- PARIS —
The three-time Roland-Garros champion 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.
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- 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 Monday.
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- "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 on Monday.
Also read: Carlos Alcaraz battles past Damir Dzumhur to reach French Open fourth round
- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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.
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