Thread by @IWTKQuiz

We all know that @rogerfederer is one of the greatest sportsmen of all time. Today, the Swiss Maestro, the GOAT, turns 39 - almost twice the age as the number of Singles majors he’s won! What did you know about him - and what did you think you didn’t? Read through:

Where did his tennis ‘start’?
@rogerfederer idolised some of tennis’ greats - including some he would go on to play, but his all-time sporting idol wasn’t a tennis player - it was ’76’ himself: Federer’s idol was none other than @Jumpman23. That’s a lot of GOATS.

Federer’s other sporting idol (apart from his sometime coach Stefan Edberg, of course) was Pete Sampras. The two only ever played each other once - at Wimbledon in 2001. Sampras, the top seed, lost to 15th seeded Federer - who lost to top Briton Tim Henman.

Wimbledon that year, of course, was famous for other reasons: wildcard entrant Goran Ivanisevic won top honours that year, defeating Pat Rafter.

Interestingly, Rafter himself is the only player to go undefeated vs Federer in 3 meetings - all on different surfaces!

Federer has a 100% win record against not one but three former World No. 1s, - Marcelo Rios, Pete Sampras, and Carlos Moya, who these days coaches Rafael Nadal full-time.

Now what you’ve all been waiting for. The #Fedal rivalry stretches long and far and wide, and @RafaelNadal is currently on top with 24 wins of 40 matches - putting Federer at a 40% win rate against his Spanish rival.

Only four of those meetings have been on Federer’s favourite surface - grass - and funnily enough, Federer has won three - not all four! One of those wins for Federer came at Wimbledon 2007 - in the finals. Federer won Wimbledon a fifth consecutive time.

Federer equalled Bjorn Borg’s Open Era record, winning 5 consecutive trophies at Wimbledon. Having won the title, Federer changed into his pristine white suit to go receive the trophy - and when he tried to put his hands in his pockets, realised he had worn them backwards.

2007 was one of his greatest years - he won every Grand Slam bar the French Open, in which he lost to Nadal, but the US Open threw up some magic. In his R3 match against John Isner, Federer went a total of 105 points with no unforced errors between sets 2 and 3.

Federer’s home tournament, the Swiss Open Gstaad, has a history of giving him ‘special’ gifts - Desiree is perhaps the most famous of the pair, but organisers gifted him Juliette in 2003! They’re both owned by Swiss dairy farmers now - talk about ‘milking’ your presents. #CowLove

Imagining not owning the rights to your own name - but that’s exactly what happened to Federer (at least with his initials), in 2018!

Following the end of his long-term deal with Nike, Fed made the switch to Japanese brand Uniqlo in 2018.

Nike still owned the famous “RF” logo, however - something that changed in 2020; why? Because Nike still had remaining RF merchandise that they wanted to sell. Federer, as of March 2020, is now the owner of “RF” again.

He is consistently ranked among the most marketable athletes in the world. After an interview where Federer revealed his favourite cuisine was Italian, Federer was contacted by iconic Italian pasta makers Barilla - who customised a new pasta for him!

The Italian chef Andrea Tranchero once even revealed Federer’s favourite meal before every #AustralianOpen match is Spaghetti Pomodoro - what brand, of course, is up to Federer - who at 6 titles at the Rod Laver arena, has the 2nd most in the Open Era - behind only Novak Djokovic

Although many consider Djokovic GOAT over Federer and Nadal, the Fed-Djokovic rivalry is decidedly more even, at 27-23; the Swiss’ last win over Djokovic was at last year’s ATP Tour finals - a convincing 6-4, 6-3.

If you thought tennis was Federer’s only skill.. think again! The Swiss ace also plays piano, something he has done since he was a child.

A classical musician once analysed Federer’s piano fingering, and actually called it “very accurate for the period Bach was writing in”

Check out a video of Federer playing the piano and judge his fingering for yourself.

But if you were to ask Federer about music, his favourite band is decidedly less expected from someone who is now so calm on the court - he loves AC/DC! Which makes sense..they’re Youngs, and he’s..’forever’ Young!

As of now, Federer has had to stave off a recent knee injury, but has promised not to do the one thing so many have Called for him to do anytime soon - retire!

Happy Birthday @rogerfederer. Continue to give us plenty of reasons to celebrate your genius.

Thanks a lot @anumccartney for this wonderful thread. Follow her folks for more on tennis and other sports.

You can sample some of her writing on sports here - firstpost.com/author/anuradh…