User:Bluedogtn/Roger Federer's Early Career

Roger Federer's first tournament as a professional was Gstaad in 1998, which he faced Lucas Arnold Ker in the Round of 32, and he lost 4-6, 4-6. Federer's first final came at the Marseille Open, which was in 2000, and he lost to fellow Swiss Marc Rosset 6-2, 3-6, 6-7(5). Federer's first win was at the 2000 Milan Indoor tournament, which he defeated Julien Boutter by a score of 6–4, 6–7(7), 6–4. The most prestigious events finals he was in at this time was the Miami Masters event, where he lost to Andre Agassi in 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6 on a hard surface. In addition, Federer won his second Master Series event at the Hamburg Masters on clay in 6–1, 6–3, 6–4 over Marat Safin. Federer made ten singles finals during this time in his career between 1998 and 2002, which he won four and lost six. Federer made six doubles finals during this time, but lost the Indian Wells Masters event in 2002, which the most prestigious events won are two Rotterdam 500 series event in 2001 and 2002.

Years Summary
In July 1998, Federer joined the ATP tour at Gstaad, where he lost to Lucas Arnold Ker in straight sets. Although he played two more ATP tournaments in 1998, the majority of his matches were still at the Junior level.

In April 1999, he debuted for the Swiss Davis Cup team against Italy and finished the year ranked World No. 66. During that time, he was the youngest player in the top 100. He also competed in his first Grand Slam tournament at the French Open, but lost to Patrick Rafter in the first round after a 4 set match. He also made his first appearance at Wimbledon, where he entered as a wildcard. After a 5 set match, he lost in the first round to Czech player, Jiri Novak, who was then ranked 59th. In the same tournament, Federer partnered Lleyton Hewitt in the Men's Doubles, where they managed to reach the Round of 16, losing to Pat Rafter and Jonas Bjorkman in another 5 set match. In January 2000, Federer competed for the first time in the Australian Open, losing to 49th ranked Arnaud Clément of France in the third round. He then equaled this achievement in his very first US Open, losing in the third round to 12th ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain. After reaching the semi-finals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Federer reached his first ATP final in Marseille, where he lost to compatriot Marc Rosset, and was also the runner-up in his home tournament at Basel. He did, however, win the Harry Hopman Cup in Australia defeating Jan-Michael Gambill in the final in straight sets. Even though he failed to make an impression at Grand Slams, it was the first year he played in all four. Federer would then end the year ranked World No. 29. Federer's first ATP tournament victory came in February 2001 where he defeated French player Julien Boutter in the final of the Milan Indoor. During the same month, he won three matches for his country in its 3–2 Davis Cup victory over the United States. He later reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, as the No. 15th seed, defeating four-time defending champion and seven-time Wimbledon champion Pete Sampras 7–6(7), 5–7, 6–4, 6–7(2), 7–5 in the fourth round in an epic five-set match. This defeat ended Sampras' 31-match winning streak in the tournament. He also managed to reach the quarter-finals at the French Open. He finished the year ranked 13th.

Federer reached his first Masters Series final in 2002 at the NASDAQ-100 Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, where he lost to Andre Agassi. He won his next Masters final in Hamburg. He also won both his Davis Cup singles matches against former World No. 1 Russians Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. He had early-round exits at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open; Federer also suffered the devastating loss of his long-time Australian coach and mentor, Peter Carter, in a car crash in August. Federer reached No. 6 in the ATP Champions Race by the end of 2002. He jumped in the rankings from 13th at the end of September to 7th by the middle of October. This qualified him for the first time in the year-ending Tennis Masters Cup. However, his run at the tournament was ended in the semi-finals by then World No. 1 and eventual champion Lleyton Hewitt.