Roger Federer has won his 300th Grand Slam singles match, moving into the fourth round at Melbourne Park with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Grigor Dimitrov.
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In a hilarious video, the 17-time Major champion can be seen sitting next to the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov – whom he beat later to achieve the milestone – watching the match and his reaction is a delight to tennis fans.
“It’s very exciting, I must tell you”, the ATP website quotes Federer as saying. Like when I reached 1,000 [ATP Tour wins] a year ago, it was a big deal for me.
“I wish I could have maybe been tougher when I was younger in practice, but I guess that’s just how it needed to be”. Yeah, so it’s very nice. Im just glad I got through.After extending a streak of making the fourth round or better at every major since a third-round exit at the 2009 French Open, Djokovic will play No. 14 Gilles Simon in the Round of 16. “I’ve been fooled too many times when I was a teenager”. Bautista-Agut knocked off 12 seeded Croat Marin Cilic in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(5), 7-5. She will next play Margarita Gasparyan, who beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4. She won 6-1 6-7 6-0. “I was happy with the way I finished”.
Bulgarian Dimitrov was once dubbed Federer’s apprentice for his talent and elegant style of play, but it was the 34-year-old who proved himself the master, winning 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4.
“It was a hard situation to be in”, Federer said of his performance in the second set. “Everything I’ve been trying to work on was kind of clicking today”, said the buoyant world number one, who is seeking a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam title. The five-time Australian Open champion was playing at the same time as Serena Williams, a six-time Australian Open victor, so he shuffled over to Margaret Court Arena.
There will be tougher opponents to come for Murray, including Sousa, but the world No 2 has found his rhythm early, particularly against Groth, when he won all of the first nine games. A busy day of action helped take the focus off corruption claims which have overshadowed the year’s first Grand Slam after a report said players had been suspected of fixing matches but never faced action.
Kyrgios lost 6-3 6-4 1-6 6-4 – hitting a double fault on match point – and then labeled Keothavong a “terrible referee”.
With the roof closed and play on outdoor courts delayed because of to steady rain, the 12th-seeded Bencic overcame a slow start to dominate the final two sets of the 1 hour, 50-minute match.
She advanced with a 6-1, 6-7 (7-5), 6-0 win over Lauren Davis before she was reminded of the milestone, becoming the 17th woman to reach the mark.
The Italian was a potential banana skin for the Serb, having dumped Federer at the same stage past year, but it was Djokovic who reigned supreme.
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Meanwhile, top seed Novak Djokovic also cruised into the fourth round while seventh seed Japanese Kei Nishikori overcame a wrist problem to set up a meeting with Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga.
