Roger Federer won a record-breaking 234th grand slam match as he progressed to the third round at Roland Garros.
Swiss player breaks Connors grand slam record by beating Ungur
Roger Federer won a record-breaking 234th grand slam match as he progressed to the third round of the French Open at the expense of Adrian Ungur.
The third seed defeated his opponent 6-3 6-2 6-7 6-3 to move ahead of Jimmy Connors on the list of most matches won at tennis' four major tournaments.
But he was forced to work harder than expected against Ungur, who took the third-set tie-break in fine style but could not maintain a consistent challenge.
The Romanian, playing in his first grand slam, had already shown glimpses of his potential by knocking out David Nalbandian in the opening round.
But he was swept aside comfortably in the first two sets against Federer, failing even to win a point on his opponent's serve in the second set.
However, he picked up his game in the third, bringing down his unforced error count and fashioning two break points in the 10th game which Federer managed to save.
Tie-break
In the tie-break, Ungur saved two match points in the process of reeling off four straight points to close out the set behind an impressive backhand.
He had two more break points in the first game of the fourth set but wasted them both, with Federer quickly assuming control and going on to wrap up the win.
"I made two bad decisions on break points at the beginning of the third set, and I had started doing that at the end of the second set," Federer said of his performance.
"I had a good position during the rally, and then I made the most difficult choice instead of playing in a very simple way, winning the point and getting back to my chair with a break in my pocket.
"I was lucky. I reached the tie-break. And instead of being aggressive, I let him show me what he could do. He played two beautiful shots, and then I started not playing very well.
"We came to the fourth set. I made some decisions which were probably not the best ones, but at the end of the day, I had some margin. I did not lose any of my service games."
