Federer Records 99th Melbourne Win, Books Millman Clash

Roger Federer improved to 41-0 in the first two rounds of the Australian Open on Wednesday night, moving past Filip Krajinovic 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 at Rod Laver Arena.

The six-time champion started and finished with a flourish to extend his unbeaten ATP Head2Head record against Krajinovic to four matches. Federer ripped 42 winners to break serve seven times throughout the one-hour, 32-minute encounter.

Federer is now just one win away from winning his 100th match at the Australian Open. The Swiss, who owns a 99-14 record at Melbourne Park, is the only man to win 100 matches at a Grand Slam event. Federer owns a record 101 wins at Wimbledon.

Federer will need to beat Australian John Millman to reach that mark at the year’s opening major championship. Millman, who beat Federer in four sets at the 2018 US Open, defeated 31st seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 28 minutes. Federer leads Millman 2-1 in their ATP Head2Head series.

Federer is aiming to equal Novak Djokovic’s record of seven Australian Open titles this year. The 38-year-old captured his sixth trophy at this event in 2018, beating Marin Cilic in five sets to add a 20th crown to his record Grand Slam titles haul. Rafael Nadal can equal that total at this event if he wins his second Australian Open title.

Krajinovic was aiming to equal his best Grand Slam result by reaching the third round in Melbourne for the second straight year. The Serbian also reached the third round at Roland Garros last year.