5 little-known tennis facts about Roger Federer

#4 Federer's highest number of losses have come against No. 1 ranked opposition

Roger Federer

Federer has endured 270 defeats during his illustrious singles career. The Swiss maestro's losses have come against opponents at 83 different ranking positions. However, only 15 of those losses have come against a player ranked outside the top 100.

The 20-time Grand Slam's champion's last defeat against an opponent ranked outside the top 100 came in the second round at Miami in 2018 when he fell in a third-set tiebreak to 175th-ranked Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis.

Federer's worst defeat by opponent ranking came way back in 1999, when the then 104th-ranked Swiss lost in straight sets to 407th-ranked Bjorn Phau in the opening round at Washington DC.

Federer's 20 defeats against the No. 1 ranked player is the highest he has endured in terms of defeats by opponent ranking. The most recent such instance happened in the 2019 Wimbledon final where Federer squandered multiple championship points on serve before going down in a fifth-set tiebreak to then No. 1 Novak Djokovic.

#5 Federer's highest number of losses have come while he has been ranked No. 1

Roger Federer

This is perhaps one of the least known facts about Federer's tennis career. Of Federer's 270 career losses, the highest have come when the Swiss has been ranked the numero uno player in the world.

Federer holds some of the most prominent records associated with the ATP No. 1 ranking. The Swiss maestro's 310 weeks and 237 consecutive wins at No. 1 are both Open Era records.

The record 20-time Grand Slam champion has had tremendous success as the world's top-ranked player. Federer's 11 (of 20) Grand Slam titles, 15 (of 28) Masters 1000 titles, 3 (of 6) ATP Finals titles amidst 46 (of 103 career singles titles) have come when he has occupied the No. 1 position in the world rankings.

Among 122 losses endured by the Swiss maestro as a top 10 player, his 56 defeats as World No. 1 is the highest he has suffered at any single ranking position. Federer's last defeat as World No. 1 came in a three-set reverse against Borna Coric in the 2018 Halle final.