What was so special about Roger Federer's ho-hum title run in Marseille, 21 years ago today?

There's no picture from the match on Getty Images. There's no clip of it on YouTube, or even from a videos search on Google. And on the surface, the result feels relatively inconsequential.

Roger Federer's 6-2, 7-6 (6) final-round win over Jonas Bjorkman in Marseille, on February 16, 2003, was the Swiss' fifth career title (ninety-eight more would follow). It wasn't his first trophy earned on a hard court, or indoors. It was his second of five career wins over Bjorkman, who would finish his career 0-13 in sets against the Swiss superstar.

But there are two reasons this match resonates today, even if it's been lost among web content and is hardly a milestone in Federer's illustrious CV.

First, it kicked off a five-year stretch, from a title-winning perspective, that turned the tennis world on its ear. From 2003 to 2007, Federer would win 49 tournaments—nearly half his eventual haul. In each season, he never won less than seven titles. This championship run (which included a victory over Raemon Sluiter, shown below) marked the beginning of that stretch of nearly unchallenged dominance.

Federer's next indoor hard-court title came that fall, in Vienna. It would be his first of 24 consecutive wins in finals. David Nalbandian finally broke the sublime streak at the 2005 Tennis Masters Cup.

Second, Federer's victory on February 16 made good on a promise to Marseille's tournament director, Jean-François Caujolle. It was in the French city, three years earlier, that Federer lost the very first ATP final he played, to compatriot Marc Rosset. The young Swiss then vowed to return to the tournament until he won it.

"It was a dream to win in Marseille," said Federer, years later. "I remember I was nervous before I got on the court, because I was thinking about the match against Marc, where I lost in the third-set tiebreak. So after this win against Jonas Bjorkman, I was really happy."

What did Bjorkman recall about the experience? Plenty, even in defeat.

"I lost to Roger Federer," said the Swede. "That's easy to remember!"