Born on August 8, 1981, Roger Federer is a Swiss tennis player. This 6 foot 1 inch prodigy has some of the most impressive stats you'll ever find on an athlete. Not only is he compared to greats of the game like Pete Sampras, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, and Arthur Ashe, he's considered better than the lot.

There's no way to properly explain the natural ability showcased by Federer on a match-by-match basis. His dominance is something of legend. At only 26 years of age, he may in fact be the youngest man in history to reach greatness of this magnitude. The only athlete who comes close to Federer's skill on a world level is professional golfer Tiger Woods. You can find the two featured together in commercials. Tennis isn't the most popular sport out there, but Federer is undoubtedly its most popular participant.

Federer started playing tennis at six years of age. He also played football for a while. The grueling practices of dual-sports seemed to fuel his drive and natural ability, and by the age of 14, he stuck true with tennis and became the Swiss champion for all age groups and was hand-selected to train as the prestigious Ecublens' Swiss National Tennis Center.

He broke into junior tennis in 1996, and quickly showed he had what it took to compete on a broad stage. Federer captured both the Wimbledon junior's title and the Orange Bowl in 1998. He was also recognized as the ITF World Junior Tennis champion that same year. Joining the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) in 1999, Federer became the youngest tennis player to earn a top-100 ranking.

The change was drastic and the competition was fierce. Roger played well for his first handful of matches, but couldn't seem to sustain his play long enough against his stellar counterparts. He wouldn't win his first title until 2001, when he took down the competition at Milan. He won three matches for his country to edge out a 3-2 victory over the United States in the Davis Cup.

Federer's talents now seemingly fully developed, the tennis world was his oyster. In 2002-03, he made serious headway, winning the Tennis Masters Cup, and flaunting his talent in both the Davis Cup and Houston. Federer won 3 out of 4 Grand Slam singles tournaments in 2004, won his first Australian Open, and was named the ITF Tennis World Champion, and earned Laureus World Sportsman of the Year honors.

Federer took down the Aussie Open again in 06, marking his third Grand Slam Championship. In the French Open, Federer looked to win the only Grand Slam event he had yet to win. Though he didn't win the French Open, he did earn a worthy rival in Rafael Nadal. On the clay court, the two battle like gladiators, never yielding to the other's will. As of 2008, Federer was still on top of the tennis world, looking for his 6th win at Wimbledon in a row, only to be bested by Nadal.

Roger Federer is only missing the French Open from his impressive stat sheet. He has a career record of 594 wins, 144 losses, 55 titles, 236 weeks at number-one, and will go down in history as one of the greatest, not only tennis players, but all-around athletes to ever compete in sports.