Tennis: Federer equals record

Jan 23, 2011 |

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Melbourne: Roger Federer equalled Jimmy Connors' Grand Slam record of 27 consecutive quarter-final appearances as he overcame Tommy Robredo in four sets at the Australian Open on Sunday.

The Swiss defending champion and second seed took 2hr 25min to wear down the unseeded Spaniard, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

The last time the Swiss great missed out on a slam quarter-final was at the 2004 French Open when he was knocked out in the third round.

Federer will play either four-time semi-finalist Andy Roddick of the United States or compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in Tuesday's quarters.

Federer got away to a strong start but began mistiming his shots and lost rhythm to drop the second set before re-establishing command and pulling away from Robredo in the final two sets on Rod Laver Arena.

"Tommy makes you work extremely hard, he has a great forehand and I'm sweating bullets and happy the match is over," Federer said soon after coming off court.

"I was struggling with my returns in the second set and lost rhythm from the baseline and the game when I was 4-3 down was not my best.

"I came out for the third set looking to try something different as he was doing a great job in moving me around and I played a huge game to go 2-0."

It was Federer's 10th win is as many encounters against Robredo and Sunday's win took him to a record 58 match victories at the Australian Open.

He broke Swede Edberg's record of 56 for most Open Era wins at the Australian Open in the third round against Xavier Malisse.

Federer is bidding for his fifth Australian title and to extend his record Grand Slam haul to 17.

Federer has a winning record against both his potential quarter-final opponents. He leads eighth seed Roddick 20-2 and close friend and number 19 seed Wawrinka 6-1.

If Federer plays Wawrinka in the quarter-finals this week, it will be the first all-Swiss last eight match at a Grand Slam in the Open Era.

It would also be the latest stage of a Grand Slam that two Swiss players have met after Federer defeated Wawrinka in the fourth round at last year's French Open.

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