Roger Federer's 5 unique records at the Australian Open
During the course of a stellar 22-year professional career, Roger Federer has been the epitome of sustained excellence and longevity. The wielder of a picturesque one-handed backhand - a rarity in the modern game - Federer has impressively stood his ground against some of the best players to have graced the sport.
Federer's 310 weeks overall and 237 consecutive weeks at no. 1, 20 Grand Slam titles, 357 Grand Slam match wins and 6 ATP Finals titles are some of his most prominent records in the game.
The 38-year-old is also the first player to win 10 titles at a tournament on two different surfaces (Halle-grass, Basel-hardcourt), the oldest winner of a Masters 1000 title, and the first player to register 100 match wins at a Grand Slam, or for that matter at any tournament (Wimbledon 2019).
Federer narrowly failed to become the oldest Grand Slam winner in the Open Era when the Swiss failed to convert two championship points on serve in the fifth set of an epic 2019 final. Novak Djokovic went on to win the first-ever Wimbledon match to feature a 5th set tiebreak, in the process becoming the first Wimbledon champion in 71 years to have triumphed after saving multiple championship points.
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At the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the tennis season, Federer's 6 titles at the tournament are only behind Djokovic's Open Era record tally of 7. On that note, let us view 5 of Federer's unique records or milestones at the Australian Open.
#1 First player to reach 7 Australian Open finals
Making his 19th consecutive appearance at the tournament in 2018, defending champion Federer beat first-time Slam semi-finalist Hyeon Chung to reach a record 7th Australian Open final, the first since 2007 without dropping a set.
In the title match against 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, Federer looked on course to lift a third Grand Slam title without dropping a set when the Swiss led by a set and moved within two points of a two set lead. But Cilic had other ideas.
The Croat made it a set apiece and then fought back from a break down in the fourth to force a decider, before Federer re-asserted his dominance to successfully defend a Grand Slam title for the first time since the 2008 US Open.
In the process, Federer tied Djokovic's record of most titles at the tournament (6). A year later though, Djokovic would claim the outright record for most titles by lifting his 7th Australian Open title.
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