Roger Federer wins in Miami, but what records are left for the legend to still catch?

Roger Federer won the final against a late-second set injured John Isner, putting him even closer to reaching one of the very few tennis records he doesn’t hold, Jimmy Connor’s 109 ATP titles.

With Roger Federer’s latest win, the Miami Open Masters, what’s left for the greatest men’s player to still achieve in tennis? He holds some of the biggest records in the game—some by a large margin, others by a slim. Granted, his three slams over Rafael Nadal’s doesn’t sound like much, but with just four in a calendar year and the herculean effort needed to achieve each, every single one is a monumental affair.

Miami Open tournament director James Blake joked that Roger Federer makes him look like an “underachiever” during the trophy presentation ceremony. His opponent, John Isner, had his own usually-unbreakable serve game broken in the first set. This was before the American player got injured. Just when he had started getting some of the momentum in the second set back, the world No. 9 re-injured his foot when both players were on serve, 5-4, watching the championship get away from him, losing 6-1, 6-4, unable to defend his title from last year. The 2018 Miami Open champ urged Roger Federer “to keep playing and never retire” during his trophy speech.

The list of Open Era records the Swiss player has achieved is simply mind-boggling, especially when you think of how many naysayers had called for his retirement in 2016. Federer refuses to talk about retirement details—can you blame him? He just won two ATP titles in the last two months, including his 28th Masters 1000 in Miami. He moves back up to world No. 4 as of Monday.

Retirement on hold indefinitely

Federer has always intimated that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics would be the time that he retires. But playing this well, and chasing Jimmy Connors’ ATP record of 109 titles, this may not be the case anymore. And why would he, playing like he’s done this year?

"“I have no plans yet. There was talks about a Tokyo Olympics but that’s not true.”"

The precedent is also set for the great players from the past, such as the legendary Australian player Ken Rosewall, who is both the oldest player to win a grand slam at age 37 (Australian Open) and the oldest to make a GS final at 39 (U.S. Open)—two stats Fed could very well equal. Only three players have achieved four or more grand slams past the age of 30, including yup, you guessed it, Rosewall again, and also, of course, Federer, as well as the great Rod Laver. Just those three.

Federer’s record tally

At age 37, Federer has earned most of the records there are in tennis. Sure, Rafa Nadal has some as well. So does Novak Djokovic. And they’re both still playing. But no one in the sport has achieved the number of records that Roger Federer has. Here are just a few:

1. Most grand slam championships: 20
2. Most grand slam finals: 30
3. Most grand slam semifinals: 43
4. Most grand slam quarterfinals: 53
5. Most weeks ranked at world No. 1: 301
6. Most consecutive weeks at world No. 1: 237
7. Most Masters 1000 finals: 50
8. Funny enough, Federer also owns the stats for most weeks at No. 2, 3, 4, 5, and Top 10: 528, 707, 742, 780, and 857
9. Oldest No. 1: 36 years old, 2018
10. Most match wins at Masters 1000 tourneys: 374, although he ranks third to Novak Djokovic (32) and Rafa Nadal (33) in titles, at 28
11. Most ATP Finals titles: 6
12. Most Wimbledon grand slams: 8
13. Most U.S. Open grand slams: 5, tied with Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras, although Federer’s the only one to win them consecutively
14. Most hard court ATP titles won: 70
15. Most grass court ATP titles won: 18

Along with Andre Agassi, Rod Laver, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal, Federer has achieved the Career Grand Slam, winning all four slams (not in the same year, only Laver has achieved that on the men’s side, and twice, I might add).

Just a few left for the record books

So what’s left, you wonder? Federer will likely never achieve the Calendar Year Grand Slam, holding all four slams in the same year, and the Career Golden Slam, which is the 4 GS titles + a gold medal. Only Rod Laver and Steffi Graf have completed the CYGS, with Steffi having gone one further, achieving the gold medal the same year she held all four slams. Frankly, Graf doesn’t get enough credit for this monumental accomplishment.

There are a few big records that Roger Federer is chasing, one being the 109 titles that Jimmy Connors holds. Federer is just eight shy of this, with his 101st title won in Miami. But there is a major difference in the style the 37-year-old is going about it. No disrespect to the legendary Connors (believe me, lots of respect there), but some of those titles came at the end of his career when he was participating in ATP 250 tournaments. Federer plays bigger events (ATP 500’s and up) and has still come close to achieving that phenomenal number.

One telling statistic makes that clear, the record for number of matches in ATP tourneys. Jimmy Connors holds the record here too, at 1,256, with Federer chasing him just 58 matches behind, a statistic that the Swiss is likely to surpass, given his winning percentages, even in the twilight of his career.

If you look at the record of most match wins over Top 10 players, however, Federer owns this stat with 218, while Jimmy Connors is ranked No. 9, with 106 wins, despite holding the record for most ATP titles overall. The higher ranked players play the bigger tournaments, and Federer’s had to beat more of them to earn his ATP titles.

How likely is Federer to catch the eight titles to match Connors? The Miami Open champion has won two titles this year already. However, last year, he collected only four. Despite losing in Australia, the Swiss has been playing at a very high level this year and was slightly injured at the end of last. He averages about five titles a year. Granted, this will become harder as he gets older, but the rules don’t often seem to apply to Federer.

My guess is that Roger Federer will very likely match Jimmy Connors’ record of ATP titles, and has a chance of slightly surpassing it. With the Swiss, it’s best to never underestimate him.

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