runner-up at the US Open Junior tournament in 1998, losing the final to David Nalbandian. Federer would go on to win four other junior singles tournaments in his career. As a junior, Federer was also known as a "hot head" on court which is distinct from his adult image of cool and calm, and being a great on-court role model.


Junior career


Background

Federer was almost four years old when
Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (, ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. Becker was successful from the start of his career, winning the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 17. He ultimately won six Grand Slam singles tit ...
, his childhood idol, won his first Wimbledon title in 1985. From then on, Federer watched "tennis matches on television for hours on end." Reflecting on his childhood, he said, "I liked tennis the best of all sports. It was always exciting and winning or losing was always in my hands." Soon after enrolling in school at the age of six, Federer became the best in his age group and trained three times a week in and around
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
. When he was eight, Federer joined a region-wide tennis group, where he first met Marco Chiudinelli, a "talented" boy who belonged to the nearby Basel Lawn Tennis Club; just a month younger than Federer. They quickly became friends, playing squash, table tennis, and football together, but were soon the 'black sheep' of the group, with one or the other often forced to sit on the sidelines for disciplinary reasons. They first played each other at an official event called ''The Bambino Cup'' in
Arlesheim Arlesheim is a town and a municipality in the district of Arlesheim in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. Its cathedral chapter seat, bishop's residence and cathedral (1681 / 1761) are listed as a heritage site of national significance ...
when both were eight. "Back then we only played one long set of up to nine games", Chiudinelli recollects. "Things weren't going well for me at the beginning. I was behind 2–5 and I started to cry. We cried a lot back then even during the matches. Roger came up to me and tried to comfort me when we switched sides. He told me everything would be alright, and in fact, things got better. I took the lead 7–6 and noticed that the tide had turned. Then he began to cry and I ran up to him and give him encouragement and things went better for him. It was the only time I could beat him." When he was 10, Federer began weekly private coaching with Adolf Kacovsky, a tennis coach at The Old Boys Tennis Club. "I noticed right away that this guy was a natural talent", said Kacovsky. "He was born with a racquet in his hand." At first, Federer received lessons only while part of a group, although "the club and I quickly noticed he was enormously talented. We began giving him private lessons that were partly funded by the club. Roger was a quick learner. When you wanted to teach him something new, he was able to pick it up after three or four tries, while others in the group needed weeks." Federer began using the one-handed backhand from an early age not only because Kacovsky was a fan of it, but also because all of his childhood idols,
Stefan Edberg Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 1985 ...
, fellow German
Boris Becker Boris Franz Becker (, ; born 22 November 1967) is a German former world No. 1 tennis player. Becker was successful from the start of his career, winning the Wimbledon Championships at the age of 17. He ultimately won six Grand Slam singles tit ...
, and later
Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...
, used the one-hander too. From ages 8 to 10, Federer received group and individual training from Kacovsky. At age 10, Federer began being taught at the club by Australian former tennis player Peter Carter.


Swiss junior champion

In 1993, Federer won the U12 Swiss national junior championships in
Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...
. Becoming the best junior in the country helped him decide to become a professional tennis player, so he stopped playing football at age twelve to concentrate solely on tennis, where he felt he had more control over his victories or defeats, rather than relying on the performances of his teammates. In 1995, at age 13, Federer won the U14 Swiss national junior championship and was chosen to train at the Swiss National Tennis Center in the French-speaking Écublens. In January 1997, at age 15, Federer won the U18 Swiss national championship.


ITF Junior Circuit

Federer joined the ITF junior tennis circuit in mid-1996, at the age of 14, and played his first match there at a grade-2 tournament in Switzerland. In May 1997, Federer won his first-ever ITF junior title in a second category tournament in
Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...
, defeating Luka Kutanjac in the final. Federer began the 1998 season by winning a second-category tournament in Victoria, defeating
Julien Jeanpierre Julien Jeanpierre (born 10 March 1980) is a former professional tennis player from France. Junior career Jeanpierre was a world number one ranked junior and had wins over Roger Federer, Lleyton Hewitt and David Nalbandian during his junior year ...
in the final. This victory saw him become one of the favorites for the Australian Open junior event, but Federer was stopped in the semifinals by Jeanpierre. He then won another second category tournament, this time in Florence, defeating
Filippo Volandri Filippo Volandri (born 5 September 1981; ) is a former Italian professional male tennis player. Volandri is a right-handed player who reached a career-high singles ranking of world no. 25 in July 2007. He turned professional in 1997 and has earn ...
in the final. His main accomplishments as a junior player came at Wimbledon in 1998, when he won both the boys' singles final over
Irakli Labadze Irakli Labadze ( ka, ირაკლი ლაბაძე, tr, ; born June 9, 1981) is a Georgian retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was World No. 42, which he attained in July 2004. He is the first Georgian playe ...
, in straight sets, and the doubles with Olivier Rochus, over the team of
Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...
and
Andy Ram Andreas "Andy" Ram ( he, אנדי רם; born April 10, 1980) is a retired Israeli professional tennis player. He was primarily a doubles player, and competed in three Olympics. He is the first Israeli tennis player to win a senior Grand Slam ...
, also in straight sets. Federer then reached the final of the US Open junior event, which he lost to David Nalbandian. In November, Federer went on a tour in the United States, where he participated in the under 18s category at the prestigious Eddie Herr International Junior Championships in Florida, and in the
Junior Orange Bowl The Junior Orange Bowl is a non-profit organization based in Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. c ...
in Miami, winning the later after beating Nalbandian in the semiinals and Guillermo Coria in the final. By the end of 1998 he attained the No. 1 junior world ranking and was awarded ITF Junior World Champion. Despite having another year as a junior left to go (1999), Federer instead decided to play full-time on the ATP tour, thus ending his ITF junior career at the end of 1998 with a high ranking of No. 1 in singles and No. 7 in doubles (both attained on 31 December 1998) and a win–loss record of 78–20 in singles and 36–21 in doubles. In total, he won four ITF junior singles tournaments in his career.


ITF Junior Circuit finals


Singles: 6 (5 titles, 1 runner-up)


Doubles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)


All matches


See also

* Roger Federer * Roger Federer career statistics


References


External links

*
Federer ITF Juniors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roger Federer Junior Years 1995-1998 Junior tennis 1996 in tennis 1997 in tennis 1998 in tennis 1990s in Swiss tennis 1990s in Swiss sport