2008 Roger Federer tennis season

2008 Roger Federer tennis season

Calendar prize money	$5,886,879
Singles
Season record	66–15
Calendar titles	4
Year-end ranking	#2
Ranking change from previous year	1
Grand Slam & significant results
Australian Open	SF
French Open	F
Wimbledon	F
US Open	W
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR
Olympic Games	QF
Doubles
Olympic Games	Gold Medal
Davis Cup
Davis Cup	WG PO (adv. to 2009 WG)
← 2007 2009 →

Roger Federer won one major in 2008, the US Open, defeating Briton Andy Murray, 6–2, 7–5, 6–2. Federer was defeated by Rafael Nadal in two Grand Slam finals: at the French Open, which he lost 1–6, 3–6, 0–6, and at Wimbledon in a famous five-setter, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–9, when he was aiming for six straight wins to break Björn Borg's record. At the Australian Open, Federer lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, ending his record streak of 10 consecutive Major finals. Roger Federer lost twice in Master Series 1000 Finals on clay to Nadal at Monte Carlo and Hamburg. However, Federer was able to capture three more victories in 250-level events at Estoril, Halle, and Basel.

In doubles, Federer and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Federer began the year by attempting to defend his title at the Australian Open. Federer suffered an illness related to food poisoning prior to the start of the Australian Open. He lost, however, in the semifinals to eventual champion Djokovic, 5–7, 3–6, 6–7. This ended his record of ten consecutive Grand Slam finals, the most ever for a men's player.

In March, Federer revealed that he had recently been diagnosed with mononucleosis and that he may have suffered from it as early as December 2007. He noted, however, that he was now "medically cleared to compete".^[1] Despite being cleared to compete Federer admitted that he had suffered a significant dip in fitness due to his struggle with mononucleosis, which would prove to negatively impact his results till the Miami Masters in which he lost to long-time foe, Andy Roddick.

Although Federer was seeded first and was the defending champion at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, he lost to Murray in the first round. On 10 March, Federer won his third exhibition match out of four against former world no. 1 Pete Sampras at Madison Square Garden in New York City, 6–3, 6–7, 7–6.^[2]

Federer began the clay-court season at the Estoril Open in Portugal. This was his first tournament with coach José Higueras.^[3] and his first non-Master Series clay-court tournament since Gstaad in 2004.^[4] Federer won his first tournament of the year, when Nikolay Davydenko retired from the final while trailing, 7–6, 1–2 with a leg ligament strain.

Federer then played three Masters Series tournaments on clay. At the Masters Series Monte Carlo, Federer lost to three-time defending champion Rafael Nadal in the final in straight sets. Federer made 44 unforced errors, lost a 4–0 lead in the second set, and fell to 1–7 against Nadal on clay courts.^[5] At the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Radek Štěpánek. Federer was the defending champion at the Masters Series Hamburg, but lost to Nadal in the final.

At the French Open, Federer was defeated quickly by Nadal in the final, 1–6, 3–6, 0–6.^[6] This was the fourth consecutive year that Federer and Nadal had played at the French Open, with Federer losing his third consecutive final to Nadal.^[6] Federer's record of 23–4 (2005–08) at the French Open is second only to Nadal's record of 28–0 during the same period.

Federer bounced back by winning the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany without dropping a set or a service game. This was the fifth time he had won this event. With this result, he tied Pete Sampras's record for most titles on grass in the open era with 10.^[7]

At Wimbledon, Federer once again played world no. 2 Nadal in the final. A victory for Federer would have meant his sixth consecutive Wimbledon singles title, breaking Borg's modern era men's record and equaling the all-time record held since 1886 by William Renshaw. Federer saved two championship points in the fourth set tiebreak, but eventually lost the match, 4–6, 4–6, 7–6, 7–6, 7–9. The rain-delayed match ended in near darkness after 4 hours, 48 minutes of play, making it the longest (in terms of elapsed time) men's final in Wimbledon recorded history. It concluded 7 hours, 15 minutes after its scheduled start. The defeat also ended Federer's 65-match winning streak on grass. John McEnroe described the match as "The greatest match I've ever seen."^[8] After Nadal surpassed him as world no. 1 later in the year, Federer stated that his main goal would be to regain the Wimbledon title, rather than the top spot.^[9]

Federer made early exits in his next two singles tournaments, the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio.^[10] Federer was chosen to carry the national flag at the Beijing Olympics.

At the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Federer lost in the quarterfinals to James Blake for the first time in their nine matches.^[11] Federer however, finally won his first Olympic gold medal in the men's doubles, when he and compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka upset the world no. 1 doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States in the semifinals and defeated Sweden's Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson in the final, 6–3, 6–4, 6–7, 6–3. The following day, Federer lost his world no. 1 ranking to Nadal after 237 consecutive weeks.^[10][12][13]

At the US Open, Federer reached the fourth round without dropping a set. He defeated third-seeded Novak Djokovic in a rematch of the 2007 US Open Final, 6–3, 5–7, 7–5, 6–2, in the semifinals, and then defeated Andy Murray, who was playing in his first Grand Slam final, 6–2, 7–5, 6–2, to win his fifth straight US Open title and 13th career Grand Slam title, leaving him one Grand Slam title from tying Pete Sampras's all-time record of 14. This extended his US Open winning streak to 34 matches.^[14] Federer became the first player in tennis history to have five consecutive wins at both Wimbledon and the US Open.^[15]

At the Mutua Madrileña Masters Madrid, Federer reached the semifinals without losing a set. There he lost to Murray, 6–3, 3–6, 5–7. Meanwhile, he became the all-time leader in career prize money in men's tennis, earning over US$43.3 million at the end of the tournament and surpassing 14-time Grand Slam singles champion Pete Sampras.^[16]

Federer won his 57th career title at the Davidoff Swiss Indoors in Basel, beating David Nalbandian in the final. He became the only player in history to win the title three consecutive years.

He reached the quarterfinals of his next event, the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, before withdrawing because of back pain. This was the first time in Federer's career of 763 matches that he had withdrawn from a tournament.^[17] This meant that 2008 was the first year since 2003 in which he did not win a Masters Series title.^[18] Federer entered the Tennis Masters Cup as the top-seeded player, after Nadal withdrew from the tournament. He drew Simon, Murray, and Roddick in the Red Group. In his opening match, Federer lost to Simon, but kept his hopes alive by defeating Roddick's replacement, Stepanek, in his second match. He lost his third match to Murray, 6–4, 6–7, 5–7. Federer had received medical treatment for back and hip problems in the third set, but lost after saving seven match points.^[19] However, Federer still ended the year ranked world no. 2.

Tournament Round Result Opponent Score Australian Open 1R Win Diego Hartfield 6–0, 6–3, 6–0 2R Win Fabrice Santoro 6–1, 6–2, 6–0 3R Win Janko Tipsarević 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–1), 5–7, 6–1, 10–8 4R Win Tomáš Berdych 6–4, 7–6(7–9), 6–3 QF Win James Blake 7–5, 7–6(7–5), 6–4 SF Loss Novak Djokovic 5–7, 3–6, 6–7(5–7) French Open 1R Win Sam Querrey 6–4, 6–4, 6–3 2R Win Albert Montañés 6–7(5–7), 6–1, 6–0, 6–4 3R Win Mario Ančić 6–3, 6–4, 6–2 4R Win Julien Benneteau 6–4, 7–5, 7–5 QF Win Fernando González 2–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4 SF Win Gaël Monfils 6–2, 5–7, 6–3, 7–5 F Loss Rafael Nadal 1–6, 3–6, 0–6 Wimbledon 1R Win Dominik Hrbatý 6–3, 6–2, 6–2 2R Win Robin Söderling 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(7–3) 3R Win Marc Gicquel 6–3, 6–3, 6–1 4R Win Lleyton Hewitt 7–6(9–7), 6–2, 6–4 QF Win Mario Ančić 6–1, 7–5, 6–4 SF Win Marat Safin 6–3, 7–6(7–3), 6–4 F Loss Rafael Nadal 4–6, 4–6, 7–6(5), 7–6(10–8), 7–9 US Open 1R Win Máximo González 6–3, 6–0, 6–3 2R Win Thiago Alves 6–3, 7–5, 6–4 3R Win Radek Štěpánek 6–3, 6–3, 6–2 4R Win Igor Andreev 6–7(6–8), 7–6(7–5), 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 QF Win Gilles Müller 7–6(7–5), 6–4, 7–6(7–5) SF Win Novak Djokovic 6–3, 5–7, 7–5, 6–2 F Win (13) Andy Murray 6–2, 7–5, 6–2

Match	Tournament	Start Date	Type	I/O	Surface	Round	Opponent/Rank	Result	Score
686	Australian Open	1/14	GS	Outdoor	Hard	R128	Diego Hartfield	W	6–0, 6–3, 6–0
687	Australian Open	1/14	GS	Outdoor	Hard	R64	Fabrice Santoro	W	6–1, 6–2, 6–0
688	Australian Open	1/14	GS	Outdoor	Hard	R32	Janko Tipsarevic	W	6–7(5), 7–6(1), 5–7, 6–1, 10–8
689	Australian Open	1/14	GS	Outdoor	Hard	R16	Tomas Berdych	W	6–4, 7–6(7), 6–3
690	Australian Open	1/14	GS	Outdoor	Hard	Q	James Blake	W	7–5, 7–6(5), 6–4
691	Australian Open	1/14	GS	Outdoor	Hard	S	Novak Djokovic	L	5–7, 3–6, 6–7(5)
692	Dubai	3/3	500	Outdoor	Hard	R32	Andy Murray	L	7–6(6), 3–6, 4–6
–	Indian Wells Masters	3/13	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R128	Bye
693	Indian Wells Masters	3/13	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R64	Guillermo Garcia-Lopez	W	6–3, 6–2
694	Indian Wells Masters	3/13	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R32	Nicolas Mahut	W	6–1, 6–1
695	Indian Wells Masters	3/13	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R16	Ivan Ljubicic	W	6–3, 6–4
–	Indian Wells Masters	3/13	1000	Outdoor	Hard	Q	Tommy Haas	W/O	N/A
696	Indian Wells Masters	3/13	1000	Outdoor	Hard	S	Mardy Fish	L	3–6, 2–6
–	Miami Masters	3/27	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R128	Bye
697	Miami Masters	3/27	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R64	Gael Monfils	W	6–3, 6–4
698	Miami Masters	3/27	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R32	Robin Soderling	W	6–4, 3–0 RET
699	Miami Masters	3/27	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R16	Jose Acasuso	W	7–6(5), 6–2
700	Miami Masters	3/27	1000	Outdoor	Hard	Q	Andy Roddick	L	6–7(4), 6–4, 3–6
701	Estoril	4/14	250	Outdoor	Clay	R32	Olivier Rochus	W	4–6, 6–3, 6–2
702	Estoril	4/14	250	Outdoor	Clay	R16	Victor Hanescu	W	6–3, 6–2
703	Estoril	4/14	250	Outdoor	Clay	Q	Frederico Gil	W	6–4, 6–1
704	Estoril	4/14	250	Outdoor	Clay	S	Denis Gremelmayr	W	2–6, 7–5, 6–1
705	Estoril	4/14	250	Outdoor	Clay	Win (1)	Nikolay Davydenko	W	7–6(5), 1–2 RET
–	Monte Carlo Masters	4/20	1000	Outdoor	Clay	R64	Bye
706	Monte Carlo Masters	4/20	1000	Outdoor	Clay	R32	Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo	W	6–1, 3–6, 7–6(1)
707	Monte Carlo Masters	4/20	1000	Outdoor	Clay	R16	Gael Monfils	W	6–3, 6–4
708	Monte Carlo Masters	4/20	1000	Outdoor	Clay	Q	David Nalbandian	W	5–7, 6–2, 6–2
709	Monte Carlo Masters	4/20	1000	Outdoor	Clay	S	Novak Djokovic	W	6–3, 3–2 RET
710	Monte Carlo Masters	4/20	1000	Outdoor	Clay	F	Rafael Nadal	L	5–7, 5–7
–	Rome Masters	5/5	1000	Outdoor	Clay	R64	Bye
711	Rome Masters	5/5	1000	Outdoor	Clay	R32	Guillermo Canas	W	6–3, 6–3
712	Rome Masters	5/5	1000	Outdoor	Clay	R16	Ivo Karlovic	W	7–6(4), 6–3
713	Rome Masters	5/5	1000	Outdoor	Clay	Q	Radek Stepanek	L	6–7(4), 6–7(7)
–	Hamburg Masters	5/11	1000	Outdoor	Clay	R64	Bye
714	Hamburg Masters	5/11	1000	Outdoor	Clay	R32	Jarkko Nieminen	W	6–1, 6–3
715	Hamburg Masters	5/11	1000	Outdoor	Clay	R16	Robin Soderling	W	6–3, 6–2
716	Hamburg Masters	5/11	1000	Outdoor	Clay	Q	Fernando Verdasco	W	6–3, 6–3
717	Hamburg Masters	5/11	1000	Outdoor	Clay	S	Andreas Seppi	W	6–3, 6–1
718	Hamburg Masters	5/11	1000	Outdoor	Clay	F	Rafael Nadal	L	5–7, 7–6(3), 3–6
719	Roland Garros	5/25	GS	Outdoor	Clay	R128	Sam Querrey	W	6–4, 6–4, 6–3
720	Roland Garros	5/25	GS	Outdoor	Clay	R64	Albert Montanes	W	6–7(5), 6–1, 6–0, 6–4
721	Roland Garros	5/25	GS	Outdoor	Clay	R32	Mario Ancic	W	6–3, 6–4, 6–2
722	Roland Garros	5/25	GS	Outdoor	Clay	R16	Julien Benneteau	W	6–4, 7–5, 7–5
723	Roland Garros	5/25	GS	Outdoor	Clay	Q	Fernando Gonzalez	W	2–6, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4
724	Roland Garros	5/25	GS	Outdoor	Clay	S	Gael Monfils	W	6–2, 5–7, 6–3, 7–5
725	Roland Garros	5/25	GS	Outdoor	Clay	F	Rafael Nadal	L	1–6, 3–6, 0–6
726	Halle	6/9	250	Outdoor	Grass	R32	Michael Berrer	W	6–4, 6–2
727	Halle	6/9	250	Outdoor	Grass	R16	Jan Vacek	W	7–5, 6–3
728	Halle	6/9	250	Outdoor	Grass	Q	Marcos Baghdatis	W	6–4, 6–4
729	Halle	6/9	250	Outdoor	Grass	S	Nicolas Kiefer	W	6–1, 6–4
730	Halle	6/9	250	Outdoor	Grass	Win (2)	Philipp Kohlschreiber	W	6–3, 6–4
731	Wimbledon	6/23	GS	Outdoor	Grass	R128	Dominik Hrbaty	W	6–3, 6–2, 6–2
732	Wimbledon	6/23	GS	Outdoor	Grass	R64	Robin Soderling	W	6–3, 6–4, 7–6(3)
733	Wimbledon	6/23	GS	Outdoor	Grass	R32	Marc Gicquel	W	6–3, 6–3, 6–1
734	Wimbledon	6/23	GS	Outdoor	Grass	R16	Lleyton Hewitt	W	7–6(7), 6–2, 6–4
735	Wimbledon	6/23	GS	Outdoor	Grass	Q	Mario Ancic	W	6–1, 7–5, 6–4
736	Wimbledon	6/23	GS	Outdoor	Grass	S	Marat Safin	W	6–3, 7–6(3), 6–4
737	Wimbledon	6/23	GS	Outdoor	Grass	F	Rafael Nadal	L	4–6, 4–6, 7–6(5), 7–6(8), 7–9
–	Canada Masters	7/21	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R64	Bye
738	Canada Masters	7/21	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R32	Gilles Simon	L	6–2, 5–7, 4–6
–	Cincinnati Masters	7/28	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R64	Bye
739	Cincinnati Masters	7/28	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R32	Robby Ginepri	W	6–7(2), 7–6(5), 6–0
740	Cincinnati Masters	7/28	1000	Outdoor	Hard	R16	Ivo Karlovic	L	6–7(6), 6–4, 6–7(5)
741	Beijing Olympics	8/11	OL	Outdoor	Hard	R64	Dmitry Tursunov	W	6–4, 6–2
742	Beijing Olympics	8/11	OL	Outdoor	Hard	R32	Rafael Arevalo	W	6–2, 6–4
743	Beijing Olympics	8/11	OL	Outdoor	Hard	R16	Tomas Berdych	W	6–3, 7–6(4)
744	Beijing Olympics	8/11	OL	Outdoor	Hard	Q	James Blake	L	4–6, 6–7(2)
745	US Open	8/25	GS	Outdoor	Hard	R128	Maximo Gonzalez	W	6–3, 6–0, 6–3
746	US Open	8/25	GS	Outdoor	Hard	R64	Thiago Alves	W	6–3, 7–5, 6–4
747	US Open	8/25	GS	Outdoor	Hard	R32	Radek Stepanek	W	6–3, 6–3, 6–2
748	US Open	8/25	GS	Outdoor	Hard	R16	Igor Andreev	W	6–7(5), 7–6(5), 6–3, 3–6, 6–3
749	US Open	8/25	GS	Outdoor	Hard	Q	Gilles Muller	W	7–6(5), 6–4, 7–6(5)
750	US Open	8/25	GS	Outdoor	Hard	S	Novak Djokovic	W	6–3, 5–7, 7–5, 6–2
751	US Open	8/25	GS	Outdoor	Hard	Win (3)	Andy Murray	W	6–2, 7–5, 6–2
752	SUI v. BEL WG Play-offs	9/19	DC	Indoor	Hard	RR	Kristof Vliegen	W	7–6(1), 6–4, 6–2
–	Madrid Masters	10/12	1000	Indoor	Hard	R64	Bye
753	Madrid Masters	10/12	1000	Indoor	Hard	R32	Radek Stepanek	W	6–3, 7–6(6)
754	Madrid Masters	10/12	1000	Indoor	Hard	R16	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	W	6–4, 6–1
755	Madrid Masters	10/12	1000	Indoor	Hard	Q	Juan Martin Del Potro	W	6–3, 6–3
756	Madrid Masters	10/12	1000	Indoor	Hard	S	Andy Murray	L	6–3, 3–6, 5–7
757	Basel	10/20	250	Indoor	Hard	R32	Bobby Reynolds	W	6–3, 6–7(6), 6–3
758	Basel	10/20	250	Indoor	Hard	R16	Jarkko Nieminen	W	7–6(6), 7–6(1)
759	Basel	10/20	250	Indoor	Hard	Q	Simone Bolelli	W	6–2, 6–3
760	Basel	10/20	250	Indoor	Hard	S	Feliciano Lopez	W	6–3, 6–2
761	Basel	10/20	250	Indoor	Hard	Win (4)	David Nalbandian	W	6–3, 6–4
–	Paris Masters	10/26	1000	Indoor	Hard	R64	Bye
762	Paris Masters	10/26	1000	Indoor	Hard	R32	Robin Soderling	W	6–4, 7–6(7)
763	Paris Masters	10/26	1000	Indoor	Hard	R16	Marin Cilic	W	6–3, 6–4
–	Paris Masters	10/26	1000	Indoor	Hard	Q	James Blake	Withdrew
764	Tennis Masters Cup	11/9	WC	Indoor	Hard	RR	Gilles Simon	L	6–4, 4–6, 3–6
765	Tennis Masters Cup	11/9	WC	Indoor	Hard	RR	Radek Stepanek	W	7–6(4), 6–4
766	Tennis Masters Cup	11/9	WC	Indoor	Hard	RR	Andy Murray	L	6–4, 6–7(3), 5–7

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponents (seed or key)	Ranks	Result	Score
Rogers Cup Toronto, Ontario, Canada ATP Tour Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 21 – 27 July 2008 Partner: Stanislas Wawrinka
	1	1R	Julien Benneteau / Frédéric Niemeyer (WC)	30 / 399	Win	6–4, 6–4
	2	1R	Lukáš Dlouhý / Leander Paes (7)	14 / 15	Loss	4–6, 4–6
2008 Summer Olympics Beijing, China Olympic Games Hard, outdoor 11 – 17 August 2008 Partner: Stanislas Wawrinka
	3	1R	Simone Bolelli / Andreas Seppi	138 / 150	Win	7–5, 6–1
	4	2R	Dmitry Tursunov / Mikhail Youzhny (Alt)	40 / 77	Win	6–4, 6–3
	5	QF	Mahesh Bhupathi / Leander Paes (7)	13 / 15	Win	6–2, 6–4
	6	SF	Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan (1)	2 / 2	Win	7–6(8–6), 6–4
	7	W	Simon Aspelin / Thomas Johansson	9 / 116	Win (1)	6–3, 6–4, 6–7(4–7), 6–3
Davis Cup, World Group play-offs Lausanne, Switzerland Davis Cup Hard, indoor 19 – 21 September 2008 Partner: Stanislas Wawrinka
	8	PO 3R	Xavier Malisse / Olivier Rochus	177 / 105	Win	4–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–3, 6–3

Source (ATP)

Result	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponents	Score
Win	54.	20 April 2008	Portugal Open, Portugal	Clay	Nikolay Davydenko	7–6(7–5), 1–2 ret.
Loss	18.	27 April 2008	Monte-Carlo Masters, France	Clay	Rafael Nadal	5–7, 5–7
Loss	19.	18 April 2008	Hamburg Masters, Germany	Clay	Rafael Nadal	5–7, 7–6(7–3), 3–6
Loss	20.	8 June 2008	French Open, France	Clay	Rafael Nadal	1–6, 3–6, 0–6
Win	55.	15 June 2008	Halle Open, Germany (5)	Grass	Philipp Kohlschreiber	6–3, 6–4
Loss	21.	6 July 2008	Wimbledon, England, UK	Grass	Rafael Nadal	4–6, 4–6, 7–6(7–5), 7–6(10–8), 7–9
Win	56.	8 September 2008	US Open, United States (5)	Hard	Andy Murray	6–2, 7–5, 6–2
Win	57.	26 October 2008	Swiss Indoors, Switzerland (3)	Hard (i)	David Nalbandian	6–3, 6–4

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