MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer was already a long way clear at the top of the list of men with the most wins in Grand Slam singles matches, so becoming the first to 300 wasn’t a major distraction.
He reached the milestone at Rod Laver Arena on Friday, when he moved into the fourth round of the Australian Open with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Grigor Dimitrov.
“It’s very exciting, I must tell you,” Federer said of his latest record, adding that reaching 1,000 wins in tour matches last year was also a cause for celebration. “It was a big deal for me.
“Not something I ever aimed for or looked for, but when it happens, it’s very special. Yeah, you look deeper into it, I guess, where it’s all happened and how. So it’s very nice.”
Defending champions and top-ranked Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic had matches starting at the same time on nearby courts.
Six-time champion Serena Williams raced to a 6-1, 6-1 win in 45 minutes over 18-year-old Russian Daria Kasatkina at Rod Laver Arena. She will play Margarita Gasparyan, who beat Yulia Putintseva 6-3, 6-4.
Djokovic took 25 minutes to win the first set against No. 28-seeded Andreas Seppi but needed almost an hour in the next two, saving two set points in the tiebreaker before winning 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (6) at Margaret Court Arena. After making way for Williams on the main court, the Serb noted it was his first match on Melbourne Park’s No. 2 court since it was renovated to include a roof.