When Roger Federer became the ultimate marathon man at Majors

• Tennis News
• Roger Federer

Embracing his 21st Australian Open last year, the 38-year-old Roger Federer showed once again why he claimed six titles at Melbourne Park, passing five obstacles to reach the semi-final as one of the oldest players at Majors in the Open era.

Roger became the first player with 15 semi-finals at a single Major, improved his tally to 102 wins at Melbourne Park and delivered two incredible victories over John Millman and Tennys Sandgren to add more memorable moments to his already vibrant Major photo album.

Entering the event with 45 five-setter Major wins, Roger had shared the Open era record with the other two warriors Lleyton Hewitt and Fernando Verdasco, leaving them behind to stand alone on this record reserved for the ultimate marathon men.

Roger Federer has played 48 five-setters at Majors, standing alone on that record.

Following those encounters with Millman and Sandgren, Roger had stood on 47 five-setters at Majors (adding another at this year's Wimbledon), embracing the first one at Wimbledon 1999 and battling against various opponents at every stage of four most significant tournaments.

In the third round, Federer toppled the home star John Millman 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 after hour hours and three minutes of an epic battle that kept the crowd on Rod Laver Arena on the edge of their seats all the time. Millman gave his best to repeat what he did against Roger at the US Open 2018, taming his shots nicely and bouncing back from two sets to one down to force a decider where he had a massive chance of bringing the victory home, leading 8-4 in the match tie break.

With no room for errors, Roger rattled off six straight points to cross the finish line first, staying in the event and facing an even bigger obstacle test two rounds later against Tennys Sandgren. In another five-setter that kept the tennis world and Federer fans on the verge of a breakdown, Roger saved seven match points in the tenth game of the fourth set and again at 3-6 in the tie break.

Dealing with an injury, the Swiss performed one of his most spectacular comebacks in a career despite a terrible performance in sets two and three to prevail and secure the 30th victory in the 47th five-setter at Majors.