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Roger Federer: Completely Revised and Updated Edition
This acclaimed sports biography, researched and written by the experienced and multilingual tennis writer Chris Bowers, considers who Federer is as a person and what place he will occupy in tennis and sporting history. Roger Federer is a legend not only in the world of tennis but also in the wider sporting arena. With a record-breaking tally of 16 Grand Slam titles to his name, he shows no sign of slowing down and in 2010 added another Australian Open win to his collection, as well as taking the trophy in the end-of-season ATP World Wide Tour Finals in London. 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.
465 pages, Paperback
First published July 9, 2010
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395 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 23, 2018
My fav quotes (not a review):
-Page 10 |
"The remarkable thing is that both Robbie and Lynette are very short. Neither is more than 1.7m (5ft 7in), and for a while it was feared that any offspring of theirs couldn’t possibly grow tall enough to become a force on the tennis circuit. Yet, out of some genetic inheritance, Roger Federer has grown to 1.85m (6ft 1in)."
-Page 41 |
"Lynette is convinced that what got Roger through those first five months was the fact that he had made his own decision to go to Ecublens and hadn’t been pressured into it by his parents. ‘He had made the decision himself,’ says the mother who spent about an hour a night on the phone to her son in those early months, ‘and only became aware later of all the things that the decision brought with it. But because he wanted it himself, he was willing to battle through.’"
-Page 80 |
"The reaction to his defeat made him take a long, hard look at himself. ‘What made me upset was not just losing the match but my attitude,’ he said several years later. ‘I said there that I needed an attitude change. I remember thinking, “I never smash my racket after matches, only during matches.” And then I said, “That’s it, I’m not getting pissed off any more. I’m acting too bad.”’ And he was as good as his word. The attitude did change, almost too much at first. His on-court composure was almost Buddhist-like in the next handful of tournaments – he would hit great shots or make horrendous errors and show absolutely no reaction, merely stroll into position for the next point."
-Page 10 |
"The remarkable thing is that both Robbie and Lynette are very short. Neither is more than 1.7m (5ft 7in), and for a while it was feared that any offspring of theirs couldn’t possibly grow tall enough to become a force on the tennis circuit. Yet, out of some genetic inheritance, Roger Federer has grown to 1.85m (6ft 1in)."
-Page 41 |
"Lynette is convinced that what got Roger through those first five months was the fact that he had made his own decision to go to Ecublens and hadn’t been pressured into it by his parents. ‘He had made the decision himself,’ says the mother who spent about an hour a night on the phone to her son in those early months, ‘and only became aware later of all the things that the decision brought with it. But because he wanted it himself, he was willing to battle through.’"
-Page 80 |
"The reaction to his defeat made him take a long, hard look at himself. ‘What made me upset was not just losing the match but my attitude,’ he said several years later. ‘I said there that I needed an attitude change. I remember thinking, “I never smash my racket after matches, only during matches.” And then I said, “That’s it, I’m not getting pissed off any more. I’m acting too bad.”’ And he was as good as his word. The attitude did change, almost too much at first. His on-court composure was almost Buddhist-like in the next handful of tournaments – he would hit great shots or make horrendous errors and show absolutely no reaction, merely stroll into position for the next point."
October 14, 2013
Shall wait for the official biography or autobiography
December 17, 2021
Some of the worst books I’ve read have been unauthorised biographies of people, as they lack first-hand experience and comments and the emotion of being in the midst of the events described is often lost. The easiest comparison is between Murray Walker’s own “Unless I’m Very Much Mistaken” and Christopher Hilton’s “Murray Walker: The Last Word” which were worlds apart and where the benefits of these aspects were immense and obvious.
Having read a couple of tennis books written by or with the assistance of the players, I wasn’t particularly expecting great things from Chris Bowers’ “Roger Federer: The Greatest”. This book had two strikes against it before I even started, the nature of the book as an unauthorised biography and the fact that it’s over a decade old and so much has changed in tennis since that point, to the extent that even the title should probably be amended to “Roger Federer: The Joint Greatest”.
The book starts from Federer’s earliest days, speaking of how and where he grew up and covering the very first time he held a racket, largely thanks to his mother being a fairly decent player. It covers his schooling and his progression through the ranks in Swiss youth tennis onto the professional circuit and his gradual development into the player he would become. Whilst many of us have seen this part of his career, there are also looks into his personal life, as far as Federer has ever allowed, and behind the scenes of his work outside tennis and in the political landscape of tennis.
The main failing of the book is, as I expected, a lack of passion and any real insight. Bowers is a tennis writer, so he’s practiced at writing about tennis from the outside and has gained a lot of information from having interviewed Federer in his professional capacity over the years, but couldn’t be considered close to him or anyone who really knows him. This gives the whole book the feeling of having been written at one remove, with quotes reported second hand and nothing close enough that you can feel the emotion.
The book isn’t badly written by any means, as you would expect from a professional writer, but it feels like newspaper journalism, as decent reportage, but written to inform rather than to entertain. The facts don’t feel as if they are particularly lacking, but the feeling behind them all is. Whilst Federer isn’t the most demonstrative of players on the court, although one thing I did learn is that he used to be, even by his standards this is a very dry book, lacking excitement, emotion and much in the way of humour.
The other issue is the date of publication, which can’t be held against the book in itself, but does leave some huge gaps. Federer is now tied for the most tennis Majors with Nadal and Djokovic, but by the end of this book, Nadal was well behind and Djokovic had barely joined the tour and they had only played each other a couple of times. This isn’t the book’s fault, but if you do want to read something about Federer, something more recent, even if it is no better written in terms of the feeling, would be a recommended way to go.
As a retrospective of the first part of Federer’s career, this is decent, if not exactly inspiring. But the style and the factual nature of it means there’s not a huge amount here, apart from the brief glimpses behind the scenes of tennis, that you couldn’t get from Wikipedia, in a far more up-to-date fashion. There is no arguing that Federer has had a wonderful and remarkable tennis career, but this is not a book that adequately portrays it.
Having read a couple of tennis books written by or with the assistance of the players, I wasn’t particularly expecting great things from Chris Bowers’ “Roger Federer: The Greatest”. This book had two strikes against it before I even started, the nature of the book as an unauthorised biography and the fact that it’s over a decade old and so much has changed in tennis since that point, to the extent that even the title should probably be amended to “Roger Federer: The Joint Greatest”.
The book starts from Federer’s earliest days, speaking of how and where he grew up and covering the very first time he held a racket, largely thanks to his mother being a fairly decent player. It covers his schooling and his progression through the ranks in Swiss youth tennis onto the professional circuit and his gradual development into the player he would become. Whilst many of us have seen this part of his career, there are also looks into his personal life, as far as Federer has ever allowed, and behind the scenes of his work outside tennis and in the political landscape of tennis.
The main failing of the book is, as I expected, a lack of passion and any real insight. Bowers is a tennis writer, so he’s practiced at writing about tennis from the outside and has gained a lot of information from having interviewed Federer in his professional capacity over the years, but couldn’t be considered close to him or anyone who really knows him. This gives the whole book the feeling of having been written at one remove, with quotes reported second hand and nothing close enough that you can feel the emotion.
The book isn’t badly written by any means, as you would expect from a professional writer, but it feels like newspaper journalism, as decent reportage, but written to inform rather than to entertain. The facts don’t feel as if they are particularly lacking, but the feeling behind them all is. Whilst Federer isn’t the most demonstrative of players on the court, although one thing I did learn is that he used to be, even by his standards this is a very dry book, lacking excitement, emotion and much in the way of humour.
The other issue is the date of publication, which can’t be held against the book in itself, but does leave some huge gaps. Federer is now tied for the most tennis Majors with Nadal and Djokovic, but by the end of this book, Nadal was well behind and Djokovic had barely joined the tour and they had only played each other a couple of times. This isn’t the book’s fault, but if you do want to read something about Federer, something more recent, even if it is no better written in terms of the feeling, would be a recommended way to go.
As a retrospective of the first part of Federer’s career, this is decent, if not exactly inspiring. But the style and the factual nature of it means there’s not a huge amount here, apart from the brief glimpses behind the scenes of tennis, that you couldn’t get from Wikipedia, in a far more up-to-date fashion. There is no arguing that Federer has had a wonderful and remarkable tennis career, but this is not a book that adequately portrays it.
March 10, 2022
I have followed Roger Federers career from the beginning, but certainly not with the breathless detail provided in Chris Bower's account. Chris says that he intends not to focus on the statistics and to show Roger's personality, warts and all, but that is almost the opposite of what he has done. We know Roger protects his personal life, and good on him, and this book is about his tennis, not his family or holidays, but Roger is not an emotionally remote person on the court or after matches. Chris' analysis are always with caveats that make this a hagiography, not a biography, and while there is much to admire about Federa, in Chris's eyes, he does little wrong. Even when Federal makes completely open comments about occasional poor play and attitude, Chris, reinterprets him in a glowing light. Occasionally there are insightful comments, but mostly it's inferred opinion. Some games are well described and brought back memories of Federa's absolute command of the court, which was a delight to watch. Certainly I couldn't wait to see him play live, at the Melbourne open in 2020, and was not disappointed.
I'd always thought Federal played poorly at first to explore his opponent 's strengths which he could then pick apart, but Chris shows that Federas brilliant play comes from the heart, mind and body, in that order. That was an eye opener to me.
When he falls in love with his wife to be Mirka, his play is slightly off, which is lovely, but never expanded upon by Chris. When his coach dies, his play is completely off and this is described well. The period where Federa had no coach has no good description, just opinion. The impact of injury is glossed over as par for the course. The birth of his twins barely gets amention.
It's a long book, bogged in statistics and tennis detail which misses opportunities to explore motivation during major changes in Federas life, even when there is a rich source of recorded information during post match interviews.
The Swiss temperament is briefly touched on as is psychology of talented whole court vs baseline players. Roger (and few other top players) conform to none of that, but no proper discussion ensues.
I didn't know that Roger left school at 16 with a lot of financial support from his parents that few others could rely on. The comparison to Agassi could have been expanded as he, unlike Federa, did not choose tennis. This lead to all sorts of problems, many psychological, which is understandable, yet Federa too did not escape psychological challenges. This is another big gap in the book.
As tennis expanded, coaching and players improved,media exposure increased along with rewards. All of this means that high achievement in sports requires a huge set of additional skills, none of which Federal had any prior experience. This is not discussed.
Federa, of course,deserves every credit he has earned. He recognized when he needed an outside look in so he could be more strategic in his focus. It's a shame Chris didn't do the same.
I'd always thought Federal played poorly at first to explore his opponent 's strengths which he could then pick apart, but Chris shows that Federas brilliant play comes from the heart, mind and body, in that order. That was an eye opener to me.
When he falls in love with his wife to be Mirka, his play is slightly off, which is lovely, but never expanded upon by Chris. When his coach dies, his play is completely off and this is described well. The period where Federa had no coach has no good description, just opinion. The impact of injury is glossed over as par for the course. The birth of his twins barely gets amention.
It's a long book, bogged in statistics and tennis detail which misses opportunities to explore motivation during major changes in Federas life, even when there is a rich source of recorded information during post match interviews.
The Swiss temperament is briefly touched on as is psychology of talented whole court vs baseline players. Roger (and few other top players) conform to none of that, but no proper discussion ensues.
I didn't know that Roger left school at 16 with a lot of financial support from his parents that few others could rely on. The comparison to Agassi could have been expanded as he, unlike Federa, did not choose tennis. This lead to all sorts of problems, many psychological, which is understandable, yet Federa too did not escape psychological challenges. This is another big gap in the book.
As tennis expanded, coaching and players improved,media exposure increased along with rewards. All of this means that high achievement in sports requires a huge set of additional skills, none of which Federal had any prior experience. This is not discussed.
Federa, of course,deserves every credit he has earned. He recognized when he needed an outside look in so he could be more strategic in his focus. It's a shame Chris didn't do the same.
Read
January 9, 2022Good one.
Great to read about one of my favourite sports idol and no. 1 in Tennis.
Its interesting to go behind the scene and know:
about Roger's growing up days,
the gradual development for love for tennis (many people think he was born to be a tennis player),
his temper issues early on his career (people think he was always calm and composed as he looks now),
his experience playing for Switzerland, the hits and misses in Davis cup matches and the olympics,
the emergence of his rivalry with Nadal and the tiff with Novak early on in their career
the ascendancy to the no. 1 position,
donning the GOAT (greatest of all time) tag and then being challenged on the same by Nadal (the book does not cover the part where Novak had also entered the race).
Since this covers his career only till 2010, its not complete in that sense.
Hence already started reading another masterclass on Roger, The Master by Christopher Carey. Watch this space for more!!
Great to read about one of my favourite sports idol and no. 1 in Tennis.
Its interesting to go behind the scene and know:
about Roger's growing up days,
the gradual development for love for tennis (many people think he was born to be a tennis player),
his temper issues early on his career (people think he was always calm and composed as he looks now),
his experience playing for Switzerland, the hits and misses in Davis cup matches and the olympics,
the emergence of his rivalry with Nadal and the tiff with Novak early on in their career
the ascendancy to the no. 1 position,
donning the GOAT (greatest of all time) tag and then being challenged on the same by Nadal (the book does not cover the part where Novak had also entered the race).
Since this covers his career only till 2010, its not complete in that sense.
Hence already started reading another masterclass on Roger, The Master by Christopher Carey. Watch this space for more!!
August 2, 2017
This edition of the book is before the season of 2017 and has Federer at 17 titles still waiting for that elusive 18. Now that it is out of the way, it adds even more value to the whole story - not that Roger's achievements would be any less without #18.
The book looks at Roger's childhood and the general scene in Swiss tennis at the time of his growth and through the years with emphasis on the Davis Cup.
The rivalry between Roger and Rafa is explored in detail and marks Rafa for the great he is.
While the book idolizes Roger, as is expected, it doesn't shy from pointing out his flaws and thus makes up for a more complete and neutral view.
The only shortcomings are the lack of more pictures and I feel Novak and Andy are a bit under emphasized.
Other than that, justice to the GOAT.
The book looks at Roger's childhood and the general scene in Swiss tennis at the time of his growth and through the years with emphasis on the Davis Cup.
The rivalry between Roger and Rafa is explored in detail and marks Rafa for the great he is.
While the book idolizes Roger, as is expected, it doesn't shy from pointing out his flaws and thus makes up for a more complete and neutral view.
The only shortcomings are the lack of more pictures and I feel Novak and Andy are a bit under emphasized.
Other than that, justice to the GOAT.
February 27, 2023
I would suggest this book to others because of how in depth and descriptive it is about Roger Federer's career. Essentially, the author talks very well about all the challenges Roger Federer faced on his journey of greatness to that point. It was a very well oriented book and was well planned, as it focused very well on the main parts of Federer's career, which helps readers understand the important things and keep them engaged. Also, the author did a good job of bringing in all the different insights on Federer's career, as they helped give the readers a better understanding of his career. Furthermore, this was such a great book because of how much the author praised the greatness of Roger Federer and further gave him the credit he deserved. Basically, I would suggest this book to others because it will give them the best and most in depth insight possible on Roger Federer's career.
October 28, 2022
To say that I'm a big Roger Federer fan, for the people that know and love me, would hardly scratch the surface. But, as I'm writing this review, I'm looking around my office at a framed picture, signed tennis rackets, United States open signed tennis balls, etc. okay, I'm a groupie!
So take this review with a pronounced grain of salt; I enjoyed it very much gave me some insights that I was previously unaware of and if you are a fed fan, go for it
So take this review with a pronounced grain of salt; I enjoyed it very much gave me some insights that I was previously unaware of and if you are a fed fan, go for it
May 1, 2023
I rarely read biographies and this one is my first unauthorized biography. I don’t like it. The facts are questionable and it’s just like the author is gathering info from here and there but not from the star, not even from the family of the star. And there’s too much additional info about people surrounding Federer that I don’t feel necessary, they’re there just to make the book have more pages. This will be my last time reading an unauthorized biography :(
November 13, 2020
Boring! Just a bunch of copy-paste from sport articles and looong uninspired recount of tennis matches. It’s a shame how much time I spent trying to extract some minuscule interesting information from this horrible book. Shame!!
May 8, 2025
I've read about many books about tennis players including Borg, McEnroe, Connors, Barker, King, Nadal, John Lloyd, Graf, Williams sisters, Evert, Murray, Lendl, Henin and Nastase. Also Alan Mills and Chris Gorringe. This one was a bit dull in comparison.
October 17, 2020
Non rende goustizia al fuoriclasse di Federer. La Biografia Open di Agassi molto piu bella
March 28, 2025
Tutustuin Tennishistorian suurimpaan legendaan
May 24, 2012
Throughout my life I have deeply loved the sport of tennis. I started watching and playing the sport at a young age, hoping that I would once become as good as my childhood idol Roger Federer. The books I enjoy the most are books regarding real life events because I like the historical aspect and the fact that they are more suspenseful being real everyday people are involved. Roger Federer, the Greatest – a biography of the life of Roger Federer- was the perfect book for me to pick as my choice book because it is about a topic I genually love to learn about. I really enjoyed the book because I think that the author Chris Bowers really was able to not only drastically retell the great matches that Roger has been in but he was also able to capture what a great character and humanitarian Roger is. Even I, who am a walking Roger Federer fact book was not aware of how many activities Roger participated in for a variety of good causes. The book is very factual and uses numerous tennis references therefore I would not recommend the book to someone who does not have tennis history knowledge. Before this book I thought of Roger Federer as someone who is in my opinion the greatest tennis player of all time and someone who is also a great role model for children and this book has only made me believe that even more.
October 8, 2016
I wanted some inspiration as I started learning to play tennis on a regular basis and this was quite a great segway to collect it from the outside of the game. This was a pleasureable read.
Roger Federer is a surefire candidate to be considered as 'G.O.A.T.' in tennis. His skill on a court as well as human traits are the one to be followed by anybody aspiring to be a professional athlete. This applies to ammateurs as well. A blend of talent, discipline and ability to play the right way with a proper care of the body, is what makes Roger the flagman of the 'now' passing generation of the tennis players, including Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian and others.
I lacked something that would be negative on him as a person. Besides the fact that he was a little reckless during his teenage years (who wasn't?) and his continuous struggles against Nadal, this seemed like a portrait of a perfect man.
Roger Federer is a surefire candidate to be considered as 'G.O.A.T.' in tennis. His skill on a court as well as human traits are the one to be followed by anybody aspiring to be a professional athlete. This applies to ammateurs as well. A blend of talent, discipline and ability to play the right way with a proper care of the body, is what makes Roger the flagman of the 'now' passing generation of the tennis players, including Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, David Nalbandian and others.
I lacked something that would be negative on him as a person. Besides the fact that he was a little reckless during his teenage years (who wasn't?) and his continuous struggles against Nadal, this seemed like a portrait of a perfect man.
December 17, 2014
I wss left quite disappointed with the structure, content and the writing style that was supposed to honour the life and career of my all time favourite sportsman Roger Federer. It seemed to be merely an endless collection of statistics, eloquent and somewhat unnecessary descriptions of each of his key matches and the tone was very impersonal and lacked any genuine respect or admiration from the author. I am really looking forward to the day when Roger releases his own autobiography where he will hopefully highlight the emotions and challenges he personally experienced in his career and personal life.
May 23, 2013
"Roger Federer" is probably one of my favorite biographies if not my favorite. Chis Bowers does a great job keeping the reader engaged while at the same time just laying out the facts. I'm really not one who's big on auto-biographies or biographies but this books faster paced story line really helped me stay away from boredom which usually comes over me while I'm reading other biographies. When reading this book I took in a lot of information at a very fast pace with the time line structure of the story.
September 14, 2016
Great book about the tennis life of the greatest player in time Roger Federer. You can learn about all his accomplishments and failures during his career up to 2010. There are still tales missing from then to now. I enjoyed learning about the life and training of athletes and what goes in their life.
December 28, 2011
It was a very compelling book, appropriate of the biographee's grandour. Without being too exhaustive on details of Roger's life Chris manages to capture the key moments in the Fed-Express career providing us with the full picture of the life of this great individual.
May 30, 2012
I enjoyed reading all the minute details in Roger's life. Some took me by surprise. Needless to say respect for this man has increased multifold.
Though, I feel 'Rafa' (book about Nadal) had more of godly image of Federer. This book shows he is human afterall and very relatable :)
Though, I feel 'Rafa' (book about Nadal) had more of godly image of Federer. This book shows he is human afterall and very relatable :)
January 11, 2013
Captures all the key moments in Rogers life, but without the emotion and feeling that would come from the opportunity to interview roger directly. Cannot wait for his eventual autobiography which surely must come.
Currently reading
May 21, 2013I am about a quartar of the way through this book and I really am enjoying it....(of course) But when I found this book on my book shelf I knew I had to read it, even though I think I know way too much about the guy......
March 18, 2013
good facts, sometimes confusing when comes to dates
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews