Novak Djokovic reached an exorbitant number. The 1000 matches won at the ATP level open a gap that positions him, once again, among the best in the history of tennis. But before reaching this point, there were other great moments worth remembering on such a special day.
The first victory at the ATP level came in Bucharest 2004. Ranked No. 272 in the world, the Belgrade native battled to three sets against Frenchman Arnaud Clement to win that legendary match 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. The young Serbian’s campaign ended against David Ferrer but history had already begun to be written.
The ten trumps within the circuit occurred a year later. Making his US Open debut, he outclassed Croatian Mario Ancic to get into the third round 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in his favor.
The French Open saw him celebrating the win #25 at the beginning of his campaign during the 2006 season. On the other hand, the Peruvian Luis Horna, could not finish the match so Novak stayed with another memorable match 6-3 and 5-0. That year he reached the quarterfinals but Rafael Nadal, maximum champion in the Parisian clay, tarnished his streak.
He doubled that figure eight events laterranked among the 30 best in the world, in the definition of the title in Metz against the Austrian Jurgen Melzer, whom he defeated 4-6, 6-3 and 6-2.
With 99 match wins after beating Marcos Baghdatis in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon 2007, Nole faced a tough test against “La Fiera” in the semi-finals of the event. Despite the fact that he opened the score with a set for his side, Djokovic had to retire, stretching the wait towards the coveted hundred. Immediately afterwards, in the first round of Umag, he celebrated 100 wins thanks to the convincing performance he gave against Pablo Andújar, beating the debut 6-1 and 6-3.
Two years later, ranked No. 3 on the planet, he stopped the Argentine Martin Vassallo Argüello in the second round of Indian Wells to celebrate those 200 games that were favorable in his career.. From there, the climb did not stop. In Cincinnati 2010, before his friend and compatriot Viktor Troicki, he reached 300 wins.
In the semi-finals of the 2012 Australian Open, he erased Andy Murray’s illusion with his 400th game. In the following cycle, he conquered the astronomical number of 500 wins with a presentation in straight sets against Grigor Dimitrov in the third round of Roland Garros.
The next hundred came with a trophy included. In Paris 2014, competing in the final against Milos Raonic, Djokovic celebrated in style the third medal in the Masters 1000 on cement.
The most recent celebration, the 900 match wins, happened during the Australian Open 2020. Starting the campaign that would see him champion, the Serbian beat Jan-Lennard Struff to give the green light to a new goal: access to the 1000 club. A select group that only includes Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl and Rafael Nadal.
