Roger Federer makes Wimbledon history: 14 things about the tennis superstar

Roger Federer poses with the trophy as he celebrates winning the final against Croatia’s Marin Cilic on July 16, 2017. PHOTO: REUTERS

LONDON (Reuters) -Roger Federer defeated Croatia's Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in the Wimbledon men's singles final on Sunday to become the first man to win the title eight times, pulling one ahead of Britain's William Renshaw and American Pete Sampras, who both have seven.

Here's what you need to know about the Swiss -

1. Born: Aug 8, 1981 in Basel, Switzerland

2. Grand Slam titles (19): Australian Open (2004, 2006-07, 2010, 2017); French Open 2009; Wimbledon, 2003-2007, 2009, 2012, 2017; US Open 2004-2008.

3. Bursts on to the scene in 2001 when he ends Pete Sampras' 31-match winning streak at Wimbledon in the fourth round before losing in quarter-finals.

4. In 2003, becomes the first Swiss man to win a Grand Slam title after beating Mark Philippoussis in the Wimbledon final.

5. He is the only man to win five consecutive titles at two different Grand Slams - Wimbledon and the US Open.

6. Only man in the professional era to win three consecutive Majors twice in his career when he captured the 2007 Australian Open title.

7. His 2009 French Open crown made him the sixth man - after Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi - to have won all four Grand Slam titles during his career. Nadal later became the seventh to achieve the feat.

8. Broke American Pete Sampras' record of 14 Grand Slam titles with his 15th win in the 2009 Wimbledon final.

9. His record run of reaching 23 consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals was snapped by Robin Soderling in the last eight of the 2010 French Open. That record is widely considered as one of the most astonishing in sport as it means Federer finished in the top four at a major for almost six successive years. His streak is more than double the previous record held by Ivan Lendl, who reached 10 consecutive major semis.

10. Became the 23rd man to top the ATP rankings in 2004, and kept the ranking for a record 237 consecutive weeks. By winning his seventh Wimbledon title, he also matched Sampras' record of spending 286 weeks as world No. 1.

11. Won an Olympic men's doubles gold medal with Stan Wawrinka at the 2008 Beijing Games. Also won the silver medal in men's singles at the 2012 London Games.

12. Came back from six-month injury lay-off to win the 2017 Australian Open and, at 35, became the oldest male player to win a Grand Slam title since Australia's Ken Rosewall won at Melbourne Park in 1972 at the age of 37.

13. Career prize money: US$107 million (S$147 million).

14. Married former WTA player Miroslava Vavrinec, now known as Mirka, in 2009. The couple are parents to two sets of identical twins - girls Myla Rose and Charlene Riva (born 2009) and boys Leo and Lenny (born 2014).

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