Magical milestone for Federer in Brisbane

Roger Federer joined an elite club by claiming his 1,000th career win with a hard-fought victory over Milos Raonic in the final of the Brisbane International.
By The Newsroom
Published 12th Jan 2015, 00:36 BST
LOTS: Roger Federer of Switzerland holds the winner's trophy and pose for photos after he won his 1000th career title in the men's final of the Brisbane International. Picture: AP/Tertius Pickard.LOTS: Roger Federer of Switzerland holds the winner's trophy and pose for photos after he won his 1000th career title in the men's final of the Brisbane International. Picture: AP/Tertius Pickard.
LOTS: Roger Federer of Switzerland holds the winner's trophy and pose for photos after he won his 1000th career title in the men's final of the Brisbane International. Picture: AP/Tertius Pickard.

Only Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl had previously achieved the feat in the Open era, but Federer reached the landmark after seeing off a resilient Raonic 6-4 6-7 (2/7) 6-4.

The milestone, as well as his overall triumph this week, gives Federer plenty of momentum heading into the Australian Open, which gets under way in Melbourne next Monday.

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But the Swiss was forced to earn his success yesterday, with Raonic hitting back from a break down in the second set to force a decider before eventually being pipped in a titanic battle that lasted two hours and 13 minutes.

“It’s a special moment, no doubt about it,” said Federer.

“I’ve played a lot of tennis over the years, so to get to 1,000 wins tonight really means a lot to me. I’ll never forget this match.”

In the women’s final on Saturday, top seed Maria Sharapova came from a set down to beat Ana Ivanovic.

The Russian fought back to seal a 6-7 (4/7) 6-3 6-3 victory over the second seed from Serbia.

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Britain’s Jamie Murray and Australia’s John Peers claimed their fifth men’s doubles title together after beating Alexandr Dolgopolov and Kei Nishikori.

The pair ended their three-match losing streak in finals – with a 6-3 7-6 (7/4) win.

Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka needed only 70 minutes to beat qualifier Aljaz Bedene and win the Chennai Open title.

Top seed Wawrinka overpowered Bedene 6-4 6-3 to claim his eighth career title and enjoy the perfect confidence boost before the defence of his Australian Open title.

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Sheffield’s Jonathan Marray and partner Yen-Hsun Lu got the better of top seed pair Leander Paes and Raven Klaasen in the doubles final, winning 6-3 7-6 (7/4) in one hour and 17 minutes.

It was doubles expert Marray’s first title since his shock 2012 Wimbledon triumph with Denmark’s Freddie Nielsen. The 33-year-old Yorkshireman has had several different partners since then after Nielsen opted to focus on his singles career, and he will team up with Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky at the Australian Open this month.

Simona Halep crushed Timea Bacsinszky 6-2 6-2 to win the Shenzhen Open.

Related topics:Roger Federer