The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection [Hardcover]

Rene Stauffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 25, 2007

Regarded by many as the greatest tennis player in the history of the sport, this authoritative biography is based on many exclusive interviews with Federer and his family as well as the author's experience covering the international tennis circuit for many years. Completely comprehensive, it provides an informed account of the Swiss tennis star from his early days as a temperamental player on the junior circuit, through his early professional career, to his winning major tennis tournaments, including the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. Readers will appreciate the anecdotes about his early years, revel in the insider's view of the professional tennis circuit, and be inspired by this champion's rise to the top of his game.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It's useful for me. . . . I am often asked about events in his career. . . . Now, I know where I can look them up."  —Lynette Federer, Roger Federer's mother and a member of the Roger Federer Foundation council, in Tages-Anzeiger (Switzerland)

"A biography that qualifies as a Federer encyclopedia. . . . A must for every tennis fan."  —Schweizer Famiie magazine (Zurich)

"It’s accessible and sketches out his career development very logically. At the same time, it throws in enough about his personality and the rest of his life to flesh out the tale without turning it into it a flabby puff-piece."  —Tennis.com

"It's a virtual encyclopedia of Federer's career. There's material in there I've not seen anywhere else. Fantastic."  —South Florida Sun-Sentinel

"It could have easily been called the Encyclopedia Federer."  —Tennisreporters.net

About the Author

Rene Stauffer has covered the professional tennis circuit for many years and is one of the world's leading tennis journalists.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 250 pages
• Publisher: New Chapter Press (June 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942257391
• ISBN-13: 978-0942257397
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #425,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Most of this book could have been written using the ATP fixtures and match results, January 5, 2008

By 

Simon Withers (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection (Hardcover)

What a waste of a tree. This book is little more than a narrative of Roger Federer's travel movements and his match scores. Most of it could have been written using the ATP fixtures and match results. The rest could have been gathered from internet news searches.

Despite describing himself as "one of the world's leading tennis journalists", René Stauffer offers little personal insight into Roger Federer, man or tennis player. Nor has there been any substantial research into the views of people who know him well enough to provide such insight.

Federer has stable personal life and he is not a party animal, so there is no expectation by the reader of great revelations in this area. But there are some things the reader of a tennis biography would like to know, such as:

* Why did Federer use a single-handed backhand when most players of his generation use a double-handed back-hand?

* How did he develop that balletic and devastating forehand?

* Did he naturally have great footwork or did he (or someone else) decide to develop it?

* Who taught him to serve that way?

* How has he changed or developed his groundstrokes over the years?

* When does he try to hit a winner?

* What tactics does he use against different opponents?

And so on.

And what was he trying to do in those big matches? What makes Federer tick? This is the essence of biography.

Obviously Federer himself will not reveal his thinking and tactics, but one would expect one of the "world's leading tennis journalists" to provide some analysis - or to get it from others.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect summer read!, July 16, 2007

By 

R. Carter (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection (Hardcover)

I bought this book on the recommendation of Chris Fowler from the ESPN broadcast of Wimbledon and it arrived the day after Roger's win at Wimbledon. The book is full of fun and interesting stories about Roger as a junior player, as well as a pro with interesting insight on his game, his personality, his reasonings for his coaching changes and what drives him. It is a great educational book for tennis fans or those remotely interested in the sport. I loved the story about how Roger had to clean toilets for a week!

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing!, July 14, 2007

By 

E. Smith - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Roger Federer Story: Quest for Perfection (Hardcover)

This book is basically a regurgitation of almost every tennis match Roger has played in, with the odd personal ancedote thrown in. There are statements about his character and personality with little information to back it up.

I wanted to gain a better understanding of who Roger was and how he came to be at the pinnacle of his profession, from the standpoint of his athletic gifts, his personality/character and environment. (That is what the name and book jacket desription led me to believe I would find in the book.) There needed to be more information and analysis of these things.

I could have learned more about Roger from a google search.

This book is poorly written and poorly translated. Many of the adjectives were odd in the context of the sentence they were being used in. Some of Mr. Stauffer's descriptions of the tennis world and the people in it, as they related to Roger, were very simplistic, as if he was writing for a 10 year old audience.

One is left with a very one dimensional view of Roger. Perhaps Roger was unwilling to reveal more personal information which would have given the reader a better understanding of the whys and wherefores in his journey to the top