Federer Beats Dimitrov To Become First Male With 300 Grand Slam Wins

The 34-year-old’s longevity is shown in a statistic that shows how far ahead he is of his nearest rivals in terms of Grand Slam matches won.

Yesterday he added another, reaching 300 victories in grand slams, head and shoulders above the rest and perhaps the most incredible record of them all.

“It’s a little odd from time to time, I feel like he picks up the ball on the backhand and the forehand (like me)”, Federer said in a courtside interview.

“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”, said Federer, who was eliminated in the first round of 2003 Roland Garros by underdog Luis Horna before finally putting it all together weeks later at SW19. “So it’s very nice, I’m very happy”. He could meet Djokovic in the semifinals.

Federer only lost his serve once in 18 service games and broke the Bulgarian’s serve four times, twice in the third set, with Dimitrov troubled by a sore right elbow and losing serving power.

Needing to inject fresh impetus into his racquet skills, he dumped Australian task master Roger Rasheed as his coach and replaced him with Franco Davin – the former mentor of 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.

He noted how he liked the renovation – the No. 2 stadium has had a roof installed since his last outing there.

“It’s not easy to stay with him on the baseline, you know”, said Djokovic who was made to work in the second and third sets.

The Russian, who has five major titles including two French Open crowns, acknowledged her latest achievement.

Three hundred Grand Slam match wins later and the favourite for another in a fourth round against David Goffin, it’s hard to disagree.

Federer beat his opponent 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena.

She reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2014. “It’s definitely not built for warmth, but it’s built for speed”.

As Roger Federer reached a landmark 300th Grand Slam win, Djokovic still looked like the man to beat as he weathered a strong challenge from Andreas Seppi to reach the first weekend without dropping a set. She says, “I usually put the almond butter on the banana, but I thought that was a little too much this time”. Her loss left No. 7 Angelique Kerber as the highest-ranked player in the bottom half of the women’s draw.

Also progressing were No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro and Russian-born Australian Daria Gavrilova, who held off No. 28 Kristina Mladenovic, 6-4, 4-6, 11-9.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori beat Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ousted fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (7/4).

Federer misfired throughout, ending the match with 55 unforced errors. Konta defeated Denisa Allertova, 6-2, 6-2.

Dimitrov’s campaign was ended by third seed Federer, who triumphed 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4 on Friday. Raonic and Troicki won the warm-up tournaments in Brisbane and Sydney, respectively. “But for the moment, I’m just enjoying my performance today and take a day off tomorrow and be ready for the next round”.