Serbia’s Novak Djokovic celebrates after victory in opposition to Portugal’s Jaime Faria throughout their males’s singles match on day 4 of the Australian Open tennis event in Melbourne on January 15, 2025. | Photograph by WILLIAM WEST / AFP
MELBOURNE, Australia — Novak Djokovic added yet one more document to his prolonged listing, breaking a tie with Roger Federer for essentially the most Grand Slam matches performed in tennis historical past by reaching 430 on Wednesday on the Australian Open in what was a tougher-than-expected second-round victory.
Djokovic improved to 379-51 for his profession at main tournaments, a .881 profitable proportion, by defeating 21-year-old Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 in a match briefly interrupted by gentle rain earlier than Rod Laver Enviornment’s retractable roof was shut.
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“Grand Slams, after all, they’re the pillars of our sport. They imply the whole lot for the historical past of the game. … Positively a very powerful tournaments,” Djokovic mentioned. “I’m simply blessed to be making one other document, I assume, right now.”
Oh, sure, Djokovic already holds so many marks, lots of which used to belong to Federer — who went 369-60 throughout his 429 Slam matches, a .860 profitable proportion — and there are extra on the horizon.
As it’s, Djokovic has received essentially the most Grand Slam singles titles of any man, 24, forward of Rafael Nadal’s 22 and Federer’s 20 (these different two members of the Huge Three at the moment are retired). The 37-year-old Serb has spent extra weeks at No. 1 within the rankings than some other participant. He’s performed in 37 Slam finals, six greater than Federer’s outdated document. And so forth and so forth.
Contemplate, too, what might presumably await for Djokovic.
A title on the finish of the 15 days at Melbourne Park can be his twenty fifth at a serious, a quantity by no means reached by any man or girl. It might even be his eleventh on the Australian Open, equaling Margaret Court docket for essentially the most. It might make him the oldest man within the Open period — which started in 1968 — to gather a Grand Slam singles trophy (Ken Rosewall was about six months youthful when he received the 1972 Australian Open). And it could be Djokovic’s one centesimal tour-level event title, a pleasant spherical quantity behind solely Jimmy Connors’ 109 and Federer’s 103 within the Open period amongst males.
Not the whole lot has gone completely this week in Australia for Djokovic in his first event working with former on-court rival Andy Murray as his coach.
Each of Djokovic’s matches to date got here in opposition to a younger participant making his Grand Slam debut. And each instances, he was pushed to 4 units.
Within the first spherical, it was in opposition to Nishesh Basavareddy, a 19-year-old American who turned professional solely final month and is ranked 107th. Within the second, it was Faria, who’s ranked a hundred and twenty fifth, giving him a little bit of a tough time, particularly throughout a four-game run within the second set.
“He was taking part in lights-out tennis. … I needed to climate the storm,” Djokovic mentioned. “I believe I responded very properly within the third and, notably fourth, (units).”
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