Federer Gets Another Entry in the Record Books

Written by: Staff on 30th May 2012

Federer Gets Another Entry in the Record Books

epa03241938 Roger Federer of Switzerland returns to Adrian Ungur of Romania during their second round match for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 30 May 2012. EPA/YOAN VALAT |

Roger Federer forced the re-writing of yet another page in the tennis record books when his first round win at the French Open took the Swiss’ total of match wins in Grand Slam events to 233 and so equaled the achievement of Jimmy Connors.

Federer, who won the title at Roland Garros three years ago and has been runner-up four times, beat the 78th-ranked German, Tobias Kamke 6-2 7-5 6-3 and now stands to break another record against Romania’s Adrian Ungur who overcame the third seed’s longtime adversary David Nalbandian.

Although insistent he did not know he was on the verge of another record, Federer was more than happy to be congratulated on Court Suzanne Lenglen by Jean Gachassin, President of the Fédération Française de Tennis.

“I’m very happy, because Jimmy Connors was a huge champion, still is, so it’s a great pleasure,” said Federer who holds the male record of 16 Grand Slam titles but stands one week behind Pete Sampras who can claim to have spent the most weeks as world no.1.

Referring to the feat of equaling Connor’s number of Grand Slam match victories he continued: “That record is a big one, because it means longevity. I have been so successful for such a long time and to already tie that record, at 30 years old is pretty incredible.”

Federer is currently playing the French Open’s main draw for the 14th time which is once more than Connors although the American’s visits to Roland Garros spanned 20 years.

“When you look at the tournaments like this you realize you have been playing for quite a long time,” said Federer. “I have hardly missed any Grand Slams so obviously I love the big tournaments. All these times I’ve played in Grand Slam, played them in a row, have ended up paying me back with such a big record.”

Topics: 10sballs.com, Jimmy Conners, Roger Federer, Roland Garros tennis news, Tobias Kamke