Roger Federer and the Top 7 Swiss Players in Tennis History

Switzerland is best known for three things—their mountains, their chocolate and their Roger Federer.

Federer has been the pride and glory of the picturesque European nation ever since he beat Pete Sampras in the 2001 Wimbledon Championships and has become synonymous with the sport in the country.

You just can't seem to think beyond Roger Federer when it comes to sport in Switzerland, leave alone tennis.

But the country has produced some other good tennis players—maybe not as prominent as Federer, but good nonetheless.

Here's a list of seven Swiss tennis players you should know of:

7. Jakob Hlasek

Jakob Hlasek was a Swiss-Czech player who won five singles titles and 20 doubles titles in his career.

He reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 in singles and No. 4 in doubles.

Hlasek is most remembered for his exploits in 1992 when he won the French Open doubles title with Marc Rosset, and was part of the Swiss teams that won the Hopman Cup and reached the final of the Davis Cup.

Hlasek was to achieve further glory on the international front when he played for the Swiss team which won the 1996 World Team Cup, the second-most prestigious men's team competition after the Davis Cup.

6. Heinz Günthardt

Heinz Günthardt was a prolific doubles player who won the men's doubles title at the 1985 Wimbledon Championships and the mixed doubles event at the 1985 US Open. He won 30 doubles titles in his career.

In singles, Günthardt's best results were quarterfinal appearances at the same tournaments mentioned above. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 22 in 1986.

After his playing career, Günthardt got into coaching.

He was a longtime coach of Steffi Graf, widely considered the greatest woman ever to grace the game, and also coached Jelena Dokić for a brief period.

His last coaching stint was with Ana Ivanović from February to November, 2010.

5. Stanislas Wawrinka

Stanislas Wawrinka, 26, currently plays on the men's tour and is ranked 16th. He has reached a career-high ranking of No. 9 in 2008.

Wawrinka, like Federer, has one of the best one-handed backhands in the game. The great John McEnroe even described it as one of the most powerful backhands he has ever seen.

Wawrinka's career highlight so far is winning the gold at the men's doubles event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where he partnered with Federer. The win also got the pair the Swiss Team of the Year award.

Wawrinka is one of the most enjoyable players to watch on the tour due to his powerful, offensive baseline play.

It's really surprising that he hasn't been able to get past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam.

4. Patty Schnyder

Patty Schnyder, who retired earlier this year, was known for her knack of beating top-ranked players.

She has defeated several world No. 1 players in her career such as Steffi Graf, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Jennifer Capriati, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Ana Ivanović and Caroline Wozniacki.

In the 2002 Family Circle Cup in Charlston, she beat four top-10 players consecutively.

In her 17-year professional career, Schnyder won 11 singles titles and five doubles titles.

She never won a Grand Slam, but reached six Grand Slam singles quarterfinals and one Grand Slam singles semifinal.

Schnyder has been ranked as high as No. 7 in the WTA rankings.

3. Marc Rosset

Marc Rosset is best remembered for winning the gold medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics in the singles event.

Rosset used to be the first pick into the Swiss team before Federer came along. He holds a 2-2 record against his successor.

1992 was a golden year for Rosset.

In the Olympics, he beat players of the caliber of Jim Courier, Goran Ivanišević, Wayne Ferreira and Emilio Sánchez before disposing Spain's Jordi Aresse for the gold.

Rosset also won the French Open doubles title that year with Jakob Hlasek and was part of the Swiss team that reached the Davis Cup final.

Standing at a towering 6'7", Rosset was regarded to have one of the most powerful and fastest serves in the game, and reached career-high rankings of No. 9 in singles and No. 8 in doubles.

It's a shame that he got overshadowed by his more illustrious compatriot towards the end of his career.

2. Martina Hingis

Martina Hingis, known as the Swiss Miss, was one of the most successful women's tennis players and was world No. 1 for 209 weeks.

She won five Grand Slam singles titles, nine Grand Slam doubles titles and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title in her career. 

Hingis, who started playing tennis when she was two and entered her first tournament when she was four, was the "youngest ever" at most of her accomplishments.

She was 12 when she became the youngest ever Grand Slam juniors title winner at the French Open.

She was 15 when she became the youngest Grand Slam champion, winning the women's doubles title at Wimbledon 1996.

She was 16 when she became the youngest person ever to win a Grand Slam singles title at the 1997 Australian Open.

Later that year, she became the youngest player ever to be world No. 1.

Hingis, age 22, had a premature retirement in 2003 citing injuries. She was, however, to make a comeback in the 2006 season.

The Swiss Miss celebrated her comeback by winning her first-ever Grand Slam mixed doubles title with Mahesh Bhupathi at the 2006 Australian Open.

After clawing her way back up to No. 7 in the rankings by the end of the year, Hingis had her comeback stint cut short the following year after testing positive for cocaine and was banned for two years.

An emotional Hingis denied the charges and cut off all contacts with the sport again.

However, she is currently contemplating yet another return to the sport for the 2012 London Olympics.

1. Roger Federer

Now, what do I tell you about this man that you don't know already?

I'll leave you with a video of one of the many unbelievable shots played by the Swiss Maestro in his career.