2006 Roger Federer tennis season
Calendar prize money | $8,343,885 |
---|---|
Singles | |
Season record | 92–5 (94.84%) |
Calendar titles | 12 |
Year-end ranking | #1 |
Ranking change from previous year | = |
Grand Slam & significant results | |
Australian Open | W |
French Open | F |
Wimbledon | W |
US Open | W |
Tour Finals | W |
Last updated on: 31 December 2006. |
Roger Federer reached all four Grand Slam finals in 2006, winning three of them. His only loss came against Rafael Nadal in the French Open final in four sets, 6-1, 1-6, 4-6, 6-7(4). This was the first time they had met in a Major final. In the other three Grand Slams of 2006, Federer defeated Nadal in the final of the Wimbledon Championships, 6–0, 7–6(5), 6–7(2), 6–3. He defeated Marcos Baghdatis, 5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–2, at the Australian Open and Andy Roddick, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1, at the US Open. In addition, Federer made it to six ATP Masters Series 1000 finals, winning four on hard surfaces and losing two on clay to Nadal. Also, Federer won one ATP 500 series event in Tokyo, three ATP 250 series events in Doha, Halle, and Basel, and captured the Year-End Championships for the third time in his career. In December 2011, Stephen Tignor, chief editorial writer for Tennis.com, ranked Federer's 2006 season as the second greatest season of all-time during the open era; behind only Rod Laver's Calendar Grand Slam year of 1969.[1]
Year summary
Federer won three of the four Grand Slam singles tournaments for the second time and ended the year ranked world no. 1, with his points being several thousand points greater than world no. 2 Nadal.[2]
Winter Hard Court Season
Federer started the year off by winning the Qatar Open in Doha. This was his second consecutive championship in Doha, he deafeated Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-3, 7-6(5) in the final.
After traveling down under, Federer won the year's first Grand Slam tournament, the Australian Open, by defeating Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis in four sets. This was Federer's seventh consecutive victory in a Grand Slam final (2003 Wimbledon – 2006 Australian Open), a record to start a career, and second overall only to Pete Sampras's eight consecutive wins (1995 Wimbledon – 2000 Wimbledon). This was Federer's 7th Grand Slam title which tied him for sixth place in the open era with John McEnroe and Mats Wilander.
Moving back to the Middle East, Federer reached the finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships without losing a set before losing to his budding arch-rival Rafael Nadal 6-2, 4-6, 4-6. This ended the 16 match winning streak that he had started the 2006 season on. It was also the first time Federer had lost a match on a hard court in over a year, the last time coming 13 months earlier in the semifinals of the 2005 Australian Open.
Federer successfully defended his Masters title at the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, defeating American James Blake in the final 7-5, 6-3, 6-0. This was his third consecutive title in Indian Wells which set the tournament record for most consecutive titles. This third championship also tied Michael Chang's record of three titles in Indian Wells.
Two weeks later he also successfully defended his Masters title at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Florida, defeating Croatian Ivan Ljubicic in the final 7-6(5), 7-6(4), 7-6(6). With his victory in Miami he picked up his second masters title of the year, and became the first player ever to win the grueling Indian Wells-Key Biscayne double in consecutive years.
Clay Court Season
As the spring clay-court season began the focus shifted to the red clay of Europe. Federer started the clay-court season by reaching the final of the ATP Masters Series event at Monte Carlo. He opened the tournament with a scare needing three sets to defeat an 18 year old Novak Djokovic; this would be the first match of two great rivals who have now played in 28 matches.[3] After reaching the final he lost in four sets to Nadal 2-6, 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-7(5). Nadal had yet to prove the dominant clay court force that he would become and the close nature of the match gave little indication that Nadal would be a persistent nuisance to the Swiss star on clay courts in the future.
In Italy Federer had a difficult road to the finals of Rome defeating Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-5 in the quarters and David Nalbandian 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(5) in the semifinals. His encounter with Rafael Nadal in the finals would prove to be the greatest clay court match of their respective rivalry. Federer ended up losing the final 7-6(0), 6-7(5), 4-6, 6-2, 6-7(5)in an epic five-set match that culminated in a decisive tiebreak.[4] This was a devastating loss for Federer because he had held two championship points at 6-5 in the fifth set. Because of the physicality and grueling nature of the match, both players would skip the Hamburg Masters the following week.
Federer only dropped 2 sets en route to making his first French Open final of his career. He met the reigning champion Rafael Nadal in the final. Federer had gone undefeated in 2006 except against Nadal compiling a 44-3 record heading into the finals. He got off to a fast start winning the first set decisively 6-1. The relentless nature of Nadal's play, constantly hitting high bouncing shots to Federer's one-handed backhand, proved a devastating formula. Federer eventually lost the match in a fourth set tiebreaker 6-1, 1-6, 4-6, 6-7(4). This ended many predictions of Federer winning the calendar year Grand Slam in 2006.[5] Although the French Open title eluded him, Federer became one of only two active players who had reached the finals of all four Grand Slam singles tournaments, the other being Andre Agassi.[6]
Grass Court Season
Federer won his fourth consecutive title at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, Germany. Federer had three close third set victories en route to making the final, including a thrilling triple tiebreak match against Olivier Rochus in the quarterfinals 6-7(2), 7-6(9), 7-6(5). In the final he defeated Tomas Berdych 6-0, 6-7(4), 6-2.
Federer entered Wimbledon as the top seed, trying to become the first man since Pete Sampras (1997–2000) to win Wimbledon in four consecutive years.[7] Federer raced through the tournament without dropping a set and met his arch-rival Rafael Nadal in the finals. Federer had not defeated Nadal all season going 0-4 against Nadal but 55-4 overall heading into the final. Federer again thrashed Nadal in the first set, the same way he had in the opening set at Roland Garros, bageling the Spaniard 6-0. The second set was much closer with Federer taking the tiebreaker 7-5. Federer surrendered his first set of the tournament when he lost the third set in a tiebreaker 2-7. In the fourth set Federer reasserted his superior grass court play and took it by a score of 6-3. Federer won the final 6-0, 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 6-3. This was his fourth Wimbledon title and his 8th Grand Slam title of his career. With this Major title win he tied Andre Agassi, Jimmy Connors, and Ivan Lendl for third on the all-time Grand Slam list behind only Bjorn Borg (11) and Pete Sampras (14). After Wimbledon, Federer set his sights on winning the US Open.
Summer Hard Court Season
Federer then started his North American tour by winning his second Rogers Cup title in Toronto, defeating Richard Gasquet of France in the final 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.[8]
After his victory in Toronto, Federer entered the Cincinnati Masters as the defending champion looking to tie the all-time record he and Nadal set in 2005 of four masters titles in a single season. After reaching the finals of his first eleven tournaments in 2006, Federer was upset by 19 year old British upstart Andy Murray. Following this loss to Murray, Federer would not lose another match for the remainder of the year. He finished the season with a perfect record of 29-0 (this would continue into 2007 and be part of his career best 41 match winning streak).
During the US Open, the year's last Grand Slam tournament, he defeated American Andy Roddick in four sets 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 for his third consecutive title at Flushing Meadows. During the open era, 2006 is the only year in which the same man (Federer) and woman (Justine Henin) reached the finals of all four Grand Slams. This was Federer's 9th Grand Slam title which put him solely in third place on the all-time Grand Slam list.
Fall Indoor Season
Toyko was the last outdoor event that Federer participated in during the 2006 season. He defeated his former nemesis Tim Henman in the finals 6-3, 6-3.
With victory in Asia, Federer turned his focus to the indoor circuit of Europe. He entered the Madrid Masters for the first time since 2003. After surviving a close third round match against Robin Soderling, Federer defeated Fernando Gonzalez 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 in the finals. This was his fourth masters tournament victory of the year, which tied the all-time record held by himself and Nadal in 2005.
Federer entered his hometown tournament, the Swiss Indoors held in Basel, having never won it despite having reached the finals in 2000 and 2001. Federer was forced to win a final set tiebreaker against Paradorn Srichaphan in the semifinals to advance and ending up defeating Fernando Gonzalez in the final 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(3). This victory was especially touching for Federer who had grown up in Basel and had been a ball boy at the tournament during his youth.[9]
At the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, Federer defeated defending champion David Nalbandian in one of his three round-robin matches. He also scored his second victory of the year over rival Rafael Nadal 6-4, 7-5 in a thrilling semifinal matchup of the top 2 players in the world. Federer then defeated American James Blake, 6–0, 6–3, 6–4, in the finals to win his third Masters Cup title.
Season Accomplishments
Federer won 12 titles in 2006, which included three Grand Slam titles, four ATP Masters titles, and the Tennis Masters Cup. During the year, he lost to only two players, Nadal in the French Open, Rome, Monte Carlo, and Dubai finals; and Andy Murray in the second round of the Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati. The Cincinnati loss to Murray was Federer's only straight-set loss of the year and the only tournament out of 17 in which he did not reach the final. His win-loss record for the 2006 season was 92-5, falling slightly behind Federer's 2005 season of 81-4.
Matches
Grand Slam performance
|
All matches
Singles
2006 Tournament Schedule
Singles schedule
Date | Championship | Location | Category | Surface | 2005 Result | 2005 Points | New Points | Outcome |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 January 2006– 7 January 2006 |
Qatar ExxonMobil Open | Doha (QAT) | ATP International Series | Hard | W | 250 | 250 | Winner (defeated Gael Monfils, 6–3, 7–6(7–5)) |
16 January 2006– 29 January 2006 |
Australian Open | Melbourne (AUS) | Grand Slam | Hard | SF | 450 | 1000 | Winner (defeated Marcos Baghdatis, 5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–2) |
20 February 2006– 26 February 2006 |
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships | Dubai (UAE) | ATP International Series Gold | Hard | W | 300 | 210 | Final (lost to Rafael Nadal, 6–2, 4–6, 4–6) |
6 March 2006– 19 March 2006 |
Pacific Life Open | Indian Wells (USA) | ATP Masters Series | Hard | W | 500 | 500 | Winner (defeated James Blake, 7–5, 6–3, 6–0) |
20 March 2006– 2 April 2006 |
NASDAQ-100 Open | Miami (USA) | ATP Masters Series | Hard | W | 500 | 500 | Winner (defeated Ivan Ljubicic, 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4),7–6(8–6)) |
17 April 2006– 25 April 2006 |
Monte Carlo Masters | Monte Carlo (MON) | ATP Masters Series | Clay | QF | 125 | 350 | Final (lost to Rafael Nadal, 2–6, 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 6–7(5–7)) |
8 May 2006– 15 May 2006 |
Internazionali BNL d'Italia | Rome (ITA) | ATP Masters Series | Clay | A | 0 | 350 | Final (lost to Rafael Nadal, 7–6(7–0), 6–7(5–7), 4–6, 6–2, 6–7(5–7)) |
15 May 2006– 22 May 2006 |
Hamburg Masters | Hamburg (GER) | ATP Masters Series | Clay | W | 500 | 0 | Withdrew |
28 May 2006– 11 June 2006 |
French Open | Paris (FRA) | Grand Slam | Clay | SF | 450 | 700 | Final (lost to Rafael Nadal, 6–1, 4–6, 6–7(4–7)) |
12 June 2006– 18 June 2006 |
Gerry Weber Open | Halle (GER) | ATP International Series | Grass | W | 225 | 225 | Winner (defeated Tomas Berdych, 6–0, 6–7(4–7), 6–2) |
26 June 2006– 9 July 2006 |
The Championships, Wimbledon | Wimbledon (GBR) | Grand Slam | Grass | W | 1000 | 1000 | Winner (defeated Rafael Nadal, 6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3) |
7 August 2006– 13 August 2006 |
Rogers Cup | Toronto (CAN) | ATP Masters Series | Hard | A | 0 | 500 | Winner (defeated Richard Gasquet, 2–6, 6–3, 6–2) |
14 August 2006– 21 August 2006 |
Western & Southern Financial Group Masters | Cincinnati (USA) | ATP Masters Series | Hard | W | 500 | 35 | Second Round (lost to Andy Murray, 5–7, 4–6 |
28 August 2006– 10 September 2006 |
US Open | New York (USA) | Grand Slam | Hard | W | 1000 | 1000 | Winner (defeated Andy Roddick, 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1) |
22 September 2006– 24 September 2006 |
Davis Cup World Group Play-offs: Switzerland vs. Serbia and Montenegro |
Geneva (SUI) | Davis Cup | Hard (i) | Switzerland def. Serbia and Montenegro 4–1, advances to 2007 World Group | |||
2 October 2006– 8 October 2006 |
Japan Open Tennis Championships | Tokyo (JPN) | ATP International Series Gold | Hard | A | 0 | 250 | Winner (defeated Tim Henman, 6–3, 6–3) |
16 October 2006– 22 October 2006 |
Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid | Madrid (ESP) | ATP Masters Series | Hard (i) | A | 0 | 500 | Winner (defeated Fernando Gonzalez, 7–5, 6–1, 6–0) |
23 October 2006– 29 November 2006 |
Davidoff Swiss Indoors | Basel (SUI) | ATP International Series | Hard (i) | A | 0 | 250 | Winner (defeated Fernando Gonzalez, 6–3, 6–2, 7–6(7–3)) |
12 November 2006– 19 November 2006 |
Tennis Masters Cup | Shanghai (CHN) | Tennis Masters Cup | Hard (i) | W | 500 | 750 | Winner (defeated James Blake, 6–0, 6–3, 6–4) |
Total year-end points | 6725 | 8370 | 1645 difference |
Yearly Records
Finals
Singles: 16 (12–4)
|
|
|
Outcome | No. | Date | Championship | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winner | 34. | January 8, 2006 | Doha, Qatar (2) | Hard | Gaël Monfils | 6–3, 7–6(7–5) |
Winner | 35. | January 29, 2006 | Australian Open, Melbourne, Australia (2) | Hard | Marcos Baghdatis | 5–7, 7–5, 6–0, 6–2 |
Runner-up | 10. | March 5, 2006 | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Hard | Rafael Nadal | 6–2, 4–6, 4–6 |
Winner | 36. | March 19, 2006 | Indian Wells, United States (3) | Hard | James Blake | 7–5, 6–3, 6–0 |
Winner | 37. | April 2, 2006 | Miami, United States (2) | Hard | Ivan Ljubičić | 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–4), 7–6(8–6) |
Runner-up | 11. | April 23, 2006 | Monte Carlo, Monaco | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 2–6, 7–6(7–2), 3–6, 6–7(5–7) |
Runner-up | 12. | May 14, 2006 | Rome, Italy (2) | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 7–6(7–0), 6–7(5–7), 4–6, 6–2, 6–7(5–7) |
Runner-up | 13. | June 11, 2006 | French Open, Paris, France | Clay | Rafael Nadal | 6–1, 1–6, 4–6, 6–7(4–7) |
Winner | 38. | June 18, 2006 | Halle, Germany (4) | Grass | Tomáš Berdych | 6–0, 6–7(4–7), 6–2 |
Winner | 39. | July 9, 2006 | Wimbledon, London, England, UK (4) | Grass | Rafael Nadal | 6–0, 7–6(7–5), 6–7(2–7), 6–3 |
Winner | 40. | August 13, 2006 | Toronto, Canada (2) | Hard | Richard Gasquet | 2–6, 6–3, 6–2 |
Winner | 41. | September 10, 2006 | US Open, New York City, United States (3) | Hard | Andy Roddick | 6–2, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 |
Winner | 42. | October 8, 2006 | Tokyo, Japan | Hard | Tim Henman | 6–3, 6–3 |
Winner | 43. | October 22, 2006 | Madrid, Spain | Hard (i) | Fernando González | 7–5, 6–1, 6–0 |
Winner | 44. | October 29, 2006 | Basel, Switzerland | Carpet (i) | Fernando González | 6–3, 6–2, 7–6(7–3) |
Winner | 45. | November 19, 2006 | Year-End Championships, Shanghai, China (3) | Hard (i) | James Blake | 6–0, 6–3, 6–4 |
Prize Money Earnings
Event | Prize Money | Year-to-date |
---|---|---|
Qatar ExxonMobil Open | $142,000 | $142,000 |
Australian Open | $922,560 | $1,064,560 |
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships | $98,600 | $1,163,160 |
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (doubles) | $1,500 | $1,164,660 |
Pacific Life Open | $490,000 | $1,654,660 |
Pacific Life Open (doubles) | $1,750 | $1,656,410 |
NASDAQ-100 Open | $533,350 | $2,189,760 |
Monte Carlo Masters | $200,000 | $2,389,760 |
Monte Carlo Masters (doubles) | $7,050 | $2,396,810 |
Internazionali BNL d'Italia | $200,000 | $2,596,810 |
French Open | $598,350 | $3,195,160 |
Gerry Weber Open | $113,000 | $3,308,160 |
The Championships, Wimbledon | $1,190,725 | $4,498,885 |
Rogers Cup | $400,000 | $4,898,885 |
Western & Southern Financial Group Masters | $15,000 | $4,513,885 |
US Open | $1,200,000 | $5,713,885 |
AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships | $118,000 | $5,831,885 |
Mutua Madrilena Masters Madrid | $450,000 | $6,281,885 |
Davidoff Swiss Indoors | $142,000 | $6,423,885 |
Tennis Masters Cup | $1,520,000 | $7,943,885 |
$8,343,885 |
See also
References
- ^ http://www.tennis.com/articles/templates/features.aspx?articleid=15336&zoneid=9
- ^ Caroline Cheese (2006-11-20). "Federer's Magic Numbers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
- ^ http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=D643&oId=F324
- ^ ATP Tennis (2006). "Rome 2006 stats". ATP Tennis. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ "SI.com - Seventh heaven - Jan 29, 2006". CNN. 29 January 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ^ Nikita C Fernandes. "The king of tennis: Roger Federer". OneIndia. Archived from the original on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
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suggested) (help) - ^ "4-In-A-Row For Federer". CBS News. 2006-07-09. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-02.
{{cite news}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Federer Rallies for Toronto Title; Dementieva Wins (Update1)". Bloomberg. 13 August 2006. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
- ^ http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=325927&rel_no=1