MELBOURNE, Australia The countless records and accolades accumulated over a long and illustrious career dont in any way diminish Roger Federers satisfaction when he sets yet another benchmark.
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A patient Roger Federer weathered a second set storm from Grigor Dimitrov before slapping down the Bulgarian challenger 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4 to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open and clinch his 300th win in grand slams. “I played a quality player who took out Federer last year here and who has been on the tour for many years”. Yet he still gets a thrill from the numbers.
“It’s very exciting, I must tell you”, Federer told the crowd following his 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win. It was a big deal for me..
Federer, who became the first man to achieve the feat, is now 67 wins clear of the second-placed Jimmy Connors in the list of men with most wins in Grand Slam singles matches.
“It is not something I ever aimed for or looked for, but when it happens, it’s very special”. “You look deeper into it, where it’s all happened and how”. So it’s very nice. He could meet Djokovic in the semifinals.
Two years after turning pro in 1998, Federer won his first Grand Slam match, beating a waning Michael Chang in straight sets in the first round of the Australian Open.
After making way for Williams on the main court, he noted it was his first match on Melbourne Park’s No 2 court since it was renovated to include a roof.
The 27th-seeded Bulgarian, known for his Federer-esque one-handed backhand, has now lost his past seven matches against top-10 players.
“It was a great test. It was a physical match”, Djokovic said. “I’m just glad to get through”.
However, it was not an entirely convincing display from the four-time Australian Open victor, who committed an uncharacteristic 55 unforced efforts, much more than Dimitrov’s 44. At Hisense Arena, David Goffin played Dominic Thiem.
Federer asserted himself in the third set, breaking in the second and sixth games, to win 6-1.
When he reached eighth in the world and made the Wimbledon semifinals two years ago, it seemed like Dimitrov was well on his way to mixing it with the elite on a regular basis. “I just couldn’t find the court, my shots”. “It’s definitely not built for warmth, but it’s built for speed”.
Davis took the second set 7-6 (7-5) before bowing out without any competition in the third set losing 6-0.
The 2008 champion and four-time Australian Open finalist next plays No. 12 Belinda Bencic. Her loss left No. 7 Angelique Kerber as the highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the women’s draw.
No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska moved on to a fourth-rounder against Anna-Lena Friedsam, who beat Roberta Vinci – the Italian player who ended Williams’s bid for a calendar-year Grand Slam in 2015.
The real hero of the night then was Daria Gavrilova – newly minted Green and Gold, she is a plucky fighter and partnered Kyrgios to a famous Hopman Cup victory, and scrapped her way into the fourth round with a 6-4 4-6 11-9 win.
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Other third round matches in the men’s singles competition today include match-ups between Novak Djokovic (Serbia) and Andreas Seppi (Italy), Jo Tsonga (France) and Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France), and Guillermo Garcia Lopez (Spain) and Kei Nishikori (Japan), among others. He claimed the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open titles. Federer timed a low return at a rushing Dimitrov’s feet to cause the error. Konta defeated Denisa Allertova, 6-2, 6-2.
