5 records that will likely elude Roger Federer forever

In his 22-year professional career, Roger Federer has enthralled and entertained millions of tennis aficionados. Federer's effortless game-style and silken one-handed backhand are the embodiment of poetry in motion, and can make anyone fall in love with the game of tennis - which incidentally starts at 'love all'.American great Jimmy Connors, an eight-time Grand Slam winner who holds the records for most singles titles (109) and most singles match wins (1274) in the Open Era, once said about Federer's game: &quot;In an era of specialists, there are clay-courters, there are hard-courters, there are grass-courters, and there is Roger Federer.&quot;Indeed, the 'homogenisation' of surfaces was an alien concept until a few years ago; when Federer started his career, you had to be a specialist to survive and excel in the sport. But then there are always exceptions to the rule, and Federer turned out to be one such glorious exception.The Swiss does not possess the most ferocious of serves, but it is still highly effective. Experienced returners can anticipate the type of serve from from the ball toss and a few other subtle indications, but Federer offers no such clues to his opponent. With the same ball toss, Federer can hit a flat serve, a slider out wide or a high-bouncing kicker, leaving the best of returners guessing about the direction of the delivery coming at them.The Swiss' all-court game is at its majestic best on grasscourts, which is 'technically' the fastest surface in the game. It is the surface where all the elements of Federer's game are in harmonious sync, enabling him to churn out a vast range of 'melodies' which have bamboozled, flummoxed and ultimately overwhelmed many a fine player. That is what makes watching Federer play on the Centre Court of Wimbledon the ultimate tennis experience for connoisseurs and casual fans alike.Federer's longevity and sustained excellence have enabled him to conquer many a tennis peak. On the week starting 25 November 2019, Federer has had an ATP ranking for 1187 consecutive weeks. Only two other active players - Feliciano Lopez and Ivo Karlovic - have had an ATP ranking period for a longer duration.The Swiss has been ranked inside the top 100 for a staggering 1054 weeks (1036 weeks uninterrupted since 11 October 1999), which is the most by any player, active or retired. Federer's 733 consecutive weeks inside the top 10 is a tally bettered only by Rafael Nadal. His tally of 872 weeks inside the top 10 is the best in the Open Era, ahead of Jimmy Connors' mark of 814 weeks.Federer has the most Grand Slam titles (20), Grand Slam match wins (357), Grand Slam appearances (78), ATP Finals appearances (17), ATP Finals titles (6), hardcourt titles (71), and grasscourt titles (19) in the Open Era. The Swiss is the only player to have reached all four Grand Slam finals in a year on three occasions (2006-07, 2009), twice coming within two sets of a calendar-year-Slam - not recorded by any player since Rod Laver in 1969.Federer lifted his 20th Grand Slam title at the 2018 Australian OpenFederer is the only player to win Wimbledon and the US Open back-to-back in four consecutive years. Jimmy Connors (1974, 1982), John McEnroe (1981, 1984) and Novak Djokovic (2011, 2015, 2018) managed to win Wimbledon and US Open in the same year on multiple occasions, but none did so in consecutive years.The Swiss maestro is one of only two players in the Open Era to have won 1200 singles matches and 100 singles titles, the other being Connors. In 2019, Federer became the oldest player to win a Masters 1000 title when be beat John Isner in the Miami final. A few months later, the Swiss maestro's 10th title in his hometown tournament of Basel marked the first instance of a player winning 10 titles on two different surfaces (also Halle - grass).But despite having such a long list of records to his name, there are a few significant ones that have been out of Federer's reach so far - and may continue being out of reach forever. Here's a look at five of those records:#1 Most singles titles in a seasonIn 1977, Argentina's Guillermo Vilas won a staggering 16 titles. That remains the best single-season title tally by any player in the Open Era.Ivan Lendl (1982) won 15 titles, while Bjorn Borg (1979) and John McEnroe (1984) won 13 titles. The next ones on the list are Thomas Muster (1995) and Federer himself (2006), with 12 titles apiece.Bjorn BorgWith Federer playing a truncated schedule since the last five seasons - 14 in 2019, 13 in 2018, 12 in 2017, 7 in 2016 and 17 in 2015 - we can safely assume this record will remain outside Federer's grasp.Also read: A tribute to Roger Federer on his 38th birthday

5 records that will likely elude Roger Federer forever

#2 Most singles match wins in a year