Federer eyes 1,000 win landmark

Federer’s 6-3, 6-2 victory over Japan’s Kei Nishikori at the ATP Tour Finals on Tuesday took him to 70 match wins for the season — the sixth time he has hit that mark — and up to 993 career victories from his 1,219 matches.

The 33-year-old can add three more wins at the Tour Finals if he goes all the way to take the title for the seventh time.

That would leave him needing only four more victories to join Jimmy Connors, who had 1,253, and Ivan Lendl, with 1,071, as the only men to have broken the 1,000 barrier.

With seven Wimbledon titles, five US Open crowns, four Australian Opens and one French Open on his glittering CV, Federer has already experienced almost every high the sport can offer.

But he believes making to 1,000 wins would be an especially significant moment because it is a tribute to a player’s longevity at the very top.

“I played only the big tournaments this year. Basically, again, I chased all the Masters 1000s, Grand Slams, so forth,” he said.

“It’s not easy to win matches there, as we know, because guys are always very good, margins are small.

“More importantly for me is getting closer to the thousand number. It would obviously be cool to get there. I think it’s a great number.” -AFP