Roger Federer Threw Tantrums too on Court, Not so Long Ago

He might have won 17 Grand Slam singles titles; the most by any player in men's tennis but Roger Federer had to wait patiently before he became the undisputed champion of the game. For many years, Federer was just a 'great kid' on the Tour, who had unlimited amount of untapped potential. Here are 10 great chapters from the Swiss maestro's life that will tell you more about his inspiring story. (Also read: Seeded players feeling the US Open pressure already)

1. Federer's mother Lynette, is a native South African and his father Robert met her during a business trip while working for a pharmaceutical company called Ciba-Geigy. Lynette also worked for the same company. Federer also has a sister, Diana, who was born in 1979.

2. Although tennis was something that the whole Federer family loved with their heart, neither the player's parents nor his sister had any special talent to make it big in the sport. (Interesting read: Roger Federer leads list of game's top moneymakers)

3. The first sports hero that Federer idolized was Boris Becker, who was the 1985 Wimbedon champion. When Becker lost to Stefan Edberg in the 1988 Wimbledon final, Federer cried his heart out. The Swiss maestro's temper problems had everyone around him worried throughout his childhood.

4. Federer was not always calm on the tennis court as he is now. During his early days, he hurled his racquets in anger when disappointed with his shots in almost every match. His parents Robert and Lynette used to be very worried about their son's behavior.

However, Federer maintained that his anger was only reserved for himself and argued that he was never rude to umpires, his opponents or the linespersons. There have been instances when the player has even argued with his dad.

5. When Federer turned 10, he was introduced to a new coach called Peter Carter, whom he spent more time with than his own parents. Carter taught Federer a lot of the tennis techniques that he uses now and a lot of things about the mental side of the sport. He taught him how important it was to be polite and gracious in defeat and told him he wasted crucial energy during outbursts.

On Federer's 21st birthday, a body arrived from South Africa in Basel. Carter had died during a safari trip in Africa. The death of his coach was a turning point in Federer's career and he dedicated himself to following his advice of being polite and gracious on and off court.

6. When Federer was 13, he left his home to begin training at Switzerland's national training center in Ecublens, near Lausanne. While he did come home on weekends to spend time with his family, he became depressed every time he had to board the train back at the end of it. Lausanne is a French-speaking part of Switzerland and Federer complained of being made to feel isolated by many coaches and students at the facility.

7. A day before the 2003 Wimbledon semifinal where Federer had to face Andy Roddick, tennis greats like Martina Navratilova, Boris Becker, Ilie Nastase and John McEnroe wrote to the International Tennis Federation demanding new rules to save the beauty of the serve-and-volley game in tennis, which they argued was long dead. Federer's opponent Roddick relied much on his serve. Federer answered the legends' arguments by crushing aside the Roddick challenge in straight sets. He also beat Mark Phillippoussis in the 2003 Wimbledon final to win his first Grand Slam title, with many more to come.

8. At the 2003 Davis Cup meeting between Australia and Switzerland, Federer was playing to honour his late coach Carter as the winner would get his hands on the first Carter Cup named after him. Federer won his first match but lost to Lleyton Hewitt in five sets in his next match after having led 2 sets to love.

Federer was heartbroken and he raced to the locker room in a state of tears. Carter's parents later met the champion to console him. They told Federer that cheering him to win was like cheering for their dead son and it gave them joy. Many say this was the moment that turned Federer into a man from a boy.

9. Federer fired his then coach Peter Lundgren in 2003 despite just finishing up on the best year of his career. He said the decision was taken because Lundgren became too cozy with him and he wanted someone who could keep him under control.

10. Although Federer has the game to actively surpass most players, he prefers beating them by exposing their weaknesses and trying to use their own strengths against them. This strategy went against Federer during his early days but ever since he has perfected the craft, there has been no looking back for the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

With last year's US Open champion Rafael Nadal having withdrawn from the tournament citing an injury, Novak Djokovic not in the best of his form and Stanislas Wawrinka also struggling, Federer is one of the top favourites to win the 2014 US Open title. He fell just one match short of winning a record eighth Wimbledon title in 2014, losing to Djokovic in a closely contested five-set epic final. Here's wishing the champion all the best!