Add a century of career titles to Roger Federer’s staggering list of achievements in tennis. The 20-time Grand Slam champion became the second male tennis player to win 100 tour-level tournament titles in the professional era when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Dubai Championships on Saturday. Jimmy Connors is the other male player to reach the milestone, and the American ended his career on 109 titles. By beating a player nearly half his age in just 69 minutes, the 37-year-old Federer continued his record of winning at least one title every season since his first in 2001 in Milan – when he was 19. Eight of his victories have come in Dubai. “It’s an absolute dream come true right now,” Federer said on the court. As well as his record haul of Grand Slam titles, which includes a record eight wins at Wimbledon, Federer has won a record six ATP Finals titles and topped the rankings for a record 310 weeks – including 237 straight. In a battle of the generations, Federer partially avenged his loss to the 20-year-old Tsitsipas, a rising star from Greece, in the last 16 of the Australian Open in January. Federer broke serve in the first game and took the first set on his fourth set point. The second set was more even, but Tsitsipas made the first big mistake in dumping an easy shot into the net to loose serve for 5-4. Federer held serve to love to join Connors in the century club. “I’m delighted. It’s great to win my eighth here in Dubai and in combination with my 100th singles title,” Federer said. “Tough conditions and tough opponents. To win in Marseille and then come here was difficult for Stefanos. I don’t know if Stefanos was born when I won my first title,” Federer joked. “It’s a privilege (to play against potential champions) because I’ll be watching them on TV. It was a treat to play Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. I’m sure Stefanos will have a wonderful career. Tennis is in good hands regardless if I’m there or not.” Published in Daily Times, March 3rd 2019.