For several years, tennis aficionados wondered whether they could really call Roger Federer the greatest ever tennis player. In 2009, Federer ended that debate by completing his collection of career grand slams and overtaking Pete Sampras' all-time record of 14 major titles. With his olympic gold medal from 2008, Federer is now recognised as the greatest tennis player and has achieved legendary status in the wider sporting world. This authoritative and affectionate biography traces the rise of Federer, from his first tentative strokes with a tennis racket to how he dealt with being sent away to a training academy where he struggled to communicate in a French-speaking part of Switzerland; and how he handled the sudden death of his first real coach and mentor. It looks at his development as a sportsman and how he has matured into a family man with his marriage to Mirka Vavrinec and the birth of their twin girls.
It also examines how Roger bounced back from arguably one of the most challenging periods of his career as, following a serious illness and a dip in form, his run of successive Wimbledon championship wins was ended and he was toppled from the number one spot by his long-time rival Rafael Nadal. In characteristic style, Federer silenced his critics by winning the French Open title for the first time, reclaiming his Wimbledon crown and ending 2009 at the number one position for the fifth time.