Roger Federer is the only player in history to win Wimbledon without dropping a set at both the junior & the pro level
Among Roger Federer's plethora of records, some of his most prominent ones have been on grass. And when it comes to grass courts, perhaps nothing quite conjures a better picture than Roger Federer weaving his silken magic on the hallowed Wimbledon turf, the scene of his greatest Grand Slam success.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion has won a record eight singles titles at Wimbledon. Roger Federer is one of four players in the Open Era - Bjorn Borg, Pat Cash and Stefan Edberg being the others - to have won both the junior and senior Wimbledon singles titles.
Among the quartet, the 38-year-old happens to be the only one to have won both Wimbledon singles titles without dropping a set. Roger Federer won his lone Wimbledon junior singles title in 1998 while his eighth singles title in 2017 marked the only time the Swiss triumphed at SW19 without dropping a set.
Roger Federer is the only player to win over 100 singles matches at Wimbledon (101-13 win-loss record). More than two decades after winning his only junior Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon, the Swiss legend continues to be a force to be reckoned with at the grasscourt major.
In 1998, when Roger Federer went 6-0 at the junior Wimbledon singles event, beating Georgia's Irakli Labadze 6-4, 6-4 to win the tournament without dropping a set.
19 years later, the 35-year-old Roger Federer, ended his four and a half year Grand Slam drought at the Australian Open earlier.
Arriving at 2017 Wimbledon, Roger Federer reached the final without dropping a set for the fourth time in his career (also 2004, 2006, 2008).
However, unlike in the title matches in 2004 and 2006 where he dropped a set apiece (Federer lost a five-set final in 2008), the Swiss maestro rolled past Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 to emulate Bjorn Borg as the only players in the Open Era to win Wimbledon without losing a set.
In the process, Roger Federer became the only player in Wimbledon history to win eight singles titles.
Roger Federer has enjoyed unparalleled success on grass. His 19 singles titles on the surface are almost double the next best tally of 10 by Americans Pete Sampras and Bill Tilden.
Federer's 187 match wins on grass are the most by any player on the surface. Among players who have played at least 30 matches on manicured lawn, Federer's success rate of 87.4% is bettered by only five players but none of them played in the Open Era.
Your life as a tennis player is complete if you can win Wimbledon: Roger Federer
The All England Club has always held a special pride of place for Roger Federer. Having grown up idolising grass-court greats like Stefan Edberg and Pete Sampras, Roger Federer's liking for Wimbledon was au natural.
The Swiss legend professed his love for the grasscourt major by remarking in one of his interviews that a triumph at Wimbledon is akin to none else.
“You don’t know if you’re ever going to win anything again after that because you could just be a one-Slam wonder or all of a sudden you have an injury and you can never play again...Your life as a tennis player is complete if you can win Wimbledon," Roger Federer had said in an interview with ATP Tour.
Roger Federer was touted for greatness when the then teenager dethroned seven-time champion Pete Sampras in the fourth round at 2001 Wimbledon.
Although Federer could not go all the way that year, two years later in the same tournament, the Swiss legend won his first of 20 Grand Slam singles titles and has never looked back.
16 years after his win over Sampras, Federer stood on the winner's podium at Wimbledon for a record eighth time and humbly remarked that one cannot dream to win that many titles when one starts out.
“I didn't think I was going to be this successful after beating Pete here (in 2001). I hoped to have a chance maybe one day to be in a Wimbledon finals and have a chance to win the tournament...Winning eight (Wimbledon titles) is not something you can ever aim for, in my opinion," Roger Federer had humbly said.