Novak Djokovic reached another astonishing Grand Slam milestone by defeating Laslo Djere in the second round of the 2024 US Open.
The 37-year-old tennis great, who is the reigning US Open champion, was leading 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 against Djere on Arthur Ashe Stadium when his Serbian compatriot retired due to an injury.
It was not straightforward for Djokovic against the world No 109, with the first two sets taking over two hours in humid, late-night conditions in New York. The 24-time major champion fought back from a 2-4, 15-40 deficit to turn the second set around.
In an on-court interview with Nick Kyrgios, Djokovic said: “It’s not what we want or what the crowd wants, to see a walkover.
“He (Djere) had an injury that took him off the tour for some time and he is struggling to come back physically to his level. He’s such a good player.
“It should’ve been his second set honestly. He was 4-2 up, I don’t know whether me winning the second set put more burden on him mentally. Overall it was a big fight. Over two hours for two sets.”
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Djokovic’s win was his 90th victory at the US Open, making him the first player to achieve the amazing feat of winning 90 singles matches at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
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The Serbian has won 97 matches at Wimbledon, 96 at the French Open and 94 at the French Open. If he records at least three more wins at Flushing Meadows this year, Djokovic could have the chance to reach 100 match victories at all four majors in 2025.
Djokovic’s win over Djere took his US Open match record to 90-13, giving him a win percentage of 87.4% from his 103 matches at the New York major.
The US Open is Djokovic’s third most successful Grand Slam event for win rate after the Australian Open (91.3%) and Wimbledon (89%), and ahead of the French Open (85.7%). His overall Grand Slam record is 377-50 (88.3%).
The world No 2 is chasing a fifth US Open title, which would see him equal Jimmy Connors, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer for the men’s Open Era record. He already holds the record for the most finals reached at the event with 10.
Djokovic will take on world No 28 and Montreal Masters winner Alexei Popyrin in the third round at the hard-court major.