Early hard court season and Australian Open

On Sunday, January 17, Federer created a charity tournament called the "Hit for Haiti" at the Rod Laver Arena the day before the Australian Open. He invited a number of top world players from the ATP and WTA tours to join him to raise money for relief efforts in Haiti. The players who participated included Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Novak Djokovic, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Lleyton Hewitt, and Samantha Stosur.^[1] A few days before the start of Indian Wells, Federer, Nadal, 14-time Grand Slam singles champion Pete Sampras, and 8-time Grand Slam singles champion Agassi participated in a doubles exhibition match called "Hit for Haiti 2" as a fundraiser for the relief efforts in Haiti. Also in February, Federer made a trip to Ethiopia, where his charity foundation works.^[2]

Federer started the year by playing in the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, where he was defeated in the semifinals by eventual champion Nikolay Davydenko.^[3]

Federer won his 16th Grand Slam singles title at the Australian Open. In the fourth round, Federer beat Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, Federer trailed Davydenko by a set and two games in the second set, but was able to win in four sets. Federer then defeated world no. 10 and 2008 Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals in straight sets. This marked the 23rd consecutive time that Federer had appeared in a semifinal of a Grand Slam tournament, and the seventh consecutive year that Federer had made at least the semifinals at the Australian Open, breaking the previous record held by Ivan Lendl. In the final, Federer defeated fifth-seeded Andy Murray in straight sets to claim his fourth Australian Open singles title.^[4] This win tied him for most Australian Open victories in the open era at four with Andre Agassi. Since Wimbledon 2005 Federer had made the finals of 18 out of 19 Grand Slam tournaments, an extraordinary period of sustained excellence unparalleled in the Open Era.

Federer withdrew from the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships for the second consecutive year due to a lung infection.^[5]

Federer then appeared at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells for his first tournament since the Australian Open.^[6] Along with the 31 seeded players behind him, Federer received a first round bye in the main draw. However, in the third round, he was defeated by Marcos Baghdatis in a rematch of the 2006 Australian Open final, after Federer failed to convert three match points.^[7]

The week after Indian Wells, Federer played in the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Federer and the other 31 seeded players received first-round byes. In the second round, Federer defeated Nicolás Lapentti before over 14,000 fans, a record-breaking attendance for a second round match in the Stadium (the center court of Miami). After beating Florent Serra, Federer lost to the eventual runner-up, Czech Tomáš Berdych, in three sets in the fourth round.^[8] Federer hit 62 unforced errors in that match.

Clay court season and French Open

Federer next appeared in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. In addition to singles, he teamed with Yves Allegro for the doubles competition as wildcards. The team lost in the quarterfinals to Sam Querrey and John Isner. Federer lost to world no. 40 Gulbis in the second round of the singles competition, after receiving a first-round bye.^[9] It was the first time since 2000 that Federer had lost his opening clay-court match of the year. It was the first time since 2002 that he had lost before the quarterfinals at three consecutive events, and the first time since 2002 that he had lost his first match in Rome.

Federer then played the Estoril Open. In his only previous appearance in 2008, he won the title, when Davydenko retired in the final. However, he lost in the semifinals this year to Albert Montañés in straight sets, after which Federer said he was not worried by his current form,^[10] while Nadal expressed surprise at his rival's loss.^[11]

Federer continued at the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where he was the defending champion. He defeated his 2008 Olympic doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka in the third round. In the quarterfinals, he avenged his earlier loss to Gulbis.^[12] In the semifinals, he defeated David Ferrer in three sets.^[13] Federer then lost to Nadal in the final in straight sets.^[14]

Federer at the 2010 French Open

In the third round of the French Open, Federer beat Julian Reister to register his 700th ATP-level match victory and 150th on clay.^[15] He followed this milestone by defeating Wawrinka in the fourth round. Federer lost in the quarterfinals to Robin Söderling, ending his six-year streak of consecutive Grand Slam semifinals.^[16] Moreover, after the end of tournament, he lost the world no. 1 ranking to Nadal, leaving Federer at 285 weeks of being world no. 1, with Sampras holding the record of 286 weeks at that time.

Grass court season and Wimbledon

Federer next played at the Gerry Weber Open, where he lost to Hewitt in the final in three sets. In doubles, Federer and Allegro lost in the first round to Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Next, Federer attempted to defend his title at the Wimbledon Championships. Since Wimbledon has a different formula for seedings based on grass-court achievements, Federer was seeded first above world no. 1 Rafael Nadal. In the first round, Federer won for the 200th occasion in Grand Slam matches as he came from two sets down to beat Alejandro Falla, who served for the match in the fourth set at that time, but Falla took Federer to another set before Federer won in a quick fifth set.^[17][18] Federer beat Ilija Bozoljac in four sets. He next faced Arnaud Clément and had a straight-set victory. In the fourth round, Federer defeated no. 16 seed Jürgen Melzer. In the quarterfinals, he faced Tomáš Berdych, but lost in four sets. With this defeat, Federer became ranked no. 3 at the end of Wimbledon, which was his lowest ranking since November 10, 2003.^[19]

US Open Series and US Open

During Federer's summer break between Wimbledon and Canada, he hired Pete Sampras' old coach Paul Annacone to attempt to revive his fortune, to start with on a trial period.^[20] After beating Chela in his first match at the 2010 Rogers Cup, Federer broke Andre Agassi's record for Master level wins as he won his 210th match.^[21] Federer then overcame quarterfinal and semifinal challenges from Berdych and Djokovic respectively, winning the first set of both matches before dropping the second and having to fight hard to capture the decider. His triumph over Djokovic, the world no. 2, ensured that he would reclaim that ranking, regardless of the outcome of his final showdown with Murray, the defending champion.^[22] Federer lost in the final, 5–7, 5–7.^[23] A week later, Federer played in the 2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters in Cincinnati, Ohio, still seeded third behind Nadal and Djokovic, but competing as world no. 2 for the first time since Wimbledon. He received a bye in the first round, and then got another break when Uzbekistan second-round opponent Denis Istomin was forced to retire in the first set. He advanced to the quarterfinals in a walkover, when Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany pulled out, citing a shoulder injury.^[24] He defeated frequent tour opponent and world no. 6 Nikolay Davydenko and advanced to the semifinals. He defeated Marcos Baghdatis and advanced to the finals. There he defeated Mardy Fish and successfully defended the title. Federer began his quest for a sixth U.S. Open title with an easy win over Brian Dabul. Federer next beat Andreas Beck. In the third round, Federer defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu. In the round of 16, Federer faced Roland Garros semifinalist Jürgen Melzer and won in straight sets. Then, in the quarterfinals, he faced Robin Söderling, who had recently beaten him in the quarterfinals of the 2010 French Open, and defeated him. He narrowly lost to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals after failing to convert two match points in the final set. As a result, Djokovic rose to no. 2 in the world and Federer fell to no. 3. By reaching the semifinals, Federer achieved his 20th match win in 2010 Grand Slams; this is the seventh consecutive year he has accomplished this feat, a record matched only by Ivan Lendl.

Asian swing

Federer competed at the ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai, where he was seeded third and had a bye in the first round. Federer defeated John Isner and Andreas Seppi to advance to the quarterfinals, where he defeated world no. 5 Robin Söderling. He avenged his last US open loss against Djokovic. However, in the final, Federer fell to Murray.

European indoor season

His next tournament was the Stockholm Open. He got a bye in the first round, defeated the American Taylor Dent in the next round, and defeated fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka afterwards. Up next in the semifinals was Ivan Ljubičić, whom Federer beat in two sets. Federer won his 64th Tour-level title, tying with Pete Sampras for fourth place on the Open Era titles list, as he beat Florian Mayer in the final to win his first Stockholm crown.

He next participated at the 2010 Davidoff Swiss Indoors as the top seed. He defeated Djokovic the final, to win a record fourth title at the event. This was his 65th career title, placing him fourth in the all-time list, surpassing Pete Sampras' record of 64 career titles. At the BNP Paribas Masters, Federer reached the semifinals for the first time, where he lost to Gaël Monfils despite holding five match points.

At the 2010 ATP World Tour Finals, Federer was placed in Group B, along with Andy Murray, Robin Söderling, and David Ferrer. He defeated Ferrer in his first round-robin match. He then defeated Murray and defeated Söderling in his final round-robin match. These straight-set wins marked the first time Federer completed the round-robin stage without dropping a set. He was the winner of Group B and qualified for the semifinals. In the semifinals, he beat Novak Djokovic to advance to his sixth year-end championship final, where he faced his longtime rival Rafael Nadal. Federer retained his unbeaten record against Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals by defeating the top seed in the final. Federer then had five season-ending championships to his name, tying Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl for the most ever. Federer ended the year ranked world No. 2 and played Nadal in two charity matches, one in Zürich and one in Madrid. The proceeds benefited his own foundation, as well as Nadal's foundation. By the end of 2010 he widely became considered as the greatest player of all time.

Grand Slam performance

Tournament Round Result Opponent Score Australian Open 1R Win Igor Andreev 4–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–2), 6–0 2R Win Victor Hănescu 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 3R Win Albert Montañés 6–3, 6–4, 6–4 4R Win Lleyton Hewitt 6–2, 6–3, 6–4 QF Win Nikolay Davydenko 2–6, 6–3, 6–0, 7–5 SF Win Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6–2, 6–3, 6–2 W Win (16) Andy Murray 6–3, 6–4, 7–6(13–11) French Open 1R Win Peter Luczak 6–4, 6–1, 6–2 2R Win Alejandro Falla 7–6(7–4), 6–2, 6–4 3R Win Julian Reister 6–4, 6–0, 6–4 4R Win Stanislas Wawrinka 6–3, 7–6(7–5), 6–2 QF Loss Robin Söderling 6–3, 3–6, 5–7, 4–6 Wimbledon 1R Win Alejandro Falla 5–7, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–1), 6–0 2R Win Ilija Bozoljac 6–3, 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–5) 3R Win Arnaud Clément 6–2, 6–4, 6–2 4R Win Jürgen Melzer 6–3, 6–2, 6–3 QF Loss Tomáš Berdych 4–6, 6–3, 1–6, 4–6 US Open 1R Win Brian Dabul 6–1, 6–4, 6–2 2R Win Andreas Beck 6–3, 6–4, 6–3 3R Win Paul-Henri Mathieu 6–4, 6–3, 6–3 4R Win Jürgen Melzer 6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–3 QF Win Robin Söderling 6–4, 6–4, 7–5 SF Loss Novak Djokovic 7–5, 1–6, 7–5, 2–6, 5–7

All matches

Singles

^[25]

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponent	Rank	Result	Score
Qatar Open, Doha Qatar 250 Hard, outdoor 4 January	840	1R	Christophe Rochus	86	Win	6–1, 6–2
	841	2R	Evgeny Korolev	53	Win	6–2, 6–4
	842	QF	Ernests Gulbis	90	Win	6–2, 4–6, 6–4
	843	SF	Nikolay Davydenko	6	Loss	4–6, 4–6
Australian Open, Melbourne Australia Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 18 January	844	1R	Igor Andreev	37	Win	4–6, 6–2, 7–6(7–2), 6–0
	845	2R	Victor Hănescu	47	Win	6–2, 6–3, 6–2
	846	3R	Albert Montañés	32	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–4
	847	4R	Lleyton Hewitt	22	Win	6–2, 6–3, 6–4
	848	QF	Nikolay Davydenko	6	Win	2–6, 6–3, 6–0, 7–5
	849	SF	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	10	Win	6–2, 6–3, 6–2
	850	W	Andy Murray	4	Win (1)	6–3, 6–4, 7–6(13–11)
Indian Wells Masters, Indian Wells USA Masters 1000 Outdoor, hard 8 March	–	1R	Bye
	851	2R	Victor Hănescu	43	Win	6–3, 6–7(5–7), 6–1
	852	3R	Marcos Baghdatis	33	Loss	7–5, 5–7, 6–7(4–7)
Miami Open, Miami USA Masters 1000 Outdoor, hard 22 March	–	1R	Bye
	853	2R	Nicolás Lapentti	102	Win	6–3, 6–3
	854	3R	Florent Serra	61	Win	7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–3)
	855	4R	Tomáš Berdych	20	Loss	4–6, 7–6(7–3), 6–7(6–8)
Italian Open, Rome Italy Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 25 April	–	1R	Bye
	856	2R	Ernests Gulbis	40	Loss	6–2, 1–6, 5–7
Estoril Open, Estoril Portugal 250 Clay, outdoor 3 May	–	1R	Bye
	857	2R	Björn Phau	138	Win	6–3, 6–4
	858	QF	Arnaud Clément	83	Win	7–6(9–7), 6–2
	859	SF	Albert Montañés	34	Loss	2–6, 6–7(5–7)
Madrid Open, Madrid Spain Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 9 May	–	1R	Bye
	860	2R	Benjamin Becker	46	Win	6–2, 7–6(7–4)
	861	3R	Stanislas Wawrinka	23	Win	6–3, 6–1
	862	QF	Ernests Gulbis	34	Win	3–6, 6–1, 6–4
	863	SF	David Ferrer	12	Win	7–5, 3–6, 6–3
	864	F	Rafael Nadal	3	Loss (1)	4–6, 6–7(5–7)
French Open, Paris France Grand Slam Clay, outdoor 23 May	865	1R	Peter Luczak	71	Win	6–4, 6–1, 6–2
	866	2R	Alejandro Falla	70	Win	7–6(7–4), 6–2, 6–4
	867	3R	Julian Reister	165	Win	6–4, 6–0, 6–4
	868	4R	Stanislas Wawrinka	24	Win	6–3, 7–6(7–5), 6–2
	869	QF	Robin Söderling	7	Loss	6–3, 3–6, 5–7, 4–6
Halle Open, Halle Germany 250 Grass, outdoor 7 June	870	1R	Jarkko Nieminen	65	Win	6–4, 6–4
	871	2R	Alejandro Falla	67	Win	6–1, 6–2
	872	QF	Philipp Kohlschreiber	35	Win	7–5, 6–3
	873	SF	Philipp Petzschner	41	Win	7–6(7–3), 6–4
	874	F	Lleyton Hewitt	32	Loss (2)	6–3, 6–7(4–7), 4–6
Wimbledon Championships, London Great Britain Grand Slam Grass, outdoor 21 June	875	1R	Alejandro Falla	60	Win	5–7, 4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–1), 6–0
	876	2R	Ilija Bozoljac	152	Win	6–3, 6–7(4–7), 6–4, 7–6(7–5)
	877	3R	Arnaud Clément	86	Win	6–2, 6–4, 6–2
	878	4R	Jürgen Melzer	16	Win	6–3, 6–2, 6–3
	879	QF	Tomáš Berdych	13	Loss	4–6, 6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Canadian Open, Toronto Canada Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 11 August	–	1R	Bye
	880	2R	Juan Ignacio Chela	50	Win	7–6(9–7), 6–3
	881	3R	Michaël Llodra	35	Win	7–6(7–2), 6–3
	882	QF	Tomáš Berdych	7	Win	6–3, 5–7, 7–6(7–5)
	883	SF	Novak Djokovic	2	Win	6–1, 3–6, 7–5
	884	F	Andy Murray	4	Loss (3)	5–7, 5–7
Cincinnati Masters, Cincinnati USA Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 16 August	–	1R	Bye
	885	2R	Denis Istomin	53	Win	5–2, RET
	–	3R	Philipp Kohlschreiber	33	Walkover	N/A
	886	QF	Nikolay Davydenko	6	Win	6–4, 7–5
	887	SF	Marcos Baghdatis	20	Win	6–4, 6–3
	888	W	Mardy Fish	36	Win (2)	6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–1), 6–4
US Open, New York USA Grand Slam Hard, outdoor 30 August	889	1R	Brian Dabul	96	Win	6–1, 6–4, 6–2
	890	2R	Andreas Beck	104	Win	6–3, 6–4, 6–3
	891	3R	Paul-Henri Mathieu	109	Win	6–4, 6–3, 6–3
	892	4R	Jürgen Melzer	15	Win	6–3, 7–6(7–4), 6–3
	893	QF	Robin Söderling	5	Win	6–4, 6–4, 7–5
	894	SF	Novak Djokovic	3	Loss	7–5, 1–6, 7–5, 2–6, 5–7
Shanghai Masters, Shanghai China Masters 1000 Hard, outdoor 10 October	–	1R	Bye
	895	2R	John Isner	20	Win	6–3, 6–4
	896	3R	Andreas Seppi	58	Win	6–3, 6–4
	897	QF	Robin Söderling	5	Win	6–1, 6–1
	898	SF	Novak Djokovic	2	Win	7–5, 6–4
	899	F	Andy Murray	4	Loss (4)	3–6, 2–6
Stockholm Open, Stockholm Sweden 250 Hard, indoor 18 October	–	1R	Bye
	900	2R	Taylor Dent	101	Win	6–1, 6–2
	901	QF	Stanislas Wawrinka	21	Win	2–6, 6–3, 6–2
	902	SF	Ivan Ljubičić	17	Win	7–6(7–5), 6–2
	903	W	Florian Mayer	47	Win (3)	6–4, 6–3
Swiss Indoors Basel, Basel Switzerland 500 Hard, indoor 1 November	904	1R	Alexandr Dolgopolov	48	Win	6–4, 5–2 RET
	905	2R	Janko Tipsarević	46	Win	6–3, 6–4
	906	QF	Radek Štěpánek	38	Win	6–3, 6–2
	907	SF	Andy Roddick	9	Win	6–2, 6–4
	908	W	Novak Djokovic	3	Win (4)	6–4, 3–6, 6–1
Paris Masters, Paris France Masters 1000 Hard, indoor 7 November	–	1R	Bye
	909	2R	Richard Gasquet	28	Win	6–4, 6–4
	910	3R	Radek Štěpánek	41	Win	6–4, 6–3
	911	QF	Jürgen Melzer	12	Win	6–1, 7–6(7–4)
	912	SF	Gaël Monfils	14	Loss	6–7(7–9), 7–6(7–1), 6–7(4–7)
ATP World Tour Finals, London England YEC Hard, indoor 21 November	913	RR	David Ferrer	7	Win	6–1, 6–4
	914	RR	Andy Murray	5	Win	6–4, 6–2
	915	RR	Robin Söderling	4	Win	7–6(7–5), 6–3
	916	SF	Novak Djokovic	3	Win	6–1, 6–4
	917	W	Rafael Nadal	1	Win (5)	6–3, 3–6, 6–1

Exhibition matches

Tournament	Round	Opponent(s)	Result	Score
Capitala World Tennis Championship Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Exhibition tournament Hard, outdoor 31 December 2009 – 2 January 2010	QF	Bye
	SF	Robin Söderling	Loss	7–6(8–6), 6–7(1–7), 2–6
	3rd	David Ferrer	Win	6–1, 7–5
Hit for Haiti @ Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Charity event Hard, indoor 17 January 2010 Red Team / List of partners Lleyton Hewitt Samantha Stosur Serena Williams	W	Blue Team / List of opponents Kim Clijsters Novak Djokovic Rafael Nadal Andy Roddick Bernard Tomic (Alt)	Win	7–6(8–7)
Hit for Haiti 2 @ BNP Paribas Open Indian Wells, United States Charity event Hard, outdoor 13 March 2010 Partner: Pete Sampras	W	Andre Agassi Rafael Nadal	Win	8–6
Masters Guinot-Mary Cohr Paris, France Exhibition tournament Clay, outdoor 19 – 21 May 2010	F R3	Rainer Schüttler	Win	4–6, 6–3, [10–5]
Match for Africa and Joining Forces for the Benefit of Children Zürich (SUI) and Madrid (ESP) Charity event Hard, indoor 21 – 22 December 2010	Day 1	Rafael Nadal	Win	4–6, 6–3, 6–3
	Day 2	Rafael Nadal	Loss	6–7(3–7), 6–4, 1–6

Doubles

Tournament	Match	Round	Opponents (seed or key)	Ranks	Result	Score
Internazionali BNL d'Italia Rome, Italy ATP Tour Masters 1000 Clay, outdoor 26 April – 2 May 2010 Partner: Yves Allegro
	1 / 186	1R	Johan Brunström / Jean-Julien Rojer	#33 / #34	Win	6–4, 7–6(7–4)
	2 / 187	2R	Simon Aspelin / Paul Hanley (6)	#11 / #15	Win	4–6, 6–3, [10–8]
	3 / 188	QF	John Isner / Sam Querrey	#50 / #40	Loss	4–6, 4–6
Gerry Weber Open Halle, Germany ATP Tour 250 Grass, outdoor 7 – 13 June 2010 Partner: Yves Allegro
	4 / 189	1R	Christopher Kas / Philipp Kohlschreiber	#35 / #76	Loss	4–6, 6–7(6–8)

Source (ATP)

Finals

Singles: 9 (5–4)

Legend Grand Slam (1–0) ATP World Tour Finals (1–0) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (1–3) ATP World Tour 500 Series (1–0) ATP World Tour 250 Series (1–1)

Titles by surface Hard (5–2) Clay (0–1) Grass (0–1)

Titles by surface Outdoors (2–4) Indoors (3–0)

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Winner	62.	31 January 2010	Australian Open, Australia (4)	Hard	Andy Murray	6–3, 6–4, 7–6(13–11)
Runner-up	25.	16 May 2010	Madrid Open, Spain (2)	Clay	Rafael Nadal	4–6, 6–7(5–7)
Runner-up	26.	13 June 2010	Halle Open, Germany	Grass	Lleyton Hewitt	6–3, 6–7(4–7), 4–6
Runner-up	27.	15 August 2010	Canada Masters, Canada (2)	Hard	Andy Murray	5–7, 5–7
Winner	63.	23 August 2010	Cincinnati Masters, United States (4)	Hard	Mardy Fish	6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–1), 6–4
Runner-up	28.	17 October 2010	Shanghai Masters, China	Hard	Andy Murray	3–6, 2–6
Winner	64.	24 October 2010	Stockholm Open, Sweden	Hard (i)	Florian Mayer	6–4, 6–3
Winner	65.	7 November 2010	Swiss Indoors, Switzerland (4)	Hard (i)	Novak Djokovic	6–4, 3–6, 6–1
Winner	66.	28 November 2010	Year-End Championships, London, UK (5)	Hard (i)	Rafael Nadal	6–3, 3–6, 6–1