Roger Federer Becomes First Man To Win 300 Grand Slam Matches

Roger Federer won his 300th Grand Slam match by knocking Grigor Dimitrov out of the Australian Open in the third round of the tournament in Melbourne on Friday.

Third seed Federer brought up the milestone thanks to a 6-4 3-6 6-1 6-4 third-round victory over Grigor Dimitrov at the Australian Open on Friday.

Federer stated after the game that his opponent Dimitrov picks up the ball similarly to him and that he enjoys the good man’s game. He breezed through the third set and refused to give in during the final set.

For a player who failed to win a Grand Slam in 2015, and who some have tagged as being past his prime, it is a staggering achievement, and proves yet again his class and longevity.

epa05112394 Roger Federer of Switzerland celebrates after winning his second round match against Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine at the Australian Open tennis tournament, in Melbourne, Australia, 20 January 2016. He started playing more aggressive tennis.

The No. 3 seed claimed the feat at the Rod Laver Arena.

Gilles Simon provides Djokovic’s next test after he beat Federico Delbonis on Friday, while Federer will look to record his 301st grand slam win against Goffin.

They were watching Maria Sharapova playing American Lauren Davis and one rally particularly excited Federer, who yelled and leapt out of his seat.

Meanwhile, Dimitrov, who is seeded 27th and the current World No. 28, beat Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi, 6-3 7-6 (6) 6-3 and Argentina’s Marco Trungelliti, 6-3 4-6 6-2 7-5 in the first two rounds to set up the huge match-up against Federer. 3-0 quickly became 4-0 in a matter of seconds, and Sharapova looked well on her way to a routine win. Sharapova said. “I think it’s a proud number”.

“I played a quality player who took out Federer last year here and who has been on the tour for many years”, he said.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, there were wins for Kei Nishikori, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Goffin.

“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.

More importantly, he is a step closer to his fifth Australian Open title, a victory which would make him the oldest Grand Slam champion in 44 years.

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.

Muguruza’s rapid rise to the No. 3 ranking sharpened the focus on her run in Australia, attention which only increased after No. 2-ranked Simona Halep and No. 8 Venus Williams, a seven-time major victor, lost in the first round.

Last year, Federer was ambushed in the third round by Italian Andreas Seppi, but he made no mistake this time at the same stage.

He’s the first man – ever – to win 300 Grand Slam matches.

This story has been corrected to show the score in the last set of the Sharapova-Davis match was 6-0.