He beat Roger Federer in his first ATP final but never won a Grand Slam singles title

Including those 20 majors, Federer won a total of 103 ATP titles, which is only bettered by Jimmy Connors.

Federer was hoping to win his first title at the Open 13 tournament in Marseille, and despite winning the first set of the final, it was not to be for him.

Roger Federer lost to Marc Rosset in his first ATP final

Federer was 18 years old when he reached his first ever ATP final in Marseille, having received a wildcard for the tournament.

The Swiss had beaten the likes of Thomas Johansson, Ivan Ljubicic and Fabrice Santoro to reach the final in Marseille, where Federer would play his compatriot and two-time former champion, Marc Rosset.

Federer would win the first set of this final, but ultimately would go on to lose the match to Rosset 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).

What would the score be if Carlos Alcaraz faced prime Roger Federer?

Who is winning and in how many sets?

This match clearly had a big impact on Federer, as after winning his 100th ATP title at the Dubai Tennis Championships in 2019, he mentioned that this loss to Rosset made him cry and doubt that he would ever win a title.

“I’m not kidding if I tell you I hoped I was going to not go down as a player never to win a tournament because I lost my first two quite dramatically, 7-6 in the third against my good friend Marc Rosset in Marseille,” Federer said in his Dubai press conference in 2019.

“I cried my eyes out. He told me, ‘don’t worry about it, you’ll win some more’. I’m like, ‘it’s easy for you to say’. Then in Basel, my home tournament, I wanted to win so badly, I ended up losing 6-1 in the fifth.”

Federer also lost his second ATP final to Thomas Enqvist, before claiming his maiden trophy at the Milan Indoor tournament in 2001.

What was Marc Rosset’s best ever Grand Slam result?

Rosset had a very successful career, with his three victories in Marseille adding up to his overall tally of 15 ATP titles.

This also includes an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, which is the biggest title of Rosset’s career.

Rosset also reached a career-high ranking of world number nine, but he was never able to get his hands on a Grand Slam singles title.

The Swiss’ best result at a major tournament came at the 1996 Australian Open, where Rosset reached the semi-final before losing to Michael Stich.

Although he was never able to claim Grand Slam singles glory, Rosset did win a major doubles title alongside Jacob Hlasek at Roland Garros in 1992.

Rosset won one more singles title after beating Federer in the Marseille final in 2000, before officially retiring from tennis in 2005.