The 33-year-old Roger Federer may not last on tour enough to break Jimmy Connors' record of matches won, but he may last long enough to break Ivan Lendl.
On Sunday, Federer reached 1,000 wins by besting Milos Raonic in the final of Brisbane International, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-4. Federer is behind the retired Ivan Lendl, who had 1,071 career wins, and Connors, who had 1,253 wins.
"Never even thought about it, because like I said, it's not been a goal of mine to reach any of those guys," Federer said. "Next thing you know you're in the Top 3. I know how well they've played over the years, how much they've played, and how successful they've played….Clearly at this point I doubt that it's going to happen, but you never know. I have no idea, how long I'm going to keep on playing. The goal is to remain in the game as long as possible.”
Last year, Federer won 73 matches. Were he to keep that up, the Swiss could break Connors within the next four years.
"I need to stay injury‑free," he said. "I need to be hungry, motivated, and all that. For the moment I am, so that's more of a concern than reaching that number."