Roger Adds IMG To His Team

Monday September 19, 10:09 am ET

BASEL, Switzerland & CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2005--Roger Federer, the #1 tennis player in the world and winner of this year's U.S. Open Men's Singles Championship, has expanded his business team by adding IMG, the world's largest sports marketing and management agency, to capitalize on his global business opportunities.

With his sixth major title, back-to-back U.S. Opens, three straight Wimbledon victories, and one Australian Open, the 24-year-old is already proclaimed by many as the greatest male tennis player in history - including by Andre Agassi, whom he defeated in Sunday's final. His success, combined with the global reach of tennis, has expanded his worldwide marketing needs. Now IMG joins Roger's management team. "It is definitely an ideal situation," Roger Federer emphasizes. "I continue to work with my team and can use the advantages of both the existing lean structure and a worldwide network at the same time.

"I met with IMG's new owner and chairman, Ted Forstmann, and learned about his vision for IMG going forward and the team he proposed for me at IMG. I liked what he had to say in terms of business ideas and also have found a common ground with Ted in terms of our charitable efforts in addressing children's issues, especially in Africa," Federer says. "We hope this partnership can take us to the next level."

"Roger is an international superstar on and off the court and has emerged as a global icon," Forstmann says. "He is an extraordinarily bright, polite, thoughtful young man and, as a result, I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with him both on his business and philanthropic efforts throughout the world."

With Each Match, Federer Sets More Records: Won this year's U.S. Open for Second Consecutive Year, Last Three Wimbledon Championships, 23 of Last 23 Finals

Born August 8, 1981, in Basel, Switzerland, Federer lives in nearby Oberwil. He turned pro in 1998 and has set numerous records and established new standards for his sport ever since. The international superstar is not only celebrated for his victories, but also for his style and grace on and off the tennis court. He won the 2005 Laureus World Sportsman of the Year Award. However, his interests and goals go beyond tennis. In 2003, he created the Roger Federer Foundation which supports disadvantaged children in South Africa and promotes sport for young people. He has become a global ambassador for tennis and sports, and in November 2004, was on hand at United Nations in New York to announce 2005 as "International Year of Sport and Physical Education" together with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Adolf Ogi, former President of Switzerland. Roger Federer carried Switzerland's flag at the 2004 Olympic Games.

The U.S. Open, his sixth Grand Slam, was Federer's 10th title of the season and his 23rd consecutive victory in a final stretching back to October 2003. He won 11 tournaments in 2004, another record. Federer now has won 32 career titles; second most among active players behind Agassi's 60. He is the first man in almost 70 years to win both Wimbledon and the US Open in consecutive years equaling Don Budge in 1937-1938. The U.S. Open victory also topped a record set by one of his idols, Pete Sampras, as he won his 35th consecutive victory on hard courts - topping Sampras' record of 34 - and improved his hard court record in 2005 to an ATP-best 45-1. He also extends his win-loss record this season to 71-3.

With his six Grand Slam titles in just three years, Federer is clearly among the elite in tennis history. He has tied his boyhood idols, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, among Open Era players; he is one behind John McEnroe and Mats Wilander, two behind Agassi, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl, and five behind Bjorn Borg. Sampras holds the record with 14.

source: yahoo finance