He was the first player who Roger Federer ever beat on the ATP Tour and here is how his career went after
Roger Federer won over 1,000 matches in his legendary career, but where did it all begin?The Swiss star made his ATP Tour debut in Gstaad 28 years ago. There, he lost to Argentina's Luis Arnold Ker in straight sets, 4-6, 4-6. Federer played his next tour-level match two months later in Toulouse, France.AdvertisementAfter qualifying for the main draw, Federer faced the Frenchman, Guillaume Raoux. Federer (ATP #878) was a big underdog taking on the world number 45, but handled the situation superbly. He defeated Raoux, 6-2, 6-2, to notch his first career ATP Tour win.Federer went on to win 20 Grand Slam titles and become world number one, establishing himself as one of the greatest players of all time. Raoux, on the other hand, retired from tennis two years later…Guillaume Raoux fell 238 places in the rankings and retired from tennis after losing to Roger FedererRaoux had enjoyed an impressive ATP Tour career before losing to Federer in 1998. A standout junior, Raoux reached the Wimbledon boys' singles final in 1988, losing to Venezuela's Nicolas Pereira, 6-7, 2-6.AdvertisementHe won his one and only ATP singles title four years later at the Queensland Open, defeating Kenneth Carlsen, 6-4, 7-6, and also won four doubles titles, with various European partners.The Frenchman reached a career-high of 35th in 1998, thanks to his run to the fourth round of the Australian Open. Raoux looked like he was playing his best tennis, but his form soon dipped.After losing to Federer, Raoux won 10 of his next 18 matches before losing to the Swiss star again at the 1999 Rotterdam Open. Unfortunately for Raoux, his second defeat to the young prospect signalled the end of his time at the top. He only won four of his final 21 matches.AdvertisementGuillaume Raoux's record in his last 21 matches (4-17)Guillaume Raoux's record in his last 21 matchesHe played his final main-draw Grand Slam match at Roland Garros, ranked 283rd, losing to Andre Illie in four sets. Raoux then failed to qualify for Wimbledon and retired shortly after.Where was Roger Federer ranked when Guillaume Raoux retired from tennis?Federer shot up the rankings in 2000. He began the year ranked 64th, but was up to 29th by the time he played his last event of the season in Stockholm.Four years later, he became world number one for the first time, taking over from Andy Roddick. Federer broke the record for the most consecutive weeks at number one, holding onto the top spot for 237 weeks.AdvertisementHe added another 73 weeks over the remainder of his career, and today, he is second on the all-time list.ATP – Most weeks at number one1. Novak Djokovic – 4282. Roger Federer – 3103. Pete Sampras – 2864. Ivan Lendl – 2705. Jimmy Connors – 268Federer retired in 2022 as a true legend of the ATP Tour. But it all started with a win over Raoux in 1998.
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