3 milestones Federer achieved at the 2020 Australian Open
Making his 21st consecutive appearance at the Australian Open, Roger Federer failed in his bid to win a record-equalling 7th title at the tournament when he went down to eventual winner Novak Djokovic in straight sets.
However, the 38-year-old Swiss maestro had a fair share of good moments at Melbourne Park. After straight-sets opening round wins, Federer met his match against John Millman in the third round. The 20-time Grand Slam champion recovered from the loss of the opening set to lead by two sets to one.
Millman came within two points of victory, when the Australian led 8-4 in the deciding set tiebreak. But just when it appeared lighting would strike twice (Millman had upset the Swiss maestro at the 2018 US Open), Federer reeled off six consecutive points in a row to deny the Australian a famous win.
Two rounds later, an injured Federer refused to throw in the towel, denying American Tennys Sandgren on seven match points (three at 4-5 in the fourth set, and four more in the ensuing tiebreak) in the quarterfinals to book a semifinal meeting with defending champion Novak Djokovic. In the process, Federer extended his perfect record in Melbourne quarterfinals to 15-0.
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Despite struggling with his movement, Federer rattled Djokovic in the opening exchanges, surging to a 4-1 40-0 lead on his opponent's serve. He came within two points of the opening set at 5-2 30-0 before the Serb fought back to take a straight-sets win and reach a record 8th Australian Open final.
Federer may have failed to extend his all-time record Grand Slam tally at the season's opening Grand Slam tournament, but the 38-year-old nevertheless achieved the following milestones at the 2020 Australian Open.
#1 First player in the Open Era to win matches in 4 different decades
Federer met Steve Johnson in the first round of the 2020 Australian Open. In his third career meeting with the American, Federer controlled proceedings from the outset, surging to a straight-sets win for the loss of just seven games.
With the victory, Federer became the first player in the Open Era to win matches in four different decades.
The 38-year-old went 15-20 in the 1990s (1998-99), 663-141 in the 2000s, 558-109 in the 2010s and has started the 2020s decade with a 5-1 record.
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