Tears flowed freely Saturday night in Newport, RI, as one of the game’s greatest-ever players, Roger Federer, was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

The Swiss won 103 titles including 20 majors and a joint-record five BNP Paribas Open trophies. He spent 310 weeks as World No. 1.

Surrounded by his parents Lynette and Robert and children Myla, Charlene, Leo and Lenny, Federer was presented to an overflowing guest list by his wife Mirka, whose candid tribute left the legend wiping away tears as he embraced her on stage before delivering his remarks.

With fellow Hall of Famers including Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier and the Bryan brothers in attendance, Federer spoke for around 30 minutes, pausing several times to compose himself as the emotion of the moment got to him.

Now 45, Federer recounted how, as a young boy, he used chalk to draw the lines of a tennis court to play with his friends and how early on “tennis became the fabric of my life”.

Federer became emotional as he thanked his late coaches Peter Carter and Peter Lundgren, who were so influential in his early career, and went on to pay tribute to coaches Paul Annacone, Tony Roche, Edberg, who was also his childhood hero, Ivan Ljubicic and Severin Luthi.

But he saved his most heartfelt comments for his wife, Mirka, who also served as an early coach and hitting partner.

“Mirka was the one who showed me how to get more focused about tennis, and take joy in everything else,” he said. “She has been a wonderful mother to our four kids who makes the impossible happen in all our lives. She and I grab each other's hands, and we run through walls.”

Federer said that he never allowed fame or fortune to change who he was.

“At every stage of my career I tried, above all, to stay true to myself. And I tried to show my love for the game. Because it really mattered to me, and I also wanted it to matter to you,” he said.

“To be worthy of your attention, worthy of your attendance, because people don't have to come watch us play. They come to be entertained, inspired, excited.

“For me, the International Tennis Hall of Fame provides a great opportunity to look back, but also to look ahead, as you can tell, I'm still writing my love letter to tennis.”

Mirka gave attendees an intimate insight into Federer, the man.

“Everyone talks about Roger's elegance on the tennis court, and I understand why as much as anyone. For so many years, I had the best seat in the house… And even after watching more than a thousand of his matches, it never stopped amazing me,” she said.

“But tennis was never what impressed me the most. The man behind it all is even more remarkable. He's the most devoted father that our four children could ever ask for. The trophies and records are extraordinary, but they are only part of his legacy. What makes me proudest isn't what Roger accomplished when the world was watching. It's who he is when nobody's watching.”

Legendary broadcaster and journalist Mary Carillo was also inducted on Saturday.

Federer’s five BNP Paribas Open titles trace some of the defining chapters of his Hall-of-Fame career. The first crown in his title hat-trick from 2004-2006 came shortly after he rose to No. 1 and marked the beginning of a period of dominance that saw him top the ATP Rankings for 237 consecutive weeks - a record that has stood the test of time. 

In 2012 he found himself early in the New ‘Big 3’ era with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and, after losing to Djokovic in the 2011 final, he beat Rafa the following year in the semi-finals en route to the title.

In 2017, soon after returning from a six-month injury layoff due to a torn meniscus in his left knee, Federer claimed a record fifth BNP Paribas Open title and crucial rankings points that would see him return to World No. 1 in early 2018 at the age of 36.

To celebrate Federer’s induction into the Hall of Fame, we take a look back at the five titles in Tennis Paradise that remain a significant part of his remarkable career.

2004: The Breakthrough

Federer’s first Indian Wells title came only weeks after he had become World No. 1 for the first time. After dropping just 15 games in his first four matches, the Swiss rallied from a set down to beat Andre Agassi in the semi-finals before avenging his recent defeat in the Rotterdam final to beat Tim Henman 6-3, 6-3 to claim his first ATP Masters 1000 hard-court title. He dropped serve just once en route to the trophy.

It was the first of three successive years that Federer would win Indian Wells, Wimbledon and the US Open in the same season. He finished the year with 11 titles and a 74-6 match record.

2005: Rally of a Lifetime

Returning as the defending champion and an entrenched World No. 1, Federer did not drop a set en route to the title, picking apart former No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 in the title match. The final included one of the greatest points in tournament history: a 45-shot rally during which Hewitt three times brought Federer inside the service box in a lung-busting exchange that left his opponent gasping for air, Hewitt on the deck after a point-ending stab forehand volley and fans on their feet.

“It was a great point, one of the best in my life,” Federer would later say. “It started off normal... Crowd got into it. He starts dropshotting. You’re like, ‘Okay, this is getting interesting.’ You don’t know what’s happening any more at the end. The crowd gave us a standing ovation. I guess it was one of the greatest moments, I guess, in tennis history.”

Federer backed up his second Indian Wells title to win the Miami Open and claimed the ‘Sunshine Double’ for the first time.

The run was part of a 25-match winning streak that contributed to his 81-4 season record (50-1 on hard courts) that reaped 11 titles for the second consecutive year.

Watch Federer analyze his epic point with Hewitt below.

2006: Three-peat

Federer became the first man to win three consecutive titles in Tennis Paradise when he defeated James Blake 7-5, 6-3, 6-0, winning 18 of the last 22 games of the final. The victory was a pillar of his remarkable start to the season: The then-24-year-old won 33 of his first 34 matches, with the Australian Open and a second ‘Sunshine Double’ among the highlights. 

After his first three visits to Tennis Paradise yielded just two completed match wins, Federer won 18 straight matches - for the loss of just two sets - in the three seasons that followed. 

Not surprisingly, Federer’s affection for Indian Wells quickly grew. “I ended up really, really liking the tournament,” he said. “It’s actually nice before Miami, kind of having a really laid-back tournament. The center court is so beautiful, the site, what they’ve been able to do over there. I really like it.” 

Federer finished a career-best 92-5 on the season with 12 titles and three majors, and went 59-2 on hard courts. He lost to only two players all season: Nadal four times and Andy Murray once. Federer would repeat his victory over Blake in the last match of the season: The Tennis Masters Cup title match in Shanghai.

2012: Desert Drought Breaks

While Federer’s record 237-week reign at No. 1 lasted through August 2008, the Swiss had to wait six years after completing his Indian Wells hat-trick in 2006 before again holding aloft the Tennis Paradise trophy.

Squeezed between the dominance of Novak Djokovic and Nadal, Federer arrived at the tournament as World No. 3. He responded with emphatic wins over Juan Martin del Potro (who would take his revenge in the 2018 final) and Nadal before stopping John Isner 7-6(7), 6-3 in the final.

The 1000 points gained played a key role in his eventual return to World No. 1 after he claimed his seventh Wimbledon title four months later.

2017: The Comeback

Coming off a six-month injury layoff as World No. 17 at the beginning of 2017, Federer likely didn’t have a fifth Indian Wells title on his bingo card when he set his season goals. But after a remarkable come-from-behind five-set win over Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open final, the then-World-No. 10 beat Nadal 6-2, 6-3 in an unusually early fourth-round meeting in the desert. He went on to take the title without dropping a set, beating countryman Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 7-5 in the final.

"For me, the dream run continues," he said at the time. "The fairytale of the comeback that I have already shown in Australia. This comes as a big, big surprise to me."

Federer beat Nadal for the third time in three months in the Miami Open final to complete the Sunshine Double for the third time. Points from the twin victories - along with an eighth Wimbledon title that year - were crucial in his unexpected return to World No. 1 in February 2018 at the age of 36.

Notably, in the five years that the Swiss won the BNP Paribas Open, he always won Wimbledon later in the season.

Read More: Re-living Federer's first BNP Paribas Open title