Roger Federer

Considered possibly the greatest player of all-time, Federer owns a record 17 career Grand Slam men's singles titles after winning his seventh WImbledon in July to regain the world's No. 1 ranking. He is one of seven male players to have won all four Grand Slam titles in his career, also reaching a record 23 Grand Slam semifinals in a row and an unprecedented 24 Grand Slam finals. The Swiss maestro's latest Wimbledon title matched the all-time mark of seven won by William Renshaw and Pete Sampras. If there’s a hole in Federer’s resume, it’s his failure to win an Olympic medal in singles. He lost the bronze-medal match in 2000, fell in the second round four years later and lost in the quarterfinals in Beijing in 2008. Federer earned Olympic gold in 2008 in doubles with partner Stanislas Wawrinka. The Olympics are held in high esteem by Federer, who carried the flag for Switzerland during opening ceremonies in 2004 and 2008 and met his wife _ the former Mirka Vavrinec _ at the Sydney Games. Winning a singles gold medal in 2012 is his highest priority. Said Federer in March: “It's the Olympic year that everyone talks about. Particularly this one is special because it's going to be held at Wimbledon. For us, the tennis players, we'll never see that again in our lifetime. So it's luck, really, I think for me or for most of the tennis players in this era to actually experience such an Olympic Games for us.”