Tennis: Top five biggest wins of Roger Federer

Even at the age of 39, the 20-time Grand Slam winner is still going strong.

Roger Federer has ruled the tennis courts for nearly two decades. The 20 time Grand Slam winner holds the highest number of Grand Slam titles in tennis history. It is a record which he shares with his friend and rival Rafael Nadal.

Federer also has the distinction of winning 103 ATP singles titles which is the second most of all time. Throughout his career, Federer has been involved in stand out matches and unparalleled rivalries. Today we take a look at some of the biggest wins of the Fed Express' career.

5. Roger Federer vs Mark Philippoussis (2003 Wimbledon Final)

The first Grand Slam victory is always special and that too when it happens at the Wimbledon. Federer won his first Grand Slam title defeating Australia's Mark Philippoussis. The Swiss dismissed the Australian Philippoussis is straight sets to mark himself to the tennis world. The match ended in Federer's favour with a scoreline of 7-6, 6-2 and 7-6. Philippoussis had no answer to Federer's 51 winners and could only manage taking the first and third set to a tiebreak.

Federer had been very dominant the whole tournament on his way to the finals. Except for his third round match up he had won all is games in straight sets. This victory marked the beginning of the Federer saga to the whole world. Federer later on came back to win 7 more titles at the All England Tennis court.

4. Roger Federer vs Robin Soderling (2009 French Open Final)

Roger Federer has won multiple tournaments in all the three major Grand Slam tournaments except for the Roland Garros. The French Open which is played on the clay court has always caused some problems for Federer. He has been in 5 French Open finals till date and has managed to win only once.

The 2009 French Open final victory was special for that particular reason. The win at Roland Garros was also essential as it was the missing link to the career Grand Slam achievement. Federer had already won the other Grand Slam trophies before this and was desperate to conquer the clay court. The nerves however did not affect Federer's game as he made quick work of Robin Soderling. The Super Swiss won the game in dominant fashion with a 6-1, 7-6,6-4 victory. The same Soderling had beaten the clay court master Rafael Nadal in the fourth round. Federer's victory To this day it stands as Federer's only successful attempt at the French Open final.

3. Roger Federer vs Marin Cilic (2018 Australian Open Final)

The 2018 Australian Final saw Roger Federer defending his Australian Open title successfully against Crotia's Marin Cilic. Roger had started the tournament in dominant and hadn't dropped a set on his way to the finals. On the other side stood the giant Croat Cilic. Federer and Cilic's last encounter coming in at the 2017 Wimbledon finals which Federer had won in devastating fashion.

Cilic was hungry for his first Grand Slam victory and to exact revenge on the man who broke his dreams. The match went back and forth between the two players. Federer won the first set and the third while Cilic won the second and fourth sets. Federer was in his offensive best from the fifth set breaking Cilic into a 2-0 lead and then coasting to a comfortable victory. The game ended with a scoreline of 6-2,6-7,6-3,3-6 and 6-1. Federer won his sixth Australian Open with that victory and his 20th Grand Slam title.

2. Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal (2017 Australian Open Final)

The 2017 Australian Open final was played between two of the biggest names and rivals in and tennis history. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal are both masters in their own right with a combined 40 Grand Slam titles between them. The two slugged it out in a 3 hour 38 minutes final making it a treat for all tennis lovers worldwide.

The 5 set classic saw these two veterans try to outdo one another in every possible manner. Federer won the first set 6-4 while Nadal bounced back to win the second 3-6. Federer again won the third set 6-1 with Nadal again recovering to take the fourth 3-6. It all came down to the fifth and final set. Despite being down on points Federer came back to level the set 3-3. From then on he did not let Nadal win a game and won the set 6-3 to hold his 5th Australian Open title.

1. Roger Federer vs Andy Roddick ( 2009 Wimbledon Final)

Most of the current generation of tennis fans know about the rivalry between Federer and Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. Another such rivalry that went unnoticed was between the former American no 1 Andy Roddick and Roger Federer. Federer and Roddick had met twice before at the Wimbledon finals with Federer winning both the encounters. Their third encounter happened in the Centre court at Wimbledon on July 5th 2009.

The second seeded Federer took on the sixth seeded former US Open Champion in a match for the ages. The match went on to be a five set grinder. Roddick won the first set while Federer came back to win the second and third. Federer won both the sets via tiebreaker. Roddick again won the fourth set which brought the game to the fifth and deciding set. The match went on in the fifth set till both Roddick and Federer were at 14-15 points respectively.

Federer then broke Roddick's serve to win the Championship. As the match ended the scoreline read 5-7,7-6,7-6, 3-6 and 16-14 to Federer taking his tally at Wimbledon to six titles. It was also the last time Roddick had played in the finals at Wimbledon and had failed to win the coveted title. Coincidentally all of his losses had come against Roger. This was also Roger's fifteenth Grand Slam title and make him a strong contender for the greatest of all-time debate.

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