Federer equals Grand Slam quarters record

Sharapova defeated in straight sets at Australian Open.

MELBOURNE: Roger Federer equalled Jimmy Connors’ Grand Slam record of 27 consecutive quarter-final appearances as he overcame Tommy Robredo in four sets at the Australian Open. The defending champion took two hours and 25 minutes to wear down the unseeded Spaniard, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2. Federer will play compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka tomorrow.

Federer was off to a strong start but began mistiming his shots and lost rhythm to drop the second set before re-establishing command and pulling away from Robredo in the final two sets on Rod Laver Arena.

It was the Swiss’ 10th win which took him to a record 58 match victories at the Australian Open. He broke Swede Edberg’s record of 56 for most Open Era wins at the Australian Open in the third round.

Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki took a 6-3, 6-4 win over unseeded Latvian Anastasija Sevastova. It is the first time she has progressed past the fourth round in Melbourne and keeps alive her hopes of winning a maiden Grand Slam title.

Novak Djokovic claimed a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 win over Nicolas Almagro, but it was bad news for Andy Roddick and Maria Sharapova who were both defeated in straight-sets.

Longest Slam match

Italy’s Francesca Schiavone beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 1-6, 16-14 over four hours and 44 minutes, the longest women’s singles match in Grand Slam history. The marathon encounter, including a three-hour final set, eclipsed the previous mark of four hours and 19 minutes set by Barbora Zahlavova Strycova and Regina Kulikova in Melbourne last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2011.