A list of Roger Federer’s defeats on grass. Can you name the 24 players who have beaten him on the surface?

Roger Federer defeat on grass at Wimbledon 2019

Shahida Jacobs
June 17, 2021

Felix Auger-Aliassime joined a very exclusive club this week as he became only the 24th player to hand Roger Federer a defeat on grass after claiming a three-set win in Halle.

The Canadian youngster secured his first-ever win over his tennis idol as he beat the 20-time Grand Slam winner 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the ATP 500 tournament in Germany.

It was a massive scalp for the 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime as Federer was gunning for an 11th title at Halle while the Swiss icon previously had a 32-0 in the first and second rounds of the event.

“It’s an amazing win, and I for sure didn’t expect this,” the youngster stated. “Of course you come into the match wanting to win, but Roger was my idol, like many of us growing up.

“It was a huge honour to play him before he retired, and to beat him is something amazing that I will always cherish.”

Auger-Aliassime is now one of only 11 active players to beat Federer on the grass while he became only the 24th player to beat the veteran on the surface.

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The other active players are: Novak Djokovic, Kevin Anderson, Borna Coric, Milos Raonic, Alexander Zverev, Dominic Thiem, Sergiy Stakhovsky, Andy Murray, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Rafael Nadal.

Federer’s first defeat on grass came in 1999 when he was beaten by Zimbabwe Byron Black at Queen’s Club while he between 2002 and 2008 he didn’t lose a match on the surface.

Lleyton Hewitt, Tommy Haas and Djokovic are the only players to have beaten Federer more than once with the latter claiming wins at Wimbledon in 2014, 2015 and 2019.

Federer’s record on grass after his Halle exit stands at 188-28 with an 87% success rate.

Full list of Roger Federer’s defeats on grass:
1. Byron Black (13) d. Roger Federer 6-3, 6-0 Queen’s Club 1999
2. Jiri Novak d. Roger Federer (WC) 6-3, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 Wimbledon 1999
3. Michael Chang d. Roger Federer 7-5, 6-2 Halle 2000
4. Richard Fromberg d. Roger Federer (7) 7-5, 6-1 Nottingham 2000
5. Yevgeny Kafelnikov (5) d. Roger Federer 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) Wimbledon 2000
6. Patrick Rafter (2) d. Roger Federer (6) 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (7-4) Halle 2001
7. Lleyton Hewitt (1) d. Roger Federer (4) 6-4, 6-2 s Hertogenbosch 2001
8. Tim Henman (6) d. Roger Federer (15) 7-5, 7-6 (8-6), 2-6, 7-6 (8-6) Wimbledon 2001
9. Nicolas Kiefer d. Roger Federer (2) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 Halle 2002
10. Sjeng Schalken (6) d. Roger Federer (2) 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 s Hertogenbosch 2002
11. Mario Ancic (Q) d. Roger Federer (7) 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 Wimbledon 2002
12. Rafael Nadal (2) d. Roger Federer (1) 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (7-5), 6-7 (8-10), 9-7 Wimbledon 2008
13. Lleyton Hewitt (8) d. Roger Federer (1) 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 Halle 2010
14. Tomas Berdych (12) d. Roger Federer (1) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 Wimbledon 2010
15. Jo Wilfried Tsonga (12) d. Roger Federer (3) 3-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 Wimbledon 2011
16. Tommy Haas (WC) d. Roger Federer (2) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 Halle 2012
17. Andy Murray (3) d. Roger Federer (1) 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 London Olympics 2012
18. Sergiy Stakhovsky d. Roger Federer (3) 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) Wimbledon 2013
19. Novak Djokovic (1) d. Roger Federer (4) 6-7 (7-9), 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-4 Wimbledon 2014
20. Novak Djokovic (1) d. Roger Federer (2) 7-6 (7-1), 6-7 (10-12), 6-4, 6-3 Wimbledon 2015
21. Dominic Thiem (3) d. Roger Federer (1) 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4 Stuttgart 2016
22. Alexander Zverev d. Roger Federer (1) 7-6 (7-4), 5-7, 6-3 Halle 2016
23. Milos Raonic (6) d. Roger Federer (3) 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 Wimbledon 2016
24. Tommy Haas (WC) d. Roger Federer (1) 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-4 Stuttgart 2017
25. Borna Coric d. Roger Federer (1) 7-6 (8-6), 3-6, 6-2 Halle 2018
26. Kevin Anderson (8) d. Roger Federer (1) 2-6, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 Wimbledon 2018
27. Novak Djokovic (1) d. Roger Federer (2) 7-6 (7-5), 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 13-12 Wimbledon 2019
28. Felix Auger-Aliassime d. Roger Federer (5) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 Halle 2021