Novak Djokovic sets another record at Wimbledon and jokes about sipping margaritas on beach with rivals

National Post

11 hours ago

LONDON – Novak Djokovic added another record to his name by reaching Wimbledon's third round for a 19th time with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 win over Dan Evans on Centre Court on Wednesday.
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It was Djokovic's 99th match win at Wimbledon overall, and the 19 third-round appearances put him one ahead of Roger Federer for most by any man in the Open Era.
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It's hardly the most prestigious record for Djokovic, whose 24 Grand Slam titles — including seven at Wimbledon — are the most by a male player. But he could at least use it to poke fun at his new, and much younger, main rivals.
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'Nineteen times, that's a great stat,' said the 38-year-old Djokovic. 'That's probably almost as much as Sinner and Alcaraz have years in their lives.'
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Well, not quite.
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Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the last two Wimbledon finals, is 22, while No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner — who was playing later on Centre Court — is 23.
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The growing rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz — especially in the wake of their five-set final at the French Open last month – has helped tennis move on from the era of the Big Three, where Djokovic is the last man standing after Federer and Rafael Nadal retired.
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But Djokovic is too focused on proving he can still win another Slam to sit back and reflect on everything he has accomplished at Wimbledon.
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'I don't pause to reflect, to be honest. I don't have time,' Djokovic said in an on-court interview. 'I would like to. But I think that's going to come probably when I set the racket aside and then sip margarita on the beach with Federer and Nadal and just reflect on our rivalry and everything.'
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Against Evans, Djokovic failed to convert his first nine break points in the first set. But once he got the breakthrough for a 5-3 lead – raising both arms in the air as if to say 'finally' – he went five-for-six on break points the rest of the way.
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'You have these kinds of days where everything goes your way,' said Djokovic, who didn't face a break point of his own until the final game. 'Everything flows.'
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What else happened Thursday at Wimbledon?
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No. 7-seeded Mirra Andreeva and No. 10 Emma Navarro both advanced in straight sets. The 18-year-old Andreeva earned a 6-1, 7-6 (4) win over Lucia Bronzetti of Italy, and Navarro cruised past Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-2. No. 11 Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, beat Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-1.
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