10 most painful Grand Slam defeats for Roger Federer
Record 20-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer, is the first player in the history of the sport to play a staggering 400 Grand Slam matches (400th match: Beat Leonardo Mayer in 2019 French Open third Round) and the first to notch up 350 wins (350th win:Lucas Pouille in 2019 Wimbledon third Round).
Following the 2019 Wimbledon, the Swiss' Grand Slam tally reads 353-57.
He is the only player in the Open Era to contest six consecutive Wimbledon and US Open finals, losing the sixth one at both the Slams to Rafael Nadal (2008) and Juan Martin Del Potro (2009) respectively.
In the process, Federer won 40 consecutive matches at both Wimbledon (2003 first round to 2008 final) and the US Open (2004 first round to 2009 final) which are both unparalleled streaks in the history of the sport.
Federer is also the only player to contest five finals at each of the four Grand Slams (6-1 at the Australian Open, 1-4 at the French Open, 8-4 at Wimbledon and 5-2 at the US Open) and is the only player to notch 70 wins at each of the four majors (97 at the Australian Open, 70 at the French Open, 101 at Wimbledon and 85 at the US Open).
Federer's 57 Grand Slam defeats have been accounted for by 33 players. Nadal and Djokovic each have inflicted ten defeats on the Swiss, six players (Arnaud Clement, Alex Corretja, David Nalbandian, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin Del Potro) have beaten him twice and 25 other players have beaten Federer once.
10 of the Swiss' 11 defeats in Grand Slam finals have come against either Nadal (6) or Djokovic (4).
Despite a slew of records in his storied 21-year career spanning 410 Grand Slam matches (353-57) the Swiss has had a fair share of painful and sometimes debilitating defeats. Here is a list of Federer's ten most painful losses in a Grand Slam.
#10 2008 French Open final: Nadal beat Federer 6-1 6-3 6-0
Federer arrived at the 2008 French Open after his stunning streak of ten consecutive Grand Slam finals ended at the hands of the eventual winner, Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals.
Federer regrouped to reach his 15th Grand Slam final at Roland Garros where Nadal had twice denied the Swiss a calendar year Slam in each of the preceding two years. It marked the third straight year Federer faced Nadal in the summit clash in Paris.
But there was more heartbreak in store for the Swiss. In a brutally one sided final, Nadal conceded just four games in the match as Federer suffered his first bagel set (6-0) in a Slam final.
The defeat would have further ramifications for the Swiss who would be denied a sixth title at his beloved Wimbledon by Nadal later in the year.