Dec 30, 2006 from AIPS:
For the second year in a row, Roger Federer and Yelena Isinbayeva have been voted the world’s best athletes by the International Sports Press Association (AIPS), the peak professional body representing the sporting media worldwide.

Members of AIPS voted overwhelmingly for the 2006 Athletes of the Year, Switzerland’s tennis ace, Federer who beat Fabio Cannavaro and Fernando Alonso for the title and Russian pole vaulter, Isinbayeva who topped Justine Henin-Hardenne and Janica Kostelic.

Dec 28, 2006 from SideSpin:
Austin, TX - Roger Federer has again snagged the Golden Bagel Award ™, an achievement honoring the professional tennis player who has handed out more "bagels" (sets won 6-0), than any other player on the circuit. Federer has won the award two out of the last three years.

This light-hearted award helps underscore just how dominant the World No. 1 player was in 2006. Along with three Grand Slam titles, Federer dished out 18 bagels --- up from the 11 he served up in 2004 when he won this award for the first time. By contrast, World No. 2 and 2005 Golden Bagel Award ™ winner, Rafel Nadal only delivered 2 bagels in 2006 down from his 12 bagels the previous year.

Bagel co-creator Tom Suhler says, "The award is just for fun but it is an interesting statistic. As hard as it is to win a single set 6-0 against world-class players, it is unbelievable to do it 18 times and four of those were against Top 10 players. Federer handed out 10 bagels this year in Grand Slam events alone; three at the U.S. Open, three at Wimbledon, and four at the Australian.

"The idea for the award came up one day in 2004 when Niclas Kroon and I were talking about how dominant Federer had been that year," continued Suhler. "We were discussing the two bagels Roger delivered during the finals of the US Open. Then the bright idea light bulb started to dimly glow in our heads and the Golden Bagel Award™ was born."

Dec 27, 2006 from Roger Federer Official Site:
Roger has once again been awarded the title as Europe's Best Athlete of the Year, a poll carried out by the Polish news-agency Polska Agencja Prasowa (PAP). A total of 16 news-agencies throughout Europe took part in the vote.

It is already Roger's third victory in series after 2004 and 2005. The places after him go to Spain's two-time Formula-1 world champion Fernando Alonso (Alonso netted 75 votes to Roger's 145) and Italy's football world champion Fabio Cannavaro, who has just recently been awarded the title as World Football Player of the Year.

Dec 26, 2006 from USSA:
Roger Federer was named the 2006 Academy Outstanding Athlete of the Year by the United States Sports Academy after a worldwide online fan vote. He also won the Academy Athlete of the Year in 2005.

Tiger Woods was named Academy Male Athlete of the Year, while Maria Sharapova was named Academy Female Athlete of the Year. Overall, the ballot received hundreds of thousands of votes from sports fans around the globe.

Dec 23, 2006 from Reuters:
CUDDALORE, India - Roger Federer swapped his tennis racket for a cricket bat on Saturday to the delight of scores of child survivors of the Asian tsunami in India.

The Swiss world number one, a UNICEF goodwill ambassador, hit a tennis ball with the wooden bat bowled by enthusiastic boys at a permanent shelter camp in Cuddalore district in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. In the Pudupettai rehabilitation colony, 180 km south of Chennai, the state capital, hundreds watched the improvised cricket game played on an old red coir mat that was placed on a makeshift pitch.

Dec 22, 2006 from AFP:
CUDDALORE, India - Tennis superstar Roger Federer met children whose lives were affected by the devastating tsunami two years ago.

Federer, 25, a Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF (the United Nations Children's Fund) visited a child care centre and a middle school in the southern Indian town of Cuddalore. "I spent a lot of time with the children and I think I know them by name," said the nine-time Grand Slam winner and world number one. "Kids are the future and so I tried to inspire them."

Dec 20, 2006 from Tenniswire:
Roger Federer and Amelie Mauresmo have been named the 2006 Male and Female Players of the Year by TENNIS Magazine in its January/February issue (out December 26). According to the editors, Federer “put together another historic year,” capturing three majors and compiling a 85-5 record, while Mauresmo, the Australian Open and Wimbledon women’s champ, finally broke through the Grand Slam wall. The issue features a revealing Q&A with each champion.

When asked how successful he thought he’d be on tour once turning pro, Federer, named the magazine’s Men’s Player of the Year for a third straight time, tells TENNIS, “I was hoping to become good. The dream was obviously to play Wimbledon, but I never thought I would be as good as this and dominate the sport. You can dream of winning one Grand Slam, if you are lucky. But to play so well – I never thought it was possible.”

At 25, Federer is just six Grand Slam titles away from surpassing Peter Sampras’ record of 14. After winning this year’s U.S. Open, Sampras sent Federer a congratulatory text message. “Three days later, he called me and asked if I received the message, Federer tells TENNIS. “I said yes; I would have answered anyway -- maybe I should have answered more quickly. He wanted to tell me how much he likes to watch me play, and so on. To hear this from him was something incredible for me, for one of my idols to call and tell me how happy he is for me. Pete said that I dominate the sport more than he used to at his time. It was a big compliment. It showed me that Sampras is pretty relaxed now. Records are there to be broken.”

Dec 18, 2006 from UNICEF:
Roger Federer, the world’s top-ranked tennis player and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, will visit Tamil Nadu, India – the country’s hardest hit state – this month to mark the two-year anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami.

Federer will visit UNICEF’s tsunami recovery programmes in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu Friday, 22 December – Saturday, 23 December 2006. Over 18,000 people in India were killed or missing by the tsunami, with a third of them children. UNICEF has designed its tsunami programmes with the guiding principle of Building Back Better to not only restore services but raise the standards and provide access to those that were lacking or not available to everyone. In India, that approach has steered programmes in health and nutrition; provided safe drinking water; raised the quality of education; developed policies on child protection; and raised HIV/AIDS awareness.

Dec 17, 2006 from Roger Federer Official Site:
Roger was elected Swiss Athlete of the Year 2006 at the Sports Awards" ceremony in Bern yesterday, after already having won the award in 2003 and 2004.

As Roger has already taken up training for the next season he joined the show via live broadcast from Dubai. He said that he wanted to reach many more high goals next year. "It was a great year, many more like this are welcome to follow", he said to the Swiss audience. Bernhard Russi, former ski-champion, handed over the award and praised all nominees as "best of their domain" (Stéphane Lambiel, ice-skating; Fabian Cancellara, cycling). Roger clearly took home the award, heading the election by about 30 percent of the votes. "I hope I can take part in the event personally in the future", Roger said after having been announced the winner. He also addressed his thanks to his fans who show their support with Swiss flags in stadiums all over the world. Roger had chosen Severin Lüthi, the Swiss Davis Cup captain, to receive the trophy in Bern. At the end of the event there was even a special surprise for our star: Tiger Woods, who has been elected World Sportsman of the Year twice just like Roger, praised him as an athlete and a friend.

from swissinfo:
Tennis king Roger Federer and snowboard gold medallist Tanja Frieden have been named athletes of the year by the Swiss public at the national sports awards. They were joined on the podium by the Swiss national football team and their trainer, Köbi Kuhn, Arsenal defender Johan Djourou and wheelchair athlete Edith Hunkeler. Federer, who was linked to Bern live on Saturday night from Dubai, won almost 60 per cent of the votes, leaving ice-skater Stéphane Lambiel (29 per cent) and cyclist Fabian Cancellara (13 per cent) in his wake.

Dec 14, 2006 from Roger Federer Official Site:
Dear fans

An amazingly successful year is coming to an end. I would like to take a moment to thank each and every one of you out there for your loyal support. Time after time all of you fans have cheered for me in great moments – and also stood behind me in difficult situations. You are a part of my whole success and it is hard to express how much this means to me. Thank you so much for all the presents, letters, poems, Christmas cards and wishes you have sent me.

My Foundation is something I am focusing on more and more. Thanks to your help and your donations we have been able to make a difference in the lives of children who are less fortunate than us. Furthermore, I want to thank my sponsors for the great partnerships and cooperation and I sincerely hope that we can celebrate many more victories together.

My family, Mirka and myself, we all wish you a very merry Christmas, a great portion of luck and prosperity for the New Year. We are already looking forward to your great support and an exciting 2007.

from AP:
MIAMI - U.S. Davis Cup Captain Patrick McEnroe believes that conquering the talent and mystique of world No. 1 Roger Federer is a task likely to fall to some of the newer faces on the ATP tour.

"This next year, I think it's going to be interesting to see who comes out of that pack of the 19, 20-year-olds to give him a threat," McEnroe said during Thursday's opening of the Patrick McEnroe Tennis Center at The Grove Isle Hotel & Spa in Coconut Grove. "I'm kind of interested in seeing how these younger guys do against him because they haven't lost to him 10 times in a row."

McEnroe openly admires Federer's achievements. The Swiss sensation has only lost 15 of 262 matches he's played the past three years and has won 34 titles, including eight of the nine grand slam titles he's won, during that time period.

Dec 11, 2006 from AP:
Roger Federer and Justine Henin-Hardenne were selected the International Tennis Federation's world champions on Monday. The awards will be presented at the ITF world champions dinner in Paris on June 5 during the French Open. Federer became only the fourth player to win the men's award three straight years, joining Bjorn Borg, Ivan Lendl and Pete Sampras.

"I am honoured to be ITF World Champion for the third year in a row. It was a great year for me, finishing again as the world No. 1, winning 12 titles including three Grand Slams and reaching my first final at Roland Garros. The ITF Dinner in Paris is always a good evening and will give me another chance to celebrate my successful 2006 with the other World Champions and my friends in the tennis family," Federer said.

Dec 10, 2006
Roger was named the BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year 2006, voted for by the ceremony's studio audience.

Dec 9, 2006 from Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Q: Do you get asked more about Roger Federer than yourself anymore?

Pete Sampras: Yeah. How do you think he'll do? How good is he? It will be a comparison for the next number of years. I really think Roger is going to go on and break most of my records. That's OK. I've reached out and offered him congratulations. I've told him how much I admire and respect what he's been doing.

Q: Do you allow yourself in your mind to imagine what it would be like to play [Federer] in both of your primes?

Dec 7, 2006 from SFC:
DAPHNE – Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova lead the male and female online fan vote after the first six days of the 2006 United States Sports Academy’s Athlete of the Year. World Cup soccer Most Valuable Player Fabio Cannavaro of Italy is in second on the male side, followed by golf superstar Tiger Woods. Justine Henin-Hardenne is currently in second on the women’s side followed by LPGA sensation Lorena Ochoa of Mexico.

Dec 5, 2006 from ATP:
The International Tennis Writers Association (ITWA) has recognized Roger Federer’s incredible achievements on and off court during 2006 by giving them both of its annual awards. The tennis writers voted Federer Player-of-the-Year award and also honored him with ITWA's Ambassador for Tennis award, which recognizes players who go out of their way to advance the sport on a global level. It’s the third year in succession that Federer has received both of the organization’s annual accolades.

ITWA’s 106 members (from 17 countries) voted for him as their Player-of-the Year ahead of two-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal. “Roger’s dominance of the tour off clay was simply astounding,” said ITWA co-president Matthew Cronin. “He’s set to break Jimmy Connors all time record of consecutive weeks at No. 1 in February and with his remarkable all-round game, he has a fine chance to win the calendar year Grand Slam in 2007.”

Tennis journalists also recognized Federer’s consistent professionalism and his attempts at bringing new fans into the sport. He beat the likes of thoughtful American James Blake to pick up his third ITWA Ambassador for Tennis Award.

from Roger Federer Official Site:
Dear fans

It is my pleasure to present my tournament schedule for 2007; please find it under the link below. It is great to look forward and see another season full of highlights. I am looking forward to exciting moments together with you all!

Place your bid to be a Special Guest of JURA Coffee Machines & meet Roger Federer. The winning bidder will meet Roger on 10th January, 2007, at the AAMI Classic at Kooyong in Melbourne. All proceeds from the winning bid will be donated tothe Roger Federer Foundation.

from ATP:
Thanks to your overwhelming support, the initial order of Feder-bear Beanie Babies® sold out in less than a week! The high demand is great news for the UNICEF-ATP partnership, ACE (Assisting Children Everywhere), with $5 from each ATP exclusive bear going towards this charitable cause.

We know that many of you would still like to make the take-home version of ATP World No. 1 Roger Federer part of your family, so we have made additional Feder-bears available for purchase on the Ty Web site at www.tytrade.com/feder-bear. You will find that our shipping options now include more than 200 international destinations, ensuring that fans worldwide can successfully buy their own Feder-bear!

Dec 4, 2006 from The Globe and Mail:
Roger Federer e-mailed the Davis Cup website, which was doing an audio broadcast of the final match between Russia and Argentina, to say he was enjoying the commentary.

Dec 1, 2006
Vote for Roger as the 2006 United States Sports Academy Athlete of the Year. Votes will be collected online from 1-25 December and announced 26 December on USATODAY.com, MSNBC.com and the Academy's website.

The Athlete of the Year ballot is the culmination of the Academy's yearlong Athlete of the Month program. The Academy Athlete of the Month is selected by an international voting committee comprised of former athletes, media, sports organizations and governing bodies.