Roger Federer will attempt to win his fourth Australian Open title when he takes on Andy Murray today. Here are 10 facts about the world No 1:
1. Born August 8, 1981 in Binningen near Basel to father Robert, a Swiss-German, and mother Lynette, who is South African. Federer is fluent in German, French and English.
2. Married to Mirka Vavrinec, a former WTA player, in April 2009. She is now his PR manager and the couple have twin girls, Myla Rose and Charlene Riva.
3. Federer started playing tennis as a six-year-old but was also a keen football player. At 14 he became the Swiss junior champion for all ages.
4. In 2003 he was discharged from compulsory military service in Switzerland as he suffers from a long-standing back problem.
5. He has spent 268 weeks as world No 1. This draws him level with the great Jimmy Connors and makes him the third longest of all time.
6. Federer has won 15 grand slam titles out of a possible 25, the most ever. He has also competed in 18 of the last 19 major finals. He is the sixth person to win a career grand slam and is only the second person in the modern era to reach all four finals, after Andre Agassi.
7. In 2006 he became the first tennis player in the Open era to win at least 10 singles championships for three consecutive years.
8. He is the only player to win Wimbledon and the US Open in four consecutive years between 2004 and 2007.
9. At the 2006 Australian Open, Federer became the first man to win three consecutive grand slam titles since Sampras in 1993-94. Federer repeated this feat at the 2007 Australian Open, making him the only man to achieve this feat twice in the open era.
10. In 2003, he set up the Roger Federer Foundation, which helps to benefit children in South Africa. Three years later in 2006, Federer was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to assist the needs of poor children from all parts of the world.
