Roger Federer: How "The Fed" Won the Aussie Open

On Sunday, the world's No. 1 tennis player, Roger Federer, captured his fourth Australian Open title and his 16th career title. Here's a brief statistical recap of his journey to the title.

First Round vs. Igor Andreev

Federer knocked off Igor Andreev in a surprisingly close first-round match. The Russian took the first set from Federer, 6-4. However, the world No. 1 closed out the match by winning the last three sets, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0.

In the final three sets, Federer hit 25 winners and 24 unforced errors to Andreev's 16 winners and 38 unforced errors. Andreev found little success at the net against Federer, winning on just 17 of his 29 net approaches (59 percent).

Second Round vs. Victor Hanesu

The Fed continued his Australian Open by dominating the Romanian Hanescu, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2. Federer averaged over two winners a game and had a higher winning percentage on his second serve than Hanescu had on his first serve.

Third Round vs. Albert Montanes (31)

In his first match against a ranked opponent, Federer committed more unforced errors than in any of his other previous matches (39). However, a strong, 88 percent win percentage on his first serve and a key break in each of the three sets carried Federer into a fourth-round matchup with Australian rival Lleyton Hewitt.

Fourth Round vs. Lleyton Hewitt (22)

Home-crowd favorite Lleyton Hewitt was supposed to provide Federer with a tough fourth-round challenge. Previous to his match against Federer, Hewitt's opponents had not won a set.

In this fourth-round match, however, it was Hewitt who would not win a set, as he lost 2-6, 3-6, 4-6 in just an hour and 55 minutes (by comparison, Federer's match against Andreev lasted 2 hours and 44 minutes). Federer hit 49 winners to Hewitt's 18, and once again, dominated with his serve, winning 72 percent of his service points.

Quarterfinals vs. Nikolay Davydenko (6)

If there was going to be anyone who could stop Federer on his path to the trophy, it would be the sixth-seeded Russian, Nikolay Davydenko. Davydenko was, by far, the hottest player coming into the Australian Open. Davydenko was coming fresh off of an amazing run in Doha, where he beat both Federer and Rafael Nadal back to back. In his nine matches previous to facing Federer, Davydenko was 9-0 and had dropped just two total sets.

Federer was still the favorite to win the match, but in the opening set, Federer looked like the nervous underdog as he hit 17 unforced errors in the first set alone and lost more than half of his service points.

Early in the second set, Davydenko broke Federer's serve to take a 3-1 lead. But Federer broke back, and this time, Davydenko hit 15 unforced errors, and it was Davydenko who lost more than half of his service points.

In the third set, Federer recaptured his serve from earlier rounds of the tournament and made quick work of Davydenko, losing just one service point the entire set.

In the fourth and final set, both players played well, but as often is in tennis, the set came down to a few vital points, and a break of Davydenko's service at 5-5 paved the way for a tough, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 7-5 for Federer.

Semifinals vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10)

Federer's semifinal match against former Australian Open finalist Tsonga looked a lot like his early-round matches. The "Swiss Maestro" won on 78 percent of his serves and hit to the tune of 33 winners to 13 errors. Tsonga, meanwhile, could not hold his serve, winning just 56 percent of his service points. The Frenchman did not see a single break point.

Finals vs. Andy Murray (5)

The final match of this decade's first Grand Slam saw Federer play Scotsman Andy Murray, who was trying to bring Great Britain its first Grand Slam title in 74 years. Coming into the match, Murray was 6-0 and had dropped one set in the entire tournament.

However, in the finals, Federer seemed to simply outplay Murray. In the first set, a combination of missed serves by Murray (first serve: 45 percent) and solid play by Federer (12 winners), gave Federer the first set 3-6. In winning the next set, Federer hit 16 winners, won on 13 of 16 net approaches, and won on 71 percent of his serves.

The third and final set saw both players serve spectacularly, as the two players combined for 12 aces and a 70 percent win percentage on serves. It was Murray, however, who took the early lead as he broke Federer's serve and took a 5-2 lead.

However, Federer, held his serve and broke Murray, then held again to eventually send the third set to a tiebreaker. Federer squandered two championship point opportunities in the tiebreaker before a backhand error by Murray gave Federer the victory (6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11).

With a fourth Australian Open title under his belt, Federer has added yet another title to his record number of Grand Slam titles. Federer also added to his record of consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearances with 23.

The next closest on the list of consecutive semifinal appearances is a handful of players at 10. This 16th Grand Slam victory for Federer is yet another chapter in the story of tennis' greatest hero.