Authoritative and affectionate, this biography traces the rise of Federer, from his first tentative strokes with a tennis racket to how he dealt with being sent away to a training academy where he struggled to communicate in a French-speaking part of Switzerland; and how he handled the sudden death of his first real coach and mentor. It looks at his development as a sportsman and how he has matured into a family man with his marriage to Mirka Vavrinec and the birth of their twin girls. It also examines how Roger bounced back from arguably one of the most challenging periods of his career when a serious illness and a dip in form caused him to break his run of successive Wimbledon championship wins, and lose his number-one spot to rival Rafael Nadal. In characteristic style, Federer silenced his critics by winning the French Open title for the first time, reclaiming his Wimbledon crown, and ending 2009 at the number one position for the fifth time. This is a candid look at one of the most winning and dynamic figures in modern sport.