Federer Ranked Fifth Most Famous Athlete By ESPN

Roger Federer ranks among the top five most famous athletes in the world, according to a new list released by ESPN. The 34-year-old Swiss comes in at No. 5 in the ESPN World Fame 100, behind Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, Lionel Messi and Neymar.

“Whenever you play, you are worshipped by those who think that watching one of your matches is like seeing Nureyev or Olivier on stage,” writes ESPN, describing why ‘It’s Good To Be’ Federer. “You can wear gold-trimmed white blazers to walk on court and still carry it off. Writers pen love letters to you, saying that seeing you play tennis is like a religious experience. Even your rivals can’t bring themselves to hate you, you’re so darn nice.”

Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic rank inside the top 20, at respectively No. 10 and No. 16, while Andy Murray is No. 31 and Kei Nishikori is No. 47. Four WTA players – Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Sania Mirza and Venus Williams – are also on the list, making tennis the fourth-highest represented sport after basketball (20), soccer (17) and American football (16).

The ESPN World Fame 100 is based on a formula created by ESPN’s director of sports analytics Ben Alamar, and combines salary, endorsements, social media following and Google search popularity.

Federer is scheduled to return to the ATP World Tour next week at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart, and will compete in Halle the following week as the three-time defending champion at the GERRY WEBER OPEN.

View ESPN World Fame 100