Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The three-time Roland-Garros champion Novak Djokovic scored the 99th win of his career on the Paris clay after beating Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to enter the fourth round of the French Open. Fresh off his 100th tour level singles title in Geneva just prior to Roland Garros, Djokovic is now eyeing the milestone of 100 match wins at a single tournament for the first time — a mark he can achieve if he defeats former top 10 player Cameron Norrie on June 2.
“Ninety-nine is good but 100 is better. I hope I’ll get more. I’m in a time in my career, in my life, when I feel very privileged because every time I step out on court I’m playing for the history books. It’s incredible,” Djokovic talked about the possibility of reaching a century of wins.
The only player to have earned more wins at Roland-Garros than Djokovic is 14-time champion Rafael Nadal, who owns a 112-4 record, and the Serb has not lost before the quarterfinals in Paris since 2009.
The Serb faced just one break point against the 23-year-old qualifier ranked No.153, who had previously upset 27th seed Denis Shapovalov en route to his first-ever Grand Slam third round at just his second major. The result allowed Djokovic to match a personal best: he also has 99 career match wins at the Australian Open, where he is a record 10-time champion.
“It was the first night session this year for me. Night sessions are different. Waiting all day to play isn’t easy because there’s the anticipation, you’re very tense, you have to prepare for the match. Last year I played a few night sessions – one incredible one against Lorenzo Musetti that finished at 3am. Tonight I was just hoping it wouldn’t finish after 3am! There are always a lot of expectations but I think I played solidly in the right moments over three sets,” said Djokovic.
