Swiss great Roger Federer was delighted to become the first man to reach 300 Grand Slam match wins yesterday as he swept past Grigor Dimitrov to reach the Australian Open fourth round
Switzerland's Roger Federer stretches while returning to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov during their Australian Open third round match yesterday
Melbourne: Swiss great Roger Federer was delighted to become the first man to reach 300 Grand Slam match wins yesterday as he swept past Grigor Dimitrov to reach the Australian Open fourth round.
Switzerland's Roger Federer stretches while returning to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov during their Australian Open third round match yesterday
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Federer said it was 'very exciting' to reach 300 wins, a total that leaves him just six away from Martina Navratilova'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," Federer said 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.
"Like when I reached 1,000 (career wins) last year, it was a big deal for me. Not something I ever aimed for or looked for, but when it happens, it's very special. You look deeper into it, I guess, where it's all happened and how. So it's very nice, I'm very happy."
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.
Last year Federer was ambushed in the third round by Italian Andreas Seppi, but he made no mistake this time at the same stage. However, it wasn't an entirely convincing display from the four-time Australian Open winner who committed an uncharacteristic 55 unforced efforts, much more than Dimitrov's 44.
"It was a difficult position for me after losing the second set and Grigor was playing well. I thought I was struggling a bit," Federer said.
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