Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic recorded the 700th win in his career as he defeated Malek Jaziri 6-1, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Wednesday.
He became the 12th man in the Open Era to break the 700-win barrier, and the third active player to reach the milestone, following in the footsteps of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“Every milestone is special and gives you an extra motivation to play well,” Novak told ATPWorldTour.com. “Being a part of the history books is a huge honour and is something that is always present, even though you try not to focus all your attention on record-breaking opportunities. You use it to push yourself to give your best.”
700 WINS CLUB
1. Jimmy Connors 1254
2. Ivan Lendl 1071
3. Roger Federer 1067
4. Guillermo Vilas 929
5. John McEnroe 875
6. Andre Agassi 870
7. Stefan Edberg 801
8. Ilie Nastase 779
9. Rafael Nadal 775
10. Pete Sampras 762
11. Boris Becker 713
12. Novak Djokovic 700
The 28-year-old holder of 11 Grand Slam titles, who lifted his 61st trophy last month in Melbourne, needed 65 minutes to beat the Tunisian, lifting his record to 14-0 on the season.
Djokovic broke twice in both the first and second sets, and fended off the only break point he faced during the first career meeting between the two. The top seed won 80% of points on his first serve, and his second serve points won percentage was even better, 82.
Match statistics: aces (4-2), double faults (2-4), winners (13-6), unforced errors (25-38), total points won (67-37).
Next up for Novak is no.8 seed Feliciano Lopez (7-0 H2H).
Photo: AFP / Getty Images
