Roger Federer retired with an incredible 82% win-rate following his supreme two-decades in the sport.
Federer earned 1251 victories in his career out of the 1526 he played as he collected over 100 ATP titles and 20 Grand Slams.
The ‘GOAT’ debate is often contested between Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic following their dominance throughout the 2000s and 2010s.
Out of the 275 losses he faced in his career, the Swiss star said it was clear which one was the toughest to swallow.
Roger Federer was ‘so disappointed’ by Olympics defeat
Federer’s rare oversight in his career is that he failed to capture an Olympic gold in singles competition despite competing in four different games.
The star managed to claim a gold medal in the doubles alongside Stan Wawrinka at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, but the gold in singles eluded him.
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Federer said one of his toughest defeats came at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, when he missed out on the bronze medal.
Speaking to GQ Magazine in 2015, Federer said: “I made it all the way to the semi-final, which was a surprise to me – I lost easily to Tommy Haas, then I had a bronze medal match against Arnaud Di Pasqule.
“I was like ‘Give me the bronze, please let me go home with something’ but I missed out. He served for the match in the second [set], I was a break up in the third, but managed to mess it up.
“He eventually got the win, and I was so disappointed. Thankfully I have a gold and a silver medal now, but that moment was tough, it was very tough.”
Roger Federer’s record at the Olympics
Federer dominated the landscape of tennis throughout the 2000s, which made his exit at the Athens games in 2004 even stranger.
The star was resoundingly world number one and was expected to scoop his first gold medal at the Olympics.
Federer came through a tough first round match with Nikolai Davydenko, but became unstuck in the second round.
He was defeated by a rising Tomas Berdych in the second round, and the gold medal eventually went to Nicolas Massu.
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Federer fared better four years later in Beijing, but he was still defeated before the medals were handed out.
The star was defeated in the quarter-finals by James Blake, who would lose to Novak Djokovic in the bronze medal match. Rafael Nadal won the gold medal that year.
In 2012, his last appearance at the Olympics, Federer fell to Andy Murray in the final in front of a packed Wimbledon.
