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SPORTS A21
Saturday 23 January 2016
Another Federer milestone: Win No. 300 at a Grand Slam
JOHN PYE milestone to his 1,000th Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a forehand return to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during their third
AP Sports Writer win in tour-level matches, round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) which he sealed 12 months 22, 2016.
— The countless records ago in Brisbane. “It was a
and accolades accumu- big deal for me.” (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
lated over a long and il- Federer is now 67 wins
lustrious career don’t in ahead of No. 2 and long- needed only 25 minutes to Open champion was play- stadium has had a roof in-
any way diminish Roger retired Jimmy Connors in win the first set against No. ing at the same time as Ser- stalled since his last outing
Federer’s satisfaction when terms of Grand Slam singles 28-seeded Andreas Seppi ena Williams, a six-time Aus- there.
he sets yet another bench- wins, so the mark is safe for but had a tougher time in tralian Open winner, so he “I played a quality player
mark. a while. the next two, saving two shuffled over to Margaret who took out Federer last
Federer became the first “It’s not something I ever set points in the tiebreaker Court Arena. year here and who has
man to win 300 Grand Slam aimed for but when it hap- before winning 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 He noted how he liked the been on the tour for many
singles matches when he pens, it’s very special,” he (6). The five-time Australian renovation — the No. 2 years,” Djokovic said. q
beat Grigor Dimitrov, a said. “You look deeper into
player formerly dubbed it, where it’s all happened
“baby Fed” for the likeness and how. So it’s very nice.”
of their styles, in the third Federer’s next aim is to
round of the Australian break a Grand Slam title
Open on Friday. drought that dates back
The 34-year-old Federer al- to Wimbledon 2012. He
ready tops many “most of” reached two major finals
lists in men’s tennis — from in 2015, losing them both to
the number of major titles Novak Djokovic, who has
won (17) to the number of replaced him as the most
consecutive Grand Slam dominant man in the draw.
tournaments contested He could meet Djokovic in
(65). Yet he still gets a thrill the semifinals.
from the numbers. Djokovic took care of the
“It’s very exciting, I must man who ended Federer’s
tell you,” Federer told the run in the third round here
crowd following his 6-4, 3-6, last year, the Swiss star’s
6-1, 6-4 victory over Dimi- worst run at the Australian
trov. Open since 2001.
He compared the latest The No. 1-ranked Djokovic
Spieth, McIlroy drop as Sullivan leads in Abu Dhabi
Andy Sullivan of England strikes the ball at the 14th fairway during the second round of the Abu after 13 holes when play the European Tour in 2015
Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Jan. 22, 2016. was suspended for the day with three victories, won
because of darkness. Spi- three points from three
(AP Photo/Martin Dokoupil) eth was at 3 under and Mc- matches for Europe in its big
Ilroy at 5 under, with both win over Asia in the EurAsia
STEVE DOUGLAS American amateur Bryson and make another strong struggling off the tee. Cup in Malaysia last week.
AP Sports Writer DeChambeau to chase impression in front of his DeChambeau, the surprise Clarke captained the Euro-
ABU DHABI, United Arab clubhouse leader Andy Sul- playing partner, European first-round leader following peans for that event, a test
Emirates (AP) — Jordan Spi- livan in the second round. Ryder Cup captain Darren a 64, was a shot behind run for the Ryder Cup, and
eth, Rory McIlroy and other After fog delayed the start Clarke. Sullivan after playing nine has been further impressed
big names slid off the lead- of play by nearly three Spieth and McIlroy were holes in 1 under. Starting on by Sullivan’s play and at-
erboard at the weather-af- hours, Sullivan shot a sec- in the marquee afternoon No. 10, he made birdies on titude in Abu Dhabi — this
fected Abu Dhabi Cham- ond straight 5-under 67 to group, but both played er- two of his first three holes time even closer up.
pionship on Friday, leaving move clear on 10-under ratically and were 1 over but bogeyed No. 18 in the The 28-year-old Englishman
fading light. started and finished his
Joost Luiten (68) and Ra- second round with three
fael Cabrera-Bello (67) straight birdies.
were in the clubhouse on “Darren knows what I can
7-under 137, with the lead- do, so I don’t think it was
erboard shorn of the tour- imperative (to play well
nament’s leading players. here),” Sullivan said, “but it
Henrik Stenson dropped bodes well when you do.”
three shots in 12 holes be- Clarke and Sullivan have
fore play was suspended been close friends since
to fall to 4-under overall, Sullivan turned professional
and Branden Grace was in 2011 and the jokes have
on the same score after been flying between them
shooting 74. this week. “He has com-
The European Tour said the pletely taken the mick out
third round will be a two- of me for two days and
tee start, in three balls, to I have told him that if he
make up for the lost time keeps this up, a pick (for
Friday. the Ryder Cup) is out of the
Sullivan, one of the stars of question,” Clarke said.q
