Roger Federer named GQ's most stylish man of the decade

 

by  Peter Hapak

Roger Federer has long been stylish with his game and his fashion, both on and off the court. And the Swiss superstar finished the 2010s with a big award in the style department, being named GQ’s Most Stylish Man of the Decade on Friday.

The award was decided by the fans in an Instagram-based bracket contest. Every day, fans voted between two celebrities on GQ's Instagram stories. The winner of each 'match' moved on. Federer advanced past A$AP Rockey, Jonah Hill and Harry Styles before defeating Timothée Chalamet for the title. The likes of LeBron James, Kanye West and Ryan Gosling also were part of the competition.

s The editors of GQ described each of the 16 celebrities in the bracket, and this is what they wrote about Federer:

“Some of the guys on this list made their reputations on red carpets; others, in paparazzi shots. Roger Federer, on the other hand, has a case for most stylish man of the decade thanks to something as simple as this: When the guy puts on his Wimbledon whites, he stands basically alone. It’s not about his clothes so much as the righteously relaxed, preternaturally confident way he moves in them. (Also: Dude is a Bond-level tux wearer.)”

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Roger Federer first living person to be featured on Swiss coin

Roger Federer fans can now have the Swiss legend with them at all times. Swissmint has created a 20-franc silver coin bearing Federer's image. It's the first time in its history that Swissmint has created a commemorative coin to honour a living person.

Federer is perhaps Switzerland's most well-known individual, having won 103 tour-level titles, including 20 Grand Slam crowns and 28 ATP Masters 1000s. He has also spent a record 310 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings.

The 38-year-old finished No. 3 in the 2019 year-end standings, marking the 15th time he's finished in the Top 3, which is a record. He also became the oldest player to end his season at No. 3.

Off the court, the Swiss engages in philanthropic activity around the world with his self-named foundation, which he created in 2003. Federer has had other off-court commemorations as well. In 2012, the German city of Halle, where Federer is now a 10-time champion, named a street after the Swiss. In 2007, Swiss Post released a Roger Federer stamp in his birthplace of Basel.

More coins will have Federer's face next year. In May 2020, Swissmint plans to issue a Federer 50-franc gold coin featuring a different design.

For the 20-franc coin, the pre-sale began on Monday 2 December and continues until 19 December 2019, or until the first minting run of 55,000 units has sold out, whichever comes first.

Fans shouldn't despair, however, if they miss out on the first run. If demand exceeds the initial run, Swissmint “reserves the right to produce a further 40,000 coins and issue them in May 2020.”

All of the Federer coins can be purchased through the Swissmint's website.

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Martina Hingis becomes Ambassador for Swiss Tennis Academy

Swiss tennis legend Martina Hingis will continue her involvement with the sport in her homeland by becoming an ambassador for the Swiss Tennis Academy.

The Academy, founded in 2009, wishes to focus specifically on high-performance athletes from at home and abroad, and it is hoped that Hingis, who also holds a coaching license and is the coach of the Swiss national team in Fed Cup, will be able to help attract talent from the Asian market.

“I’m absolutely delighted to once again be able to play a more active role in Swiss tennis,” she said in a statement. “In my mother’s academy I learnt what a difference good coaching can make and I’m very happy that I will be able to accompany many young players on their way forward together with the ambitious team at the Swiss Tennis Academy.”

Meanwhile, Swiss Tennis believe that the five-time Grand Slam singles winner’s commitment to the project is evidence that they are getting things right.

“The fact that Martina wants to work with us to develop the Swiss Tennis Academy further and in doing so position the location of Biel / Switzerland as a worldwide center of competence for tennis, is not only a great honor and pleasure for us, but also shows that we are on the right path,” René Stammbach, the president of Swiss Tennis, said.

With a coaching team that is five-strong, the focus is on quality rather than quantity.

“Our Academy is not the largest, but ‘small and sweet’ - this ranges from the coaching team with highest level of qualifications to individual support for every player. With us nobody is treated as a number, but each person is supported as an athlete and individual,” Peter Frey, the head of the academy said.

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Roger Federer falls to Tsitsipas at Nitto ATP Finals, but is extremely excited for next season

Roger Federer admits to having his chances against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday at the Nitto ATP Finals in London. The six-time champion went one for 12 on break points against the Greek in what must have felt like a sequel to their Australian Open quarter-final in January, when the Swiss didn't convert any of his 12 break points.

“No doubt I had my chances,” Federer said. “[I] had some good spells, but the spells where things were not working well, they were pretty bad. At this level, you just can't have it happen, so that was pretty disappointing today.”

But don't expect the 38-year-old Swiss, who will finish year-end No. 3 in the ATP Rankings, to mull over his semi-final loss for too long.

Federer can feel proud of finishing inside the Top 3 of the year-end ATP Rankings for the 15th time, his four ATP Tour titles, including his 100th in Dubai, and his 16th semi-final at the season finale at The O2.

“I've got to keep on playing at the level like I have this year, and then I will create some chances. I thought I played some consistent, solid tennis. Got to take care of my body, listen to the signs, work well with the team, get the balance right with everything that's happening in my life,” Federer said about his hopes for 2020.

“But I'm happy how I played this season, and I'm extremely excited for next season.”

The Swiss beat Tsitsipas for the Dubai title, won his 28th ATP Masters 1000 in Miami (d. Isner) and won his 10th title in both Halle (d. Goffin) and Basel (d. De Minaur), his hometown tournament.

Federer fell short of winning Big Titles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells (l. Thiem) and at Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic). He'll look to shore up his performances in those big matches next year during his 23rd season on Tour.

“When the matches come, it's not maybe as easy as it was maybe 10, 15 years ago, where you're just going to play very good day in, day out. Maybe you need to do extra effort sometimes for that to happen. Maybe that's what it felt like today, just things were complicated. But I've got to maybe do even a better job at figuring these moments out, because the opportunities were there today, for instance. They were there in other moments as well this season, maybe Indian Wells or Wimbledon,” said Federer, who had two match points against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final.

“That can change an entire season around, the confidence around, the flow of things.”

Federer, who is 2-2 against Tsitsipas in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, was complimentary of the 21-year-old.

“I thought that he played really well. He took the ball early. I know he does that. I thought I returned actually pretty good on the first serve... For the most part I wasn't quite getting into the rallies the way I wanted to,” Federer said. “I think I have to credit him for pushing me to not play at the level I was hoping to today."

About Tsitsipas' one-handed backhand, which the Greek hit effectively down the line, Federer added, “He can loop it and come down on it, and that's why also I believe he's good on faster courts and on slower courts. It's going to be very beneficial for his career... Obviously it's his footwork that's always on the aggressive side. Any short ball will be attacked, and I think he does that very, very well. He's one of the best at that in the game.”

Federer, however, minutes after the loss, was already prepared to move on and think about future opportunities.

“It's the year-end. It's over now, and I can't make it better. I tried everything I could, to be honest. I tried to chip it eventually, tried to stay back and hit some. I tried to come forward. And for the most part I actually tried to play up in the court and tried to play aggressive. But, of course, with his aggression, it's not always easy because he always takes the ball very early himself too,” Federer said.

“I knew he was going to be incredibly athletic. He was just a little bit better today at all those little things.”

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You win some, you lose some. That's kind of how the year went for Roger, lots of chances he just wasn't able to capitalize on. 

Something I am hoping he'll find a way to improve on in 2020, because generally his year has been pretty darn good. 

Got 4 titles (yeah ok no Grand Slams, but any title is always better than none confidence wise). 

And he got revenge on Djokovic for Wimbledon by finally beating him for the first time in 4 years. 

I thought Roger didn't play badly against Tsitsipas, he was just outplayed, and the forehand wasn't there for him, when that isn't there it always seems to make things more difficult. 

Can't be too upset with it all though, because as I said all in all it's been another stellar year for the man from Switzerland. I'm with Roger on this one bring on 2020. I can't wait for more.  

Round Table With Nadal, Djokovic & Federer Nitto ATP Finals | ATP

Roger Federer gets revenge for Wimbledon loss in 49th meeting with Djokovic at Nitto ATP Finals

Roger Federer can probably play better, but it's hard to imagine how.

The 38-year-old Swiss beat Novak Djokovic for the first time in four years – and six FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings – on Thursday night, dazzling a capacity crowd at The O2 with a 6-4, 6-3 win against the World No. 2.

“Great atmosphere, a great opponent here in London at The O2, definitely incredibly special. Just a night I enjoyed from the beginning. I played incredible, and I knew I had to because that’s what Novak does and I was able to produce. So it was definitely magical,” Federer said.

The third-seeded Federer, making his 17th appearance, reached his 16th semi-final at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals and ended Djokovic's season, along with his hopes of finishing year-end No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for a record-tying sixth time.

Djokovic needed to win the title to have a chance at knocking Rafael Nadal off the top spot, but now Nadal is guaranteed his fifth year-end No. 1 finish, evening him with Federer, Djokovic and American Jimmy Connors.

Federer finished second in Group Bjorn Borg, behind Austrian Dominic Thiem, who beat both Federer and Djokovic earlier this week. The Swiss will face the Group Andre Agassi winner on Saturday.

No matter who he faces, though, if the six-time champion plays like he did on Thursday evening, he'll be hard – if not impossible – to beat. Federer barely made a mistake against Djokovic, attacking the Serbian and serving flawlessly. He finished with 23 winners to only five unforced errors.

In the first set, Federer won 87 per cent (20/23) of his service points and made only one unforced error to start their 49th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Djokovic had won their last meeting, saving two match points in the Wimbledon final, but the Serbian threw in a loose service game at 1-1. The World No. 2 donated two double faults to start, and on break point, 0/40, Federer walloped a sitting backhand.

“He was the better player in all aspects and absolutely deserved to win,” Djokovic said. “He served great, moved well, returned my serve very well... He did everything right.”

Djokovic, who led their head-to-head series 26-22, responded in the second set, saving two break points in the opening game to rip back momentum. The Serbian then saw his first break chance of the match in the fourth game, but couldn't convert and ran into more trouble on his serve at 2-2.

Djokovic, hearing chants of “Let's go, Roger, let's go!”, fell behind 15/40 and sailed a forehand long to give Federer the second break of the match. The Swiss, who lost the Wimbledon match points on his racquet, broke once more to close it out.

“There was a lot riding on the match. I think I served great, had great anticipation, a clear game plan and it worked to perfection tonight, and hopefully not the last time against Novak,” Federer said. “But even if it didn’t, it was all worth it. It was a great performance tonight from me.”

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Ah revenge, how sweet it is. 

I will admit I had my doubts about this one, based on the level Novak was at in his first 2 matches especially vs Thiem even though he lost it generally his level was much better than Roger.  

Even after Roger won the first set, I was holding my breath because I knew the job was not done yet and Djokovic being Djokovic could still mount some miraculous comeback as soon as Roger slightly dropped his level on serve. 

After all Roger won the first set at Wimbledon and we all know what happened there. As he himself said in his post match interview tonight in terms of what he did differently "I won the match point I guess". 

We all know how much that loss still hurts, so this straight sets win was a real statement that had to feel good. First win over  Novak Djokovic since 2015 ATP World Tour finals and it was an emphatic one. 

And the manner in which he accomplished it must have felt even better. His serve was the best it's been all tournament, probably since winning Basel in October. 

It put a lot of pressure on Djokovic, not giving him a chance to get into the match by playing long points the way he usually does. 

Roger was playing on his terms and that was the real difference. 

And yes I'm sure some will say that Djokovic was playing half-heartedly due to his previous match with Dominic Thiem taking a lot out of him physically or mentally, and there's some truth to that (he did grab his elbow in the beginning of the 2nd set). 

Might have also been the pressure of trying to win for another shot at end of year world #1 spot, and maybe even the crowd getting to him a bit. 

But whatever the factor, there's no denying that Roger is the one who was better tonight and he thoroughly deserved the win. 

Looking forward to finding out who he plays next in the semis over the weekend. 

And I'm going to re-watch this one because I was too stressed to truly enjoy it while watching it live. 

Roger Federer looking forward to Djokovic match at Nitto ATP finals

Roger Federer isn't shying away from the opportunity to avenge his Wimbledon final loss against Novak Djokovic. The Swiss held two match points on his serve but fell 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3), marking the first time in Wimbledon history that a fifth-set tie-break decided the final.

Federer, who beat Italy's Matteo Berrettini on Tuesday to move to 1-1 at this year's Nitto ATP Finals, will face Djokovic again on Thursday with semi-final implications on the line.

“We have played a lot of matches since, and I think we both look back at a great match. I think we both can take away some confidence from the match. Him, obviously a lot. Me, maybe a tad bit less,” Federer said.

“But at the end of the day, I wasn't hoping [for] him not to be in my section or in my draw. I didn't hope I was never going to play him again.

“Actually, it's good for me to play him again, and maybe that all helps to get a chance to get him back or whatever it is... I'm personally excited to play against Novak on Thursday.”

Their Group Bjorn Borg meeting will be their first matchup since they played in the longest Wimbledon final in history (four hours and 57 minutes). Djokovic became the first Wimbledon champion to save match points in the final in 71 years.

The Serbian, who faces fifth seed Dominic Thiem on Tuesday night, leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Federer 26-22 and has won their past four matchups. Djokovic is also 3-2 against Federer at the Nitto ATP Finals.

“I think indoors you've got to go with what you can do best. At the end of the day, maybe it took me a few days, couple weeks at most, to get over the Wimbledon loss,” Federer said. “I still thought I played a great final and a great tournament, beating Rafa there along the way.

“I'm excited [to be] playing against him. I'm excited to see how he's going to play tonight, as well. It's definitely going to give me some more information about what to expect.

“But other than that, I think I need to focus on my game, what I do best. And regardless of what I need to do, I just hope I play well.”

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