After my victory in Cincinnati, my fifth title in Wimbledon and just before the start of the US Open I'd like to share some thoughts with you.

50 victories – what a number! It is a wonderful feeling to have reached such a milestone in my career. Looking back and seeing that I have been able to kiss the trophy 50 times at the end of a tournament… It fills me with pride to be one of only few athletes to have experienced this feeling as often. As you can imagine it has taken a lot to come this far. Of course the fact that I never suffered any serious injuries has helped a lot. I certainly hope it will stay this way and I can continue chasing titles at full speed!

My fan-community has constantly increased since my first victory in Wimbledon in 2003. The first time we were able to analyse this development in numbers was with my first website which went online in autumn 2003. Meanwhile my current website has been up and running for two years and next to a constant increase we’ve experienced jumps in member numbers several times. I love seeing such an enormous community building up – we’re already heading towards 135’000! I have always wanted to create a platform that fans can use to communicate with each other, exchanging thoughts and ideas. It is really exciting to observe this process on<script></script>
      rogerfederer.com.
As I usually have the privilege of playing at prime times a large audience watches my matches live or via the media. All my travels give me the opportunity to personally meet people all over the world and get to know their way of life. It is awesome to be in contact with such a variety of cultures and see how creative you all are. More and more fans are showing up with Swiss flags, posters, banners, t-shirts and the like. It is always a delight to discover such activities in the stadium or on the way there. Thank you, and kee!

I arrived in New York on Wednesday morning and started preparing for the last Grand Slam of the year pretty much straight away. Next to getting ready physically I will also be appearing in various TV-shows and giving interviews for newspapers and magazines. My focus certainly lies on training but recovery is just as important. Getting used to the conditions will be a key element to performing well at the US Open. The surface and the balls here are different to Cincinnati. I want to take enough time to get used to everything in detail so I can make an ideal start. New York is a terrific place, by the way; the list of things to do here is endless. I love the restaurants, the Broadway shows and Times Square to name just a few. And then I get to know a lot of interesting people upon every visit – that’s why I have grown really fond of this metropolis.<script></script>
     

My birthday is over two weeks back already. The word that comes to mind when I see all the cards, letters, drawings and presents I received is: unbelievable! It is touching to experience your passion and your loyalty in such a way. Thank you very, very much.
Obviously the list of presents is way too long to mention every single one. Nevertheless, I'd like to name one that stood out. It is - once again - the book in three volumes by Silvy from Argentina. Together with a group of fans she has put together a collection of photos, texts, magazine covers, etc and printed it as a book. The fact that this is basically the first time I get to see a compilation of material published in the media all around the world makes this a very special gift.

I’d like to point out to you that we have created two new websites. First of all there's the one for the Roger Federer Foundation: www.rogerfedererfoundation.org. It gives you all sorts of details about the projects we support in different countries, general information on the Foundation and also contains a learning-section that will continually grow.
Secondly, you can visit my online shop: www.rogerfederershop.com. My official fan articles are for sale there and you can even place a bid for my used equipment in the auction. Proceeds from the sales and the auctions go to my Foundation.
My 2008 calendar will be available at the end of September, by the way – wait and see!

I am looking forward to a further successful US Open and lots of new experiences.<script></script>
     

Take care, bis bald, à bientôt

Yours sincerely
Roger