Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the number one position for a record 237 consecutive weeks and 285 total weeks, one week behind record holder Pete Sampras. As of 16 August 2010, he is ranked World No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Many sports analysts, tennis critics, and former and current players consider Federer to be the greatest tennis player of all time.

Federer has won a male record 16 Grand Slam singles titles. He is the most recent of six male players to capture the career Grand Slam, one of three (with Rod Laver and Andre Agassi) to do so during the Open Era and one of two (with Agassi) to do so on three different surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts). Federer has appeared in an unprecedented 22 career Grand Slam finals. He holds the record of reaching the semi-finals or better of 23 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments over five and a half years from 2004 Wimbledon Championships – 2010 Australian Open. Federer also holds the record of reaching 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals and appeared in 18 of 19 over four and a half years from 2005 Wimbledon Championships – 2010 Australian Open, excluding the 2008 Australian Open. Federer has won 4 ATP World Tour Finals and 17 ATP Masters Series tournaments. He also won the Olympic Gold Medal in doubles with his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

As a result of Federer's successes in tennis, he was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for four consecutive years (2005–2008). He is often referred to as The Federer Express or abbreviated to Fed Express, the Swiss Maestro or simply Maestro.

Federer was born in Binningen, near Basel, to Swiss national Robert Federer and South Africa-born Lynette Du Rand. He holds both Swiss and South African citizenship. He grew up in suburban Münchenstein, near Basel, close to the French-German borders and Federer speaks Swiss German, German, French and English fluently. He was raised as a Roman Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL d'Italia tournament in Rome. Like all male Swiss citizens, Federer was subject to compulsory military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, in 2003 he was deemed unfit due to a long-standing back problem and was subsequently not required to fulfill his obligations.

Federer is married to former Women's Tennis Association player Mirka Vavrinec. They met while competing for Switzerland in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Vavrinec retired from the tour in 2002 because of a foot injury and has since been working as Federer's public relations manager. They were married in Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family at Wenkenhof Villa (municipality of Riehen). On 23 July 2009, Mirka gave birth to twin girls, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva.

Federer supports various charities. He established the Roger Federer Foundation in 2003 to help disadvantaged people and to promote sports. In 2005, he auctioned his racquet from his US Open championship to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. He was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador by UNICEF in 2006. Since then, he has visited South Africa and Tamil Nadu, one of the areas in India most affected by the tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. He has also appeared in UNICEF public messages to raise public awareness of AIDS. In response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Federer responded by arranging a collaboration with fellow top tennis players Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Stosur to forgo their final day of preparation for the 2010 Australian Open to form a special charity event called Hit For Haiti, in which all proceeds will go to the Haiti earthquake victims. He was named as a 2010 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in recognition of his leadership, accomplishments and contributions to society.

Federer's main accomplishment's as a junior player came at Wimbledon, where he won both the singles tournament over Irakli Labadze 6–4, 6–4 and in doubles teamed up with Olivier Rochus, in which they defeated the team of Michaël Llodra and Andy Ram 6–4, 6–4. In addition, Federer lost the US Open Junior tournament in 1998 to David Nalbandian in 3–6, 5–7. He won four other ITF junior singles tournaments in his career, including the prestigious Orange Bowl where he defeated Guillermo Coria 7–5, 6–3 in the finals. He ended 1998 as the junior World Number One.

Roger Federer's first tournament as a professional was Gstaad in 1998, which he faced Lucas Arnold Ker in the Round of 32, and he lost 4–6, 4–6. Federer's first final came at the Marseille Open, which was in 2000, and he lost to fellow Swiss Marc Rosset 6–2, 3–6, 6–7(5). Federer's first win was at the 2001 Milan Indoor tournament, which he defeated Julien Boutter by a score of 6–4, 6–7(7), 6–4. In 2001, Federer made his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the French Open, and at Wimbledon that same year defeated four-time defending champion Pete Sampras to reach the quarterfinals. The most prestigious event final he reached during this period was the 2002 Miami Masters event, where he lost to Andre Agassi in 3–6, 3–6, 6–3, 4–6 on hardcourt. In addition, Federer won his first Master Series event at the 2002 Hamburg Masters on clay in 6–1, 6–3, 6–4 over Marat Safin; the victory made him a top-10 player for the first time. Federer made ten singles finals during this time in his career between 1998 and 2002, of which he won four and lost six. From 1998 to 2002, Federer made six finals in doubles. Of note are Federer and partner Max Mirnyi's defeat in the final of the Indian Wells Masters in 2002, and their victory in the same year in the final of the Rotterdam 500 series event. Federer had won the latter the year earlier with partner Jonas Björkman.

In 2003, Federer won his first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, beating Mark Philippoussis 7–6(5), 6–2, 7–6(3). Federer won his first and only doubles Masters Series 1000 Event in Miami with Max Mirnyi, and made it to one singles Masters Series 1000 Event in Rome on clay, which he lost. Federer made it to nine finals on the ATP Tour and won seven of them, including the 500 series events at Dubai and Vienna. Lastly, Federer won the Year-End Championships over Andre Agassi.

During 2004, Federer won three Grand Slam singles titles for the first time in his career, and became the first person to do so since Mats Wilander in 1988. His first Grand Slam hard court title came at the Australian Open over Marat Safin 7–6(3), 6–4, 6–2. He then won his second Wimbledon crown over Andy Roddick 4–6, 7–5, 7–6(3), 6–4. Federer defeated the 2001 US Open champion, Lleyton Hewitt, at the US Open for his first title there 6–0, 7–6(3), 6–0. Federer won three ATP Masters Series 1000 events. One was on clay in Hamburg, and the other two were on hard surfaces in Indian Wells and Canada. Federer took the ATP 500 series event at Dubai, and wrapped up the year by winning the year-ending championships for the second time.