Melbourne, Australia – Roger Federer held back the tears this time. He didn’t hold back much else at the Australian Open.
Federer underlined his 10th Grand Slam singles title by winning 21 straight sets, saving a set point in Sunday’s final before finishing off Fernando Gonzalez 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4.
The last man to go through a major without dropping a set was Bjorn Borg at the 1980 French Open. The only other man to win the Australian Open without dropping a set was Ken Rosewall in 1971, although he had to play only five matches.
“Equaling records, doing something that hasn’t been done for a long time, it’s really nice, no doubt,” Federer said. “All I care about in the end is to hopefully hold that trophy. Of course, now that it’s over, it’s great to think, ‘Wow, you know, not having dropped a set.’ It’s quite amazing.”
Federer improved his streak to a career-best 36 wins, became the first man in the Open era to twice win three straight majors and has collected six of the past seven Grand Slam titles.
He tied Jack Crawford’s 73- year-old record by reaching his seventh consecutive final in majors.
“If somebody would have told me I’d win 10 Grand Slams from mid-’03 till today, I never would have thought there was any chance,” he said.
Although he knows he’s only part-way there in 2007, a season Grand Slam is his objective. He was two sets from that last year, when he won the first set of the French Open final before losing in four to Rafael Nadal.
“I think it’s going to be a very interesting French Open for me … hopefully win the title,” he said. “That will be a dream come true. That’s the only way I can make this season a better one than last year.”
Gonzalez broke Federer in the ninth game and had set points at 5-4, but was unable to convert the opportunities. Both players agreed that was the turning point.
“I have to congratulate again Roger,” Gonzalez said. “He’s on the way to be maybe the best player ever. He is a great champion who played a really good match today, all week – almost all his life. So I can take a lot out of this tournament.”
Gonzalez was the biggest mover in the men’s top 10, moving five places to No. 5 with his run to his first Grand Slam final.
Serena Williams, who won her eighth and most improbable Grand Slam title over top-seeded Maria Sharapova on Saturday, will move from No. 81 to No. 14.
Sharapova left for Tokyo on Sunday, knowing she would assume the No. 1 ranking.
