Australian Open: Spirited Federer bags record 300th Grand Slam match win

Swiss legend downs ‘Baby Fed’ in four sets to enter fourth round

MELBOURNE: Swiss great Roger Federer was delighted to become the first man to reach 300 Grand Slam match wins on Friday as he swept past Grigor Dimitrov to reach the Australian Open fourth round.

Federer said it was “very exciting” to reach 300 wins, a total that leaves him just six away from Martina Navtratilova’s record of 306 and moves him closer to a fifth Australian Open title.

The 17-time major winner and third seed won 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours, 40 minutes under the closed roof on Rod Laver Arena and will face Belgium’s 15th seed David Goffin in the next round.

“It’s very exciting, I must tell you,” said Federer of his 300th Grand Slam win, a sequence that also started at the Australian Open when he beat Michael Chang in the first round in 1999. “Not something I ever aimed for or looked for, but when it happens, it’s very special.”



With the landmark win, Federer also extends his record over Bulgarian 27th seed Dimitrov, dubbed “Baby Fed” because of the similarity in their playing styles, to 5-0.

Serena sails with Russian rout

Serena Williams sent a warning to the rest of the field that she was still working towards her A-game as she charged into the Australian Open fourth round with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Russian teenager Daria Kasatkina on Friday.

Playing a record 80th main draw match at Melbourne Park against an 18-year-old on her first trip Down Under, the American champion was merciless under the lights of Rod Laver Arena, blasting 24 winners and winning all 10 points coming into the net.



“I definitely think I played better today,” Serena told reporters of her 44-minute victory. “Everything I’ve been trying to work on was kind of clicking. Hopefully with each match, I can just do better.”



Kasatkina raised rambunctious cheers from sympathetic fans in the terraces when she prised a game in each set but Serena finished full of running, closing out the match when her frazzled opponent pushed a forehand wide.

Djokovic keen to keep expectations in check

Novak Djokovic has been eager to quell expectations that he is hurtling towards a record-equalling sixth Australian Open title but a clinical performance against Andreas Seppi on Friday proved that he is still the man to beat.

The world number one, who is bidding to tie Roy Emerson on six titles, stepped closer to a potential semi-final showdown with Roger Federer with a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (8/6) third-round victory over Seppi.



The Italian was a potential banana skin for the Serb, having dumped Federer at the same stage last year, but it was Djokovic who reigned supreme.

“After the season that I’ve had, [the expectations are that] anything aside from a title or a final is not a success,” said Djokovic. “[But] I don’t need additional pressure because pressure is part of what we do and it’s already there.”

Meanwhile, world number five Maria Sharapova battled past petite Lauren Davis 6-1, 6-7 (5/7), 6-0 in two hours, 14 minutes and Agnieszka Radwanska, playing through the pain of a leg injury, rode an opening set onslaught to take a place in the last-16 with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Monica Puig. 

Published in The Express Tribune, January 23^rd,  2016.

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