Roger Federer probably has the record for most tennis-related records given his incredible longevity. The 37-year-old, who won his 100th and 101st ATP titles earlier this year, claimed another record when he took the court for his third round match at the French Open on Friday.
His match against 20-year-old Casper Ruud is his 400th match in Grand Slams. The Swiss becomes the first player, male or female, to reach this milestone at Majors.
Second on the list of most Grand Slam matches played is Serena Williams. The American 23-time Major winner defeated Japan’s Kurumi Nara in the French Open second round on Thursday, which was her 382nd match in Grand Slams.
Among active players, next on this list as world No 1 Novak Djokovic and defending champion Rafael Nadal. Top seed Djokovic is the only other ATP player to cross the 300-match barrier in the Open era.
On Wednesday, Federer held off persistent lucky loser Oscar Otte, saving all four break points he faced in a 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 win in the second round.
Playing at Roland Garros after a gap of four years, the 20-time Major champion is playing the son of a player who was in the draw when Federer made his main draw debut in Paris back in 1999. Ruud’s father Christian reached the third round of Roland Garros in 1999 when a 17-year-old Federer made his main draw debut. Federer lost to Pat Rafter in his first round match.
He has won his only title here exactly a decade ago, in 2009. He has been a runner up three times as well.
Djokovic won his 15th Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January and a win at Roland Garros will mean that he holds all four Majors at the same time for the second time in his career. Nadal, who won an unprecedented 11th French Open last year, is bidding for his 17th Major.
The Serbian top seed cruised ahead in Paris with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 win over Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen on Thursday while the Spaniard continued the strong start to his bid for a record-extending 12th title by beating German qualifier Yannick Maden 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.
List of players with most Grand Slam matches
| Player | Matches | Wins | Losses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roger Federer | 399 | 344 | 55 |
| Serena Williams | 382 | 335 | 47 |
| Novak Djokovic | 308 | 267 | 41 |
| Rafael Nadal | 292 | 255 | 37 |
Another milestone for @rogerfederer today at @rolandgarros: the 20-time major winner is playing his 400th Grand Slam match, the first player in history - man or woman - to play 400 singles matches at the Grand Slams (344-55 w/l record)#RG19 pic.twitter.com/vyRLDEJcke
— ITF Media (@ITFMedia) May 31, 2019
On Friday, Roger Federer will become the first player to play 400 Grand Slam singles matches (Serena at 383 tomorrow, Djokovic #2 man at 307)
— Trenton Jocz (@TrentonJocz) May 29, 2019
Federer also back over 6000 points for the first time since Australia. #RG19
Another fun bit of trivia..
With his win over Oscar Otte, @rogerfederer has now beaten the tennis alphabet in a tour-level event with the exception of the letter 'X'. #Federer's 1,204 wins have come over opponents with surnames starting with 25 of the alphabet’s 26 letters (also played Xavier Malisse).
— ATP Media Info (@ATPMediaInfo) May 29, 2019