 that's when we no longer knew of friendship. 'We were both very ambitious and that showed. It always became very emotional. I was very solid from the baseline, made few mistakes. Federer broke down in tears when he played the last match of his professional career in SeptemberCredit: AP 'He was always the more risky player, even tried to play serve-and-volley, which didn't pay off at such a young age. 'With his forehand, he tried to force. But he made too many mistakes and his backhand was a huge weakness. 'That's where I nailed him. Rogi (Roger) was frustrated. He hated to lose. Though Schnyder, now 41, won the first eight meetings, Federer eventually broke the spell, losing only once more to his teenage rival. The pair formed a successful junior doubles partnership but then Federer's career really took off. In 2003, he won Wimbledon for the first time, beginn){kind=link}
ONLY ONE man holds the rare distinction of beating Roger Federer EIGHT TIMES in a row on a tennis court – and it has earned him free beers ever since.
Federer’s greatest rivals – Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – may have won some of the big matches at the four Slams.
But none of them managed to enjoy such an unbroken spell of wins over the Swiss maestro as tennis bogey Danny Schnyder.
Born six months apart in 1981, Schnyder and Federer grew up together, became friends and then clashed regularly at junior tournaments between the ages of eight and 14.
The pair often watched movies together or matches at local club Basel FC but when it came to tennis it was deadly serious.