Federer’s milestone win at Raonic’s expense

BRISBANE, Australia — Roger Federer notched his 1,000th career victory and collected his 83rd title with a seesawing 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4 win over Canadian Milos Raonic in the Brisbane International final on Sunday night.

The 17-time major winner broke Raonic’s serve in the third game and again in the opening game of the second set but just when Federer appeared set for a comfortable victory, the 24-year-old Canadian broke back in the fourth game to swing the momentum.

The second set then stayed on serve until the tiebreaker, where Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., dropped the first two points before winning the last seven to level the match.

After overcoming his early nerves, third-seeded Raonic was playing a cool, composed game until he served his first double-fault of the third set, giving Federer championship point. Raonic netted a forehand on the next point, allowing Federer to join Jimmy Connors (1,253) and Ivan Lendl (1,071) as the only players to win 1,000 or more matches on the men’s professional tour.

After a sudden end to the match, Federer raised his arms to acknowledge the “Federer 1,000” placards and red-and-white Swiss flags being waved around the stadium.

Ballboys held up 1,000 in big, white numerals near the net during the presentation ceremony, when Federer accepted the trophy from Roy Emerson and a framed montage of images with the words “Congratulations Roger, 1,000 match wins” from Australian great Rod Laver.

“Special moment. I’m glad I got it,” Federer said. “To get to 1,000 match wins in front of you guys ... it really means a lot to me. I’ll never forget this match.”

The 33-year-old Swiss star started the 2015 season with a 996-227 career winloss record and reached the milestone with victories over Australian wildcards John Millman and James Duckworth, fourth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov and Raonic, whom he now leads 8-1 in head-to-head encounters.

The Aussie fans love an underdog, and backed Raonic while he was down early in the match, with Federer firing eight aces and not facing a break point in the first set. But as the final progressed and an upset loomed, the Pat Rafter Arena crowd got right behind Federer.