Roger Federer and the big IF: Records and milestones the former World No. 1 could have achieved if he competed regularly in the last few years

Roger Federer recently announced his retirement from tennis after struggling with knee problems over the past few years.

In a social media post, the 41-year-old stated that the upcoming Laver Cup would be his final ATP event. He will be representing Team Europe alongside the likes of Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Swiss maestro had a glittering career, during which he won just about everything there is to win in the sport. He was unplayable in his prime and will end his career with 20 Grand Slam singles titles, the first man to attain that tally before being surpassed by Nadal and Djokovic.

His longevity is as admirable as his elegant playing style. He dominated the sport in his early and mid-20s, and carried that form as he grew older. In fact, he has a win percentage of 83.4% after turning 30.

Federer produced some pretty good performances even at the age of 37-38, having reached the semifinals of the Australian Open as recently as 2020. However, he underwent knee surgery shortly after the competition and did not play any further that year.

The former World No. 1 played a bit in 2021 but was forced to cut his season short after suffering an injury during the grasscourt season. We could have seen some more mesmerizing performances from the Swiss had he not suffered from injuries during the tail-end of his career.

On that note, let’s see what Roger Federer missed out on.

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Winning 21 Grand Slams sooner than Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic

Roger Federer became the first man to win 20 Grand Slam singles titles when he won the 2018 Australian Open, beating Marin Cilic in the final. He reached the Wimbledon final in 2019 and put in a tough fight against Novak Djokovic before losing a thriller that lasted four hours and 57 minutes.

He did not reach another Grand Slam final after that and will end his career with a tally of 20 Majors, one that has since been bettered by his rivals Rafael Nadal and Djokovic.

He would have added more Slams to his kitty if not for his fitness problems. His knee injury in 2020 was the first sign of him slowing down. Had he managed to stay fit, he probably would have been able to challenge the likes of Nadal, Djokovic, Medvedev, and Zverev, among others.

The 41-year-old has often produced sensational performances at Wimbledon and we might have seen him win the grasscourt Major for a record-extending ninth time if he was fit.

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Winning all nine Masters 1000 tournaments

Novak Djokovic is the only player to win each of the nine Masters 1000 tournaments. Roger Federer has triumphed in seven, missing out on the Monte Carlo Masters and the Italian Open.

He has had a reduced participation in the claycourt seasons since knee surgery in 2016. Despite that, he still competed in Madrid and Rome and reached the quarterfinals of both tournaments in 2019, though he hasn't managed to go the distance in either city and win the title.

While challenging Rafael Nadal on clay is a herculean task, Federer has managed to take the game to the Spaniard on a few occasions and might have been able to do it again had he been fitter during the latter stages of his career.

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Olympic singles gold

Roger Federer is arguably the greatest tennis player to not win a singles gold medal at the Olympics. He won gold in the men's doubles in Beijing 2008, partnering Stan Wawrinka.

In the next edition in London, he came closest to being crowned the Olympic singles champion. He reached the final with wins over Alejandro Falla, Julien Benneteau, Denis Istomin, John Isner and Juan Martin del Potro.

However, Federer was beaten 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 by Andy Murray in the gold medal match. He missed out on the Rio Olympics in 2016 and last year's Games in Tokyo.

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Most singles titles by a male player in the Open Era

A record that Roger Federer would most likely have broken would be the most singles titles won by any man in the Open Era.

Jimmy Connors currently holds that record, with 109 singles titles throughout his career. Federer is just behind the American with 103 wins during his stellar career.

Given the number of finals he played throughout his career, the Swiss had ample chances to surpass Connors. Federer has always produced brilliant performances at the Masters 1000 tournaments on hardcourts, regardless of his age or the competition. Besides those, there are other tournaments like the Halle Open and the Swiss Indoors in Basel, where he has often triumphed.

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