Editorial Review
Regarded by many as the greatest tennis player in the history of the sport, this authoritative biography is based on many exclusive interviews with Federer and his family as well as the author's experience covering the international tennis circuit for many years. Completely comprehensive, it provides an informed account of the Swiss tennis star from his early days as a temperamental player on the junior circuit, through his early professional career, to his winning major tennis tournaments, including the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. Readers will appreciate the anecdotes about his early years, revel in the insider's view of the professional tennis circuit, and be inspired by this champion's rise to the top of his game.
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Customer Reviews
Interesting read 
2008-11-05
I consider this a good read for all fans of Federer's. The author, though clearly a fan, knows his facts and manages to keep his praise within the borders of reasonability - this is no 'fanboy'-book. A pleasant, well-written account, and imho, very valuable to any real fan of tennis.
I hope there will be a follow-up at some time, as this book does of course not cover 2008 - which might well offer the most interesting facts as this clearly wasn't Federer's best year.
Roger Federer 
2008-09-04
I highly recommend this book to the fans . It is easy to read and full of details and anecdotes . You also have the feeling that you become part of Roger Federer's life .
Many thanks to the writer .
Patricia Jimmy
just wonderfull 2008-08-04
I've been interested in Roger Federer since Wimbledon 2007. So I missed a lot of his career. This book just made my interest even bigger. It's a detailed written book about everything that roger has been through.
And you not only learn things about Roger, also about a lot of other tennisplayers he's playing against.
Wonderfull book!
An Ok Read, but not a page turner 
2008-06-22
More of a comprehensive collection of past interviews and accomplishments, as opposed to unique insights or details many Federer fans may look for. The book is well written, but as far as sports biographies are concerned, I found James Blake's bio as well as Lance Armstrong's more interesting.
Has Anyone Played Tennis Better? 2008-02-01
The jury seems already to be in; this guy plays the game of tennis better than anyone! He has all the tools, plus the ingenuity to use them creatively and instinctly. Plus, he's a good guy.
Although at times this read was, as other reviewers have noted, to be just a sequence of scores of matches one after another. However, the author worked in the personal interest stuff and what was going on in the guy's life.
What was there from the outset was amazing potential, but his immaturity and temper preventing him from exposing his greatness too early. This was the revelatory part for me, that Roger was not always the dominant player he is now, but struggled.
I appreciate so much his temparement and his kindness. The last few chapters on such were well done and contributed much.
Beyond the forehand 2008-01-27
Regarded by many as the greatest tennis player in the history of the sport, this authoritative biography is based on many exclusive interviews with Federer and his family as well as the author's experience covering the international tennis circuit for many years. Completely comprehensive, it provides an informed account of the Swiss tennis star from his early days as a temperamental player on the junior circuit, through his early professional career, to his winning major tennis tournaments, including the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. Readers will appreciate the anecdotes about his early years, revel in the insider's view of the professional tennis circuit, and be inspired by this champion's rise to the top of his game.
2008-01-05
What a waste of a tree. This book is little more than a narrative of Roger Federer's travel movements and his match scores. Most of it could have been written using the ATP fixtures and match results. The rest could have been gathered from internet news searches.
Despite describing himself as "one of the world's leading tennis journalists", René Stauffer offers little personal insight into Roger Federer, man or tennis player. Nor has there been any substantial research into the views of people who know him well enough to provide such insight.
Federer has stable personal life and he is not a party animal, so there is no expectation by the reader of great revelations in this area. But there are some things the reader of a tennis biography would like to know, such as:
* Why did Federer use a single-handed backhand when most players of his generation use a double-handed back-hand?
* How did he develop that balletic and devastating forehand?
* Did he naturally have great footwork or did he (or someone else) decide to develop it?
* Who taught him to serve that way?
* How has he changed or developed his groundstrokes over the years?
* When does he try to hit a winner?
* What tactics does he use against different opponents?
And so on.
And what was he trying to do in those big matches? What makes Federer tick? This is the essence of biography.
Obviously Federer himself will not reveal his thinking and tactics, but one would expect one of the "world's leading tennis journalists" to provide some analysis - or to get it from others.
very interesting book 2007-12-28
This is a really great book. It'a a must for every Federer's fan !!
It's translate in a easy english. I strongly suggest to read it.
Roger's an open book anyway 2007-12-27
No startling revelations or shocking stories (c'mon, its Roger Federer!) but I really thought the author gave a clear picture of who Roger is. If you need to explain to concerned family or friends why you're obsessed with this guy, just have them read a bit of this book (especially Part II, which goes into detail about his personality/values and has quotes of all the praise he's recieved). I now completely understand the chronology of his pre-slam life and learned alot about how players work their way up to the pro-level. I loved the little quotes and details I'd never heard before, especially about his childhood and Mirka, even if there weren't many. I started this book without any burning questions about Roger (thought i knew everything) and I left it with a much more complete view of his life.
a fact sheet rather than a personal story 
2007-12-17
The book definitely did not meet my expectations. It reads as a fact sheet of matches' dates, scores and quotes. Very little can be gathered about Roger Federer - the person behind champion.
There is no insightful study of the character, there are no "exclusive interviews" and there is almost no new information that can not be researched through the internet. Specifically, one of the main reasons for my purchase of the book was to find out how temperamental, uneven junior player transformed to ice-cold, calm and calculating Roger Federer of today. This question was not answered and author only briefly touched on the subject. I don't think the author had any exclusive material to work with.
It would have been a totally different book if Roger was involved in writing process himself. It would have been a personal story I was looking for.
