| If there's one tennis player today who exhibits the stuff | | | | Swiss Davis Cup team to a 3-2 victory over the |
| that legends are made of, it has to be the current | | | | United States. He was the 13th-ranked player in the |
| men's world number one player, Roger Federer of | | | | world by end-2001. |
| Switzerland. Since gaining the top spot in the men's | | | | He won his first ATP Masters Series (AMS) final in |
| tennis rankings in February 2004, Federer has been an | | | | Hamburg in 2002 as well as the Medibank International |
| immovable force and now holds the distinction of | | | | title. The highlight of that year was when he beat two |
| staying at number one for the third-longest time behind | | | | former world number ones (Russians Marat Safin and |
| only Ivan Lendl and Jimmy Connors. | | | | Yevgeny Kafelnikov) in Davis Cup competition. |
| And Federer has done it in style. In 2004, for instance, | | | | Federer finished 2002 as number six in the world. |
| he became the first man since 1988 to win three out | | | | It was in 2003 when Federer started to hit his stride. |
| of four Grand Slam events in the same year, capturing | | | | He started the year by winning two tournaments in a |
| the championships at the US Open, French Open and | | | | row. In July, he also captured the Wimbledon |
| Wimbledon. From 2003 to 2006, Federer won an | | | | Championships, his first Grand Slam crown. He also |
| astounding seven Grand Slam singles titles and was | | | | won the Tennis Masters Cup and led Switzerland to a |
| already being mentioned in the same breadth with | | | | semifinals appearance in David Cup action. |
| some of the greatest tennis players of all time. | | | | The year 2004 was the Year of Roger Federer as |
| Like many of the other tennis greats, Federer took up | | | | he put together one of the most dominant seasons |
| the game early, at age eight. He dominated the junior's | | | | ever seen in the open era of modern tennis. Aside |
| circuit for several years before joining the ATP tour in | | | | from winning three of the four Grand Slam events, |
| 1998, but not before an impressive reign as the ITF | | | | Federer also went home with the Tennis Masters Cup |
| World Junior Tennis champion. By 1999, he was good | | | | for the second straight year. He finished 2004 with a |
| enough to be named to the Swiss Davis Cup team. | | | | remarkable 74-6 win-loss record and was named by |
| He finished the year as the youngest player ever to | | | | Tennis Magazine as its "Player of the Year." |
| be ranked among the ATP's top 100. | | | | Want to find out about interpersonal communication |
| He won his first ATP tournament in 2001, but his big | | | | skills and importance of effective communication? Get |
| accomplishment that year was when he powered the | | | | tips from the Communication Techniques website. |