Well?

But in my wildest dreams I didn't imagine he would have such unbelievable performances against Roddick and Philippoussis. I was so ecstatic after the final, I almost cried too. I finally thought "this is it!!!!!! This is the moment I've been waiting for!!!". I was so thrilled.

lol, well who would of thought that Federer would play that well against Roddick and then Mark? Who would of thought that he could destroy the worlds best server that easily? I didnt think so. I was actually calm about that match, I thought Roddick would win. I am still in shock of the shots that he came up with in that Roddick match.

 

I also a Pete fan forever ,

I be Roger's fan at he win Pete in Wimby 2001 ,he beat my idol !

But I attract by Roger !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :inlove: :inlove:

 

Same here...saw Roger play in juniors and wondererd how his shotmaking abilities would fare in the ATP circuit. And come Wimby 2001 vs Sampras, I was in awe of that performance. Been a big fan ever since but had to wait patiently since 2001 for Rogi's potential to come through (have been telling my friends how great Roger is since 2001).

Now I just hope Roger stays healthy and and keeps the tennis public mesmerized with his fantastic skills. Like most fans, I want him to break records and take his place among tennis immortals, but more importantly I'm gonna enjoy the ride.

 

since 2000, as a hingis fan i follow some other swiss players and niticed Roger,

 

Ive been a fan of Federer since I first saw him play. It was early 2000 a first round davis cup tie between Australia and Switzerland in Zurich.

I had only heard briefly of Federer at the time and didn't expect much resistance from him against the Australians. But then Roger played great tennis to beat Philippoussis, win the doubles and had the upper hand in large parts of the match against Hewitt, despite losing.

Since then I knew it would be a matter of time since Roger would begin playing well, he looked very weak mentally in those early years but I knew that he would still eventually win at least 1 slam with a bit of luck. Never did I expect him to reach the level he did at Wimbledon in 2003 or USO 2004 though.

The 2002 Wimbledon/FO disasters were disapointing but interestingly enough I was most concerned about Roger very early this year prior to the Australian Open. Roger played magnificent tennis to win in Houston yet seeing him in a warm up event in Australia when he first arrived there Roger could barely keep the ball in the court and I was worriedthat Roger may be another Safin, plenty of talent but very rarely does it all come together for him to play well.

Roger got rid of those fears during AO

 

I saw him for the first time in 1999, Roland Garros 1st round match vs Patrick Rafter. As a "to die for" Rafter fan I was a bit shoked wgen Rogi won the firts set, but Pat quickly focused and gave Rogi a lesson of tennis. Still, I remember that Eurosport comentator was very impressed of Roger;s tennis skills and he was only 17-years-old back than

 

I've cheered for Roger since the first time I saw him playing. I think it was the end of 2000. Then I didn't hear of him and in Februari 2001 I saw him again on tv, the first whole match I saw of him, it was the final of Rotterdam-tournament vs. Escude (Roger lost ) but since that moment I've been really following him.

 

I chanced upon Roger on TV playing in Wimbledon this year. It's a magic, since then I am addicted to his game.

Sometimes it's really irritating when some ppl turned up their nose on me as if I have to take a course to be a tennis fan ! It's totally crap. I maybe new to tennis, but it doesn't mean I don't know how to appreciate the game. Anyway it never be difficult to fall in love with Roger and his game.

 

I'm not sure but it was love at first sight I know I enjoyed his Wimby win over Pete and from then on I have been a big fan. I waited for him to agin a mind hold on himself, and he did. At IW last year, 2004, I spent so much time beside his practice court, I was afraid I'd get arrested for stalking. In 2003 also at IW he still was carrying the burden, the discrepency between what he felt he could/should be and where he was. He looked burdened. This year, all that put to rest, in looked free, light as the desert air

 

nicely said, avocadoe

 

I became a Federer fan because I simply adore his kind of play

 

since 2000, as a hingis fan i follow some other swiss players and niticed Roger,

Same here Daniel..:kiss:

 

Same here Daniel..:kiss:

Esther? Good to see ya here as well

 

Esther? Good to see ya here as well

Legolas? i'm not familiar with your nick here..

 

Legolas? i'm not familiar with your nick here..

I know but you know me I'm Yvil

 

I know but you know me I'm Yvil

I was about to ask you...are you vincent? then, i checked your profile..Hmmm..:scratch: looked a lil familiar..kinda like yvil..:haha:

 

Wimbledon 2001: I'd only just started following tennis properly with RG that year, and the first time I'd really bothered paying attention to the men's event at Wimbledon was in the latter stages the year before. That was when I suddenly realised how much I wanted someone to stop Sampras winning AGAIN, and was rooting for Rafter in the final, but he blew an excellent chance. In 2001 the defending champion was rusty and below-par and was taken to five sets by Britain's finest wildcard entrant Barry Cowan (who has now carved a broadcasting career in tennis out of that one near-miss, BTW), but still he wouldn't go down. I'm anticipating the prospect of a QF with Henman and another Sampras victory, and then on the highlights show one evening McEnroe happens to suggest that "if Pete doesn't step it up in the next round, he's not gonna beat Federer."

Who? Oh yeah, that guy in the headband whom I saw briefly at RG shouting and throwing temper tantrums and digging himself a grave against Corretja in the quarters (this was all I'd ever seen or heard of Federer before then, and my only impression was that he was far too petulant). But then as the match unfolded, I became mesmerised by how he was managing to dominate the game against Sampras in a way no-one else had managed to do in years. The style was nice, very impressive, but above all the fact that someone was able to take on Pete was what really pleased me. He got up two sets to one, then lost the fourth set breaker with a forehand that he hooked wide when the whole court was open, and I thought Sampras had squeezed through again. But then I remember the final game, with some volley errors getting Federer to matchpoint, and the amazing return winner he hit down the line to end it - "He's done it!" the commentator shouted, and as they shook hands at the net he asked "How long will it be before we see this young man lifting this very title?" In all honesty, I didn't think it would happen only two years later.

After that he was kind enough to lose a very tight match to Henman in the quarters and then he rather went off my radar. I did hope in vain for him to at least live up to the hype before his match with Agassi at the US Open, and he did nothing of the sort, which is hardly surprising in hindsight. The one big match I recall from the indoor season of 2001 was that first meeting with Roddick in Basel - so interesting to compare the match-up then with now, because both were young and inexperienced and were on a much more even footing. Federer failed to serve out the match and came back from 3-5 down in the deciding breaker to win it 7-5. He lost in the final to Henman, but I was a confirmed fan now.

2002 was incredibly frustrating, though, full of great highs and equally great lows. The main presenter we have over here on Sky Sports was never that impressed with what he saw as Federer's apathetic attitude - he's singing a different tune now, of course - and was always slamming him after early-round losses, saying someone needed to give him a kick up the backside. I could see his point, given that Federer's emotionless demeanour can make it look like he's tanking when he's losing. Everyone declared that he had made it to the big time when he won Hamburg, and then the GS defeats followed... Wimbledon was a particular low point, he had absolutely no idea what to do on the court. It was painful watching him lose tight matches over the summer because of low confidence; commentators were still labelling him one of the lesser favourites for the US Open, saying he had the potential, but that sort of status really didn't match what I was seeing on the court.

Back then it was matches with Hewitt that were the most infuriating, especially that TMC match which summed up everything that was wrong with Federer at the time: 5/21 breakpoints converted, getting up 5-2 in the first set and losing five straight games... interestingly Hewitt was at a real low ebb during that tournament, he barely scraped through in all his matches, and he choked the second set in return after serving for the match. Federer then had umpteen chances to break in the decider, didn't take them, and finally lost through physical fatigue - he was double faulting his service games away at the end.

Last year it was Nalbandian that was the big frustration, his ability to read Federer's game perfectly and Federer's inability to change things around. That US Open loss was the last straw - he went in talking tough about being motivated for the match, saying it was time he beat him, that he was going to try something different... and there was no evidence of that at all. Instead he notched up over 60 unforced errors, insisted on serve-volleying every first serve when he was getting killed on the returns, and let control of the match slip away from him. I thought he had turned the corner in many ways when he beat Agassi at last in that RR match at Houston, but I didn't think he had truly arrived at the top until those back to back victories over Hewitt and Nalbandian at the AO this year. I remember getting up in the morning to check the result of both those matches, and both times I fully expected Federer to have lost, given his head-to-head with them. Everything has seemed so much easier since then.

What was it that made me a Federer fan? Short answer, that Wimbledon win, LOL.

 

It was really a pity that I didn't catch Roger earlier enough, but still it was not late.

TMC 02 was when I saw Roger for the first time. Guess what I thought on seeing him at first sight: hey this guy must be about 28 or sth and must be some fluke participant of TMC I was surprised about his real profile, 21 of age was the most surprising thing, before I saw him play. After I saw him play, I was not surprised any more. I was thinking like OK, it did make sense that he was called the next Sampras (I was once a Pete fan and dumped tennis after I had to live at school and at the same time when Pete was going down his way). So watching his semi against Hewitt knowing exactly how the match went on made me a bit frustrated and pissed off. TMC 02 marked the start of my love with Roger and his game. Then I followed him more and more closely.

There came 03 AO. The only match I caught was 4th round against Nalbandian. I was staying up late into the midnight only to find him lose in a 5 setter. But I was really optimistic and encouraged, thinking that if he could keep his level of play up to that of the 4th set, then he was almost unbeatable.

Before FO, I rarely had chance to watch any tennis coz I had to stick to school. Only some news from time to time. And then one day I came back home, turning on the TV right on stepping in my house, only to hear that 'The 5th (or 6th? don't remember clearly) seed Roger Federer from Switzerland knocked out in the first round by surprise, other top players through'. I was like, oh well, guy, how could you treat me like this, you know, I came back home just for your FO action Almost no more FO for me any more.

Wimbledon semi was really a story for everyone I think, coz it was the best ever tennis I've ever seen. Things were really not optimistic before the semi. I was eagerly waiting for Roger's match live on TV every day, and the only one time they gave me the favor of covering his match live finally, there came the rain, and after some time of waiting, the live coverage was cut off. I was going crazy Before the semi happened, I thought maybe the semi would be the only time I got to watch Roger in this Wimbledon I had much doubt if Roger could beat the media fav and at-that-moment-highly-hyped Andy. And we all knew what happened next. There came the perfect, without any foretoken.

Afterwards, my love for Roger and his tennis was taken to another realm and it only grew deeper and deeper with time passing by.

Not to mention the disappointing US summer hard court season, the outstanding nerve-wrecking staring at the sb in the middle of the night with turns of sleep to waking up sitting in front of my pc plus some tormenting rain break during the Nalby match, with the final loss in my morning and the disastrous mood, just want to mention the milestone match, TMC RR against Agassi. I was really not expecting much from Roger in TMC considering his poor form and mental condition going into TMC. This one was STH. This match included every major factor that counts in a tennis match. The quality, the nerve, the rivalry, the mistake, the bad call, and above all the WIN. I still highly doubt that if Roger hadn't won this match, he would have been the same Roger now. Probably not. This match was definitely the remarkable turningpoint of his career. I think any word to describe my feelings at that moment is not enough.

His smooth move this year began right from the start though he showed poor form again before AO. I didn't at all expect him to win AO now that he had just split his coach and with the monsterous draw. Actually no idea about his decision to tour alone. That Hewitt match was big, but the Nalbandian match was even bigger. I always think he has much of the ability to beat Hewitt but not that with Nalbandian. The fact was that the Nalby match was pretty even and I somehow thought Roger went through with some kind of luck and of course big play in big points. Really not much difference between the loser and the winner. So despite that he had the best match of his AO run with the Hewitt one, the Nalbandian one did count. After he climbed the two huge mountains especially consecutively, I at last felt some relief and conviction: the title probably was his. And after the final win and finally clinching the World No.1 ranking, I remember my commentator said sth impressive, now that Roger climbed the World No.1 position, he would be glad to see who will pull him off that position and when. I didn't dare to have that thinking back then, but now I am thinking the same. I'd love to find it out too.

 

The one big match I recall from the indoor season of 2001 was that first meeting with Roddick in Basel - so interesting to compare the match-up then with now, because both were young and inexperienced and were on a much more even footing. Federer failed to serve out the match and came back from 3-5 down in the deciding breaker to win it 7-5. He lost in the final to Henman, but I was a confirmed fan now.

.

He was down 3-5 in the deciding tiebreak. I didnt know that. Had Roddick only won a couple more points, this H2H with Roddick could be entirely different. Thank god he won that match. Imagine if Andy was 8-1 against Roger

 

I was about to ask you...are you vincent? then, i checked your profile..Hmmm..:scratch: looked a lil familiar..kinda like yvil..:haha:

:lol:

ow you've a great avatar!

 

In 2003 I heard on the radio,that a swiss player named Roger Federer had won the finale at Halle and I thought - what ,I don´t even know his name!
Than I learned,that he had reached the final at Wimby against Flipper(sorry there is no way, me, trying to spell his name).Big servers and >I can only play from the baseline< players, had gotten me off the game entierly.
I thought,lets have a look at Federer
So I did have a look - and that was that - end of story

 

Hi, Rogi fans!

This is my first post, though it's been a while since I registered this forum.

Before saying how I became a fan of Roger, let me tell you this first:
YOU GUYS -all Rogi fans- ARE SO COOL!!!
I've been having a really great time of reading your posts full of wit, humor, and love to Roger. I can easily imagine that all Rogi fans are so funny, warm-hearted, and nice people just like him. BTW, English is not my native language(I'm from Korea) so please excuse poor grammar and short expressions. I bet you guys don't care much.

Well, where do I start? It was Wimbledon 2004 when I first saw Rogi playing tennis. Although I don't know much about tennis, I'd loved to watch playing tennis since I was a big fan of Borg and, after him, Sampras. But when Sampras started to get down in late 90s, I almost lost my interest in tennis. Besides I was too busy at work to follow games or watch TV. By early this year, all I knew about men's tennis was that some young guys having last names starting with "F"(Federer, Ferrero, Ferrer, Ferreira, etc-they sound all the same for me to discriminate from each other!) had been emerging as the next generation to Sampras and Agassi.

And then, by some chance(I can tell you, it was just kind of an remote control accident), I saw Rogi playing at Wimbledon quarterfinal against Hewitt on ESPN. Within a few minutes, literally I got mesmerized and speechless. His game was....what can I say? It was nothing else to say other than art. He was moving like a butterfly or a leopard on the baseline. His shots were exactly hitting the lines and at times he dashed to the net like a thunderbolt. A perfect combination of precision, power, speed and, most suprisingly, elegance. I was so stunned, like, 'wow, this guy is a real genius. How can he do that?'

Immediately after then I searched the news and articles throughout internet and got to know that I was not the only one feeling that way. It was a so surprising and strange feeling for me that I could notice his tennis accidentally and be immediately falling in love with it. It's just like love at the first sight. What impressed me more than his game was his down-to-earth personality and cool demenor on court(Isn't he just perfect?). Yes, I've been in love with him as a person as well since I got to know that.

Since the match against, I've followed most of his games. I saw him at the Wimbledon final and at USO QF, in which matches he almost lost but finally won against all odds. Now I have to think of him not a genius as a human, but a genius divine blessed by god. Only a few, like Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Schummacher, Zinedine Zidane,... are capable of making it possible to put a sport up to art and to change a course of the game by their own geniuses and wills. I think Roger is one of them.

I am now a prisoner of the charm of his tennis and of course of himself as a person. I just hope at the moment he will be staying healthy and motivated so that he will show us his beautiful tennis for a long, long time.

 

welcome aboard soonha! Your English is fine, I think for most of us English is not our native language

 

Welcome Soonha

And yes, I'm pretty sure all of us feel the same way about Roger, at least I know I do

 

he played Marc Rosset in the finals of Marseille, 2000, and almost won. It was tb in the 3rd set. and i thought, it was just a matter of time. and experience. he's got the shots. then he did win his first title in the same year, in Milan, beating the Frenchman Boutier.
then he beat Sampras in Wimby in 2001, still remember the emotions, the tears...he had dethroned the king of the holy grass.
i've followed his career closely since, and in spite of the ups & downs of 2002, he did win Wimbledon last year, which made me very very happy and proud. i'm sure other fans felt the same way.
but it's unbelievable what he's achieved in the last 15 months after winning that title.

just glad to know that there are other millions of tennis fans around the world who could watch and enjoy his beautiful game on tv. or live. it's a privilege.
and i'm enjoying my tennis more because of him. and even if he doesn't win another GS after this, i'm still happy for the milestones in his young professional life.
but i hope he'll stay around for a while.