Roger Federer admitted that he never thought he would have this great of a career even after he started receiving comparisons with Pete Sampras. Sampras, a former world No 1, captured a record 14th Grand Slam title in the final tournament of his career, the 2002 US Open.
After Sampras retired with the all-time Grand Slam record, some tennis fans thought that there would never again be a player with that many Grand Slams. Then in the summer of 2003, Federer lifted his first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon.
Six years later, Federer defeated Andy Roddick in the 2009 Wimbledon final for his 15th Grand Slam title, setting the new all-time Grand Slam record. In the end, Federer finished his astonishing career with 20 Grand Slams.
Federer on his legendary career
“No, no, I did not know it was going to turn out this good. In Switzerland, we don’t dream this big. We hope to be good, not great. And in sports, it’s probably skiing, and there’s a bit football, a bit of ice hockey.
And then, tennis was coming up and thankfully, we had an Olympic champion Marc Rosset in 92. He won the Olympics in tennis and then we had Martina Hingis, who won the US Open and Wimbledon. And they paved the way for me a little bit to show me that it was possible.
And then, people were saying that I could be the next Pete Sampras, and I was talented and all that stuff. But you feel like they always say that at some point. I never thought I would have this great of a career. So, I couldn’t be more excited, more happy and more proud of everything.
Unfortunately, it has come to an end. But it has been great,” Federer told Trevor Noah on The Daily Show. Now, Rafael Nadal owns a record 22 Grand Slams, while Novak Djokovic has 21 Majors. Federer finished with 20 Grand Slams, the third most in tennis history.
