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Eight years ago, Roger Federer celebrated a huge milestone in the Brisbane final. The Swiss lifted the trophy and became the third player with 1,000 ATP wins after Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl. Federer achieved his first ATP victory in Toulouse 1998 at age 17, progressing significantly up the ATP ranking list in those years.
The Swiss was proclaimed champion of a Major in 2003 and number 1 in the world the following February, sitting on the throne of the ATP for four and a half years. Despite losing a bit of ground to Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, Roger was still among the players to beat in 2014.
He achieved 73 ATP wins and five titles, battling with Djokovic for number 1 of the year until the ATP Finals. Roger started from scratch in 2015 and headed to Brisbane to kick off the new season. After an initial scare against John Millman, Roger raised his level and reached the title clash.
He defeated Milos Raonic 6-4 6-7 6-4 to win his 83rd ATP title. Federer needed 30 minutes to clinch the first set with an extra break on his account and moved closer to the finish line with an early break in the second set.
Milos came back from 1-2 and dominated the tie break to reach the decider and improve his options. The rivals remained even in the opening nine games, and the Canadian served to prolong the battle to 4-5. The Swiss made a late break when he most needed it to seal the match and celebrate the title and a huge milestone, accompanied by Roy Emerson and Rod Laver during the trophy delivery ceremony.
"That's a lot of games and wins; we're talking about 1,000. It's a great feeling, and I couldn't have done it without so many people. You know, number one, just started playing tennis. Then all the coaches, the physical trainer, the Federation and my wife, who probably sat in about 800 of them.
It would not have been possible without them."
King Roger recently went skiing
Roger Federer believes it is important for even the greatest and most successful athletes to reinvent themselves. "It's always very interesting to see what the greatest athletes of all time ended up doing once they stopped," Roger Federer said in a recently-released interview to CNBC, months before announcing his own retirement.
It's not a simple one-way road and I think it is allowed to have many bends and I think we see that often with athletes. Some of those people maybe feel that after doing the same thing for too long, it gets a bit monotone, always the same, and 'I just need a change'," the Swiss great opined.