Federer honoured to have levelled Connors' record of most Grand Slam match wins; Hewitt stunned in Rd 1
Roger Federer described his achievement of equalling Jimmy Connors’ record of grand slam match wins at the French Open yesterday as “pretty incredible”.u00a0
The 16-time slam champion’s 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 first round win over Tobias Kamke was his 233rd in main draw matches, the same mark Connors reached at the US Open in 1992. Federer said: “I think that’s a big one, because that was longevity.
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Jimmy is obviously one of the greats of all time, and was around for 20 years. “I love the big tournaments. I have been so successful for such a long time and to already tie that record, at 30 years old, is pretty incredible.”
Meanwhile, Australia’s former World No 1 Lleyton Hewitt made an early exit, beaten 6-7 (2/7), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 3-6 in four sets by unheralded Slovenian Blaz Kavcic.
Djoko enters Rd 2
Top seed Novak Djokovic, bidding to become only the third man to hold all four majors at the same time eased past Italian Potito Starace 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-1. World No 1 Djokovic already has the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open crowns under wraps and a first French Open triumph in two weeks’ time would make him the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to complete the sweep.