Federer clinches his seventh grand slam title
Switzerland's Roger Federer has won the Australian Open tennis tournament for the second time since 2004.
The world number one beat unseeded Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in four sets – to claim his seventh grand slam title on Sunday.
Top seed Federer rebounded from a nervous start when he dropped the first set with a string of unforced errors.
He even trailed 2-0 in the second set, before running away with the match and ending Baghdatis’s fairytale run in Melbourne.
The unseeded Cypriot was unable to keep pace with Federer once the world number one raised his game to win the final 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2.
Federer won 11 games in a row between the second and fourth sets, then broke Baghdatis’s serve twice in the fifth to seal victory and become the first man since Peter Sampras in 1993/94 to win three consecutive grand slam tournaments.
Emotional moment
The 24-year-old Swiss broke down in tears and had to take time to gather himself for the victory speech.
“I guess it’s all coming out now. I’ve had some hard speeches, but this one is a little rough right now,” he said after being handed the champions trophy by Rod Laver, the last man to hold all four grand slam titles in 1969.
Federer won Wimbledon and the US Open last year.
But he has still to take the French Open, the only major title that has eluded him so far in his professional career.
swissinfo with agencies
Federer has won 35 titles in his career, including seven grand slam events.
He claimed the Australian Open in 2004 and 2006, three consecutive wins at Wimbledon in 2003-5, and the US Open in 2004 and 2005.
He beat Marcos Baghdatis 5-7, 7-5, 6-0, 6-2 in the latest final in Melbourne.
Federer has been the world number one since February 2004.
The Australian Open in Melbourne is one of four grand slam tournaments of the ATP circuit.
The other major tournaments are the French Open in Paris, Wimbledon and the US Open in New York.
Australia’s Rod Laver was the last man to sweep all four grand slam events in the same year.
Federer has clinched three of the grand slam tournaments, but has never won the French Open.
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