Federer's 1000th Victory

The new year saw all-time great Roger Federer achieve another impressive record. Playing a warm-up tournament in Brisbane, the Swiss went on to capture the title and record his 1000th career win, becoming just the third player in the Open Era to achieve the feat (after Connors' 1,215 and Lendl's 1,071).

The week started with a little hiccup, Federer having to recover from a set and a break down to overcome Australian John Millman in the opening round. It was cruise control from then on, Roger bringing on his A-game to defeat James Duckworth and Grigor Dimitrov with the loss of just 5 games (6-0,6-1 against Duckwort and 6-2,6-2 against Dimitrov).

The early stages of the final anticipated another comfortable victory, Roger establishing what seemed like a decisive lead. However, his opponent, young gun Milos Raonic, had other plans. He broke back to push the second set into a tie-break—which he won 7-2—then held numerous chances in the decider before finally succumbed to the inspired Swiss.

“It feels very different to any other match I've ever won because I never thought about reaching 500 or 800,” declared Roger after closing out a hard-fought 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-4 win. “All those numbers didn't mean anything to me, but for some reason 1,000 means a lot because it's such a huge number. It's funny emotions right now, but clearly very proud and happy.” 

“It means so much more than just running away with it and maybe winning 6-4, 6-4,” he said. “I guess I was much more happy having to go three sets in the end rather than winning in straight.”

In addition to achieving this amazing milestone, Federer strengthens his credential ahead of the Australian Open, where he aims at adding a so far elusive 18th Slam. The best of luck, king of tennis! #Federertowin

photo: GETTY IMAGES

Simona's Strong Start to 2015

A week that started hesitantly ended in superb fashion for Simona Halep, who found her dominant self to collect the first title of the year in Shenzhen.

The Romanian went down the rabbit hole in the first match, recovering from a set and a break down to defeat fellow rising star, German Annika Beck. Once she cleared this hurdle, Halep cruised through the draw in straight sets to set up a final match-up with comeback kid, Swiss Timea Bacsinszky. The latter produced the surprise of the tournament stunning reigning Wimbledon champion, Czech Petra Kvitova, in the semis.

Although not 100% at her best, Simona put on a flawless performance, ending Timea's Cinderella run with a commanding 6-2,6-2.

"I wasn't feeling very well before the match—I was a little bit sick—so I told myself I have nothing to lose, just go on court, be relaxed, stay focused and fight for every point," Halep explained.

"It worked, and I felt really relaxed today. I'm happy I could play better day by day and match by match here. I'm looking forward to playing like today in the next tournament, maybe even better."

The result strenghtens Halep's credentials going into the Australian Open, where Simona hopes to claim her maiden Grand Slam crown: "I don't want to put any pressure on myself for the Australian Open. I have to be focused there, and I hope to win many matches there, but it'll be tough. I'll just try to do everything I did here."

photo: GETTY IMAGES