History can wait as Federer faces Tsonga

Roger Federer of Switzerland hits a return to Gilles Simon of France during their men's singles match at the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris June 2, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Roger Federer will only admire his record-breaking achievements when he quits tennis as he concentrates on plotting a path past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Tuesday's French Open quarterfinals.

Federer racked up his 900th career win in dramatic circumstances when he reached a 36th consecutive Grand Slam last-eight with a 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over French 15th seed Gilles Simon.

It was the 31-year-old's record-equaling 58th win at Roland Garros, although he did it the hard way, briefly staring at his earliest exit at a major since losing to Gustavo Kuerten in Paris in the third round in 2004.

The 2009 champion, the holder of 17 Grand Slam titles, will tackle French sixth seed Tsonga for a place in an eighth Roland Garros semifinal.

Beating Tsonga for the 10th time in 13 meetings is the Swiss star's most pressing concern after a roller-coaster last-16 clash with Simon that saw him bedeviled by 56 unforced errors.

"Records I will look back on when I'm not playing anymore, and go like, that was incredible that I was able to achieve this," said Federer, playing in a 54th straight Grand Slam.

"Because this isn't just a one-week thing or one year-thing. This is such a long period of time that I had to fight through matches."

Federer won his first match on tour back in September 1998 when, at 17, he defeated another French player, Guillaume Raoux in Toulouse.

His 900 wins, however, still lag behind Jimmy Connors' all-time mark of 1,156 and second-place Ivan Lendl's 1,068 although Guillermo Vilas' 940 is within his sights.

"The number (of 34 successive Grand Slam quarter-finals) is unbelievable. I probably would have been happy with one at one point in my career, when I was younger and eventually you raise the bar and say, OK, hopefully I can reach my first semifinals, like in 2003 at Wimbledon.

"I went on to win the tournament. It's been an amazing run, and I'm happy I'm still on it."

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 06/04/2013 page24)