On this day in 2000: Roger Federer beat Michael Chang on his Australian Open debut for his first Grand Slam match win
On 18 January 2000, 18-year-old Roger Federer played his first match in the main draw of the Australian Open. The Swiss defeated former World No. 2 and French Open champion Michael Chang in the opening round to claim his first singles victory at a major event.
Federer has competed at the Melbourne Grand Slam a remarkable 21 times and claimed the title on six occasions. It is his second most successful Major after Wimbledon - both in terms of matches won (102) and win percentage (87%).
Background
Federer finished 1998 as the World No. 1 junior after winning the Wimbledon boys' singles event and reaching the finals and semifinals at the US Open and Australian Open respectively. He made his professional debut at the 1998 ATP Rado Open in Gstaad in July.
Having begun 1999 as the World No. 302, the teenager broke into the top 100 in September and finished the year ranked 64th. The Swiss posted a 13-17 main tour record that season - reaching an ATP semifinal and two quarterfinals - and also won his only Challenger Tour title.
After losing in the first round of qualifying for the 1999 Australian Open, Federer fell in the opening round of that year's French Open - as a wildcard - on his main draw major debut. He was then given a wildcard at Wimbledon - where he lost at the same stage - before exiting in the second qualifying round for the US Open.
The 18-year-old was ranked 62nd in the world at the 2000 Australian Open, not far off the then career-high spot of No. 57 he reached the previous November. To start the season, he lost to fourth-ranked Thomas Enqvist and 45th-ranked Juan Carlos Ferrero in the second and first rounds of ATP events in Adelaide and Auckland respectively.
Chang, meanwhile, was ranked 38th at the time of the tournament - having declined somewhat since dropping out of the top 10 in early 1998. The then 27-year-old lost to Sweden's Magnus Morman in a tight Auckland Open final the previous week.
The American remains the youngest man to ever win a Grand Slam singles title - having defeated Stefan Edberg to win the 1989 French Open (aged 17 years, three months and 20 days).
Chang was also a runner-up at both the Australian Open and US Open in 1996 - a year which saw him achieve a career-high ranking of World No. 2 in September. He won 34 ATP singles titles - 33 of which came before the 2000 Australian Open.
Federer defeats Chang 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(5)
Federer and Chang - who were both unseeded - met in the opening round of the 2000 Australian Open on the second day of the tournament. The Major was played on outdoor hard courts at Melbourne Park - where it has been held since 1988.
The 18-year-old took both of the first two sets by a 6-4 scoreline before edging a tight third set on a tiebreak to hold off his esteemed opponent. He had secured his first Grand Slam main draw victory at the third attempt.
Federer backed up his breakthrough win by downing unseeded Slovakian Jan Kroslak 7-6(1), 6-2, 6-3 in the second round. France's Aranud Clement then defeated the teenager 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 to end his run at the third round stage.
The tournament started with Federer's incredible sequence of competing in 65 consecutive Grand Slam events, which ended when he missed the 2016 French Open. He holds a superb 102-15 singles record from his 21 straight appearances at the Melbourne Slam between 2000 and 2020.
Two years later, Federer and Chang faced off again in the first round of the 2002 Australian Open. The future World No. 1 and six-time Australian Open winner defeated the Americans in straight sets again (6-4, 6-4, 6-3).
The head-to-head series between the two great champions ended 4-1 in the Swiss' favor when Chang retired in 2003.