After red-hot Roger Federer made mincemeat of Grigor Dimitrov on Saturday evening in Brisbane for his 999th career ATP win, it was only natural that the talk turned to the fact that he was on the cusp of becoming the third player in ATP history to reach the 1,000 mark.

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Federer, always polite and willing to engage with press, discussed the matter briefly, then made it clear that he’d rather achieve the milestone before talking about it at great length.

“It would mean a lot to get to a thousand, but [Connors (1,253 career wins) and Lendl (1,071)] are still ahead of me,” he said. “Still got some work to do. It's not really a goal to get to any of those numbers, it's just nice reaching milestones.”

Then Federer, clearly more focused on the challenge of facing bomb-serving Milos Raonic in Sunday's Brisbane final than discussing his legacy, put it straight. “I'm not there yet, so let's not talk about it,” he said.

But before he changed the subject, Federer did discuss the topic briefly, and even joked about it a bit.

“I mean, it's a goal for the season, so I still have time to get to a thousand,” he said with a smile. “No, I hope it's tomorrow, clearly. I mean, it's a really big number, no doubt about it. Love to get it tomorrow, especially in the finals in an ATP event where most of my wins have come. If not tomorrow, I hope it happens at the Australian Open … I don't know if it's a goal, but it would definitely be an incredible milestone to reach.”

Later, Federer was asked which of his 999 career wins stood out more than he others. Perhaps feeling guilty about shutting down the 1,000-win talk, he obliged, answering the question off the cuff: “Who knows?” he said. “Maybe my first Wimbledon finals. You know, beating Mark Phillippousiss in 2003 at Wimbledon was clearly so magical in so many ways. The disbelief of actually being Wimbledon champion for life, it is a very cool and great feeling to have at once. And a big relief as well at the same time. A lot of pressure. I handled it well and played a great final, so that one kind of stands out maybe.”