Roger Federer achieved truly exceptional things during his career, but he was a relative late-bloomer when he finally emerged on the ATP Tour scene.
While the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal won their first ATP titles as teenagers, Federer was 20-years-old when he claimed his first title in 2001.
The star had already lost two finals by the time he claimed the 2001 Milan Indoors title, having been beaten by Marc Rosset at the 2000 Marseille Open and by Thomas Enqvist in the 2000 Swiss Indoors.
Federer arrived at the 2001 Milan Indoors as the seventh seed and he was made to beat some very impressive names to claim his first ATP title.
The star found his way past Rainer Schuttler and Cyril Saulnier to make the quarter finals of the indoor carpet event and he was placed against Goran Ivanisevic.
Roger Federer’s run to the 2001 Milan Indoors title
- 1R: Rainer Schuttler
- 2R: Cyril Saulnier
- QF: Goran Ivanisevic
- SF: Yevgeny Kafelnikov
- F: Julien Boutter
Ivanisevic was just about to have his defining moment and win the Wimbledon title just months later, but Federer was able to defeat the Croatian in straight sets.
Yevgeny Kafelnikov, who had already won two Grand Slam titles and claimed an Olympic Gold Medal, was up next for Federer. While he did take a set off the Swiss star, Federer was able to win in three sets to reach the third final of his career.
Julien Boutter, who had knocked out Greg Rusedski in the semi finals, was Federer’s final opponent. The Frenchman never cracked the top 40 of the ATP Tour rankings, but he was a big server.
Nevertheless, Federer found a way to beat him in three sets and collect the first of the 103 ATP Tour titles he would go on to collect in his career.
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Looking back on his maiden Tour title with ATP.com, Federer said: ““I really wanted to win my first ATP Tour title. That was a big week, beating Boutter in the final. It felt like I had pressure because maybe I went into that final a little bit as the favourite.
“But it was fast indoors and Boutter was a big server, so you never knew what was going on. I think it was more of a relief rather than joy or happiness. I think that kicked in 24 hours later. I remember I thought, ‘At least I have one’.”
Federer might have gained his first ATP title in Milan, but it did not kickstart his career as one might imagine. The star only claimed three more ATP Tour title in the next two years.
It wasn’t until the 2003 season when he started to dominant everyone on the ATP Tour. That season saw the Swiss star claim seven titles, including his very first Wimbledon trophy.
