Wimbledon, England — Novak Djokovic added another record to his name by winning Dan Evans 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 on Centre Court on Thursday, reaching the 19th round in Wimbledon’s third round.
It was Djokovic’s 99th win in the entire Wimbledon match, and his 19th three-round appearance made every man in the open era one ahead of Roger Federer (after 1968).
For Djokovic, there are few records of the most prestigious. Djokovic is the most male players with 24 grand slam titles, including Wimbledon’s seven. But he could at least use it to enjoy his new, much younger, major rival.
“Nineteenth time, that’s a great statistic,” said Djokovic, 38. “That’s probably about the same as the sinners and Alcarazs have in their lives for years.”
Well, that’s not the case at all.
Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Djokovic in the last two Wimbledon Finals, is 22 years old, while Giannik Sinner, who played first place on the centre court, is 23 years old.
The growing rivalry between the sinner and Alcaraz helped tennis move on from the Big Three era, especially in the wake of the five-set final at the French Open last month.
But Djokovic is too focused on proving that he still can win another slam and look back at everything he has accomplished at Wimbledon.
“To be honest, I won’t pause to reflect. I don’t have time,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview. “I want to, but I think it’ll probably come when I put my racket aside and take a sip of my margarita on the beach with Federer and Nadal.
Against Evans, Djokovic was unable to convert the first nine breakpoints in the first set. But after he got a 5-3 lead breakthrough, he lifted his arms into the air as if to say “finally” – he ended up 5-6 at breakpoints the rest of the way.
“You have these kinds of days where everything goes your way,” said Djokovic, who didn’t face his own breakpoint until the final match. “It all flows.”
Also in the men’s draw, 115th place Alex de Minaur was banished by 115th place Arthur Kazauks 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0, and 19th seed Grigor Dimitrov, who expelled Corentin Mutett 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, and 7-5.
