Novak closes in on Roland-Garros landmark

Fresh off his 100th tour level singles title in Geneva just prior to his Parisian return, Djokovic is now eyeing the milestone of 100 match wins at a single tournament for the first time — a mark he can achieve if he defeats former top 10 player Cameron Norrie on Monday.

The only player to have earned more wins at Roland-Garros than Djokovic is 14-time champion Rafael Nadal, who owns a 112-4 record, and the Serb has not lost before the quarterfinals in Paris since 2009.

Smooth sailing

Djokovic’s victory came alongside a thumping 5-0 triumph for Roland-Garros neighbours Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), who won European football’s big Champions League final on Saturday night — a match the Serb said he was keen to watch were it not for his Court Philippe-Chatrier appointment clashing with the PSG-Inter Milan showpiece being held in Germany.

And playing in front of a capacity crowd inside Chatrier that was just as keen to watch him chase history, an equally-comprehensive two-hour, eight-minute victory for the No.6 seed afforded everyone the opportunity to catch the closing minutes of the football.

The Serb faced just one break point against the 23-year-old qualifier ranked No.153, who had previously upset 27th seed Denis Shapovalov en route to his first-ever Grand Slam third round at just his second major. The result allowed Djokovic to match a personal best: he also has 99 career match wins at the Australian Open, where he is a record 10-time champion.

A key miss opened the floodgates

It looked like Djokovic, and by extension, the Chatrier faithful, would be in for a longer night of tennis during the early games. Misolic held serve for 1-1 in the first set in titanic fashion, digging out of 0-40 in a six-deuce game in which he saved seven break points.

After going 0-9 on break points across Misolic’s first three service games, the 10th time was the charm — and unfortunately for the Austrian, it came on a tense miscue.

Serving at 2-2 30-40, Misolic just couldn’t finish Djokovic off during a 12-shot rally — the Serb’s foot-speed and pin-point lobs kept him in it — and he missed the last of three consecutive overheads long to give Djokovic the break.

The 24-time Grand Slam singles champion finished the match by converting three of the next six subsequent break points. He also turned aside the Austrian’s only opportunity in the fourth game of set two with a big serve and forehand combination into the open court — one of 33 winners he struck in the match.

Outlook for 100

The former top 10-ranked Briton Norrie will have an uphill climb to deny Djokovic the latest of his historic milestones.

Djokovic is 5-0 all-time against Norrie — including a three-set win in the semifinals in Geneva last week. 

What Novak said

"It was the first night session this year for me. Night sessions are different. Waiting all day to play isn't easy because there's the anticipation, you're very tense, you have to prepare for the match.

"Last year I played a few night sessions - one incredible one against Lorenzo Musetti that finished at 3am. Tonight I was just hoping it wouldn't finish after 3am!

"There are always a lot of expectations but I think I played solidly in the right moments over three sets."

The Serb also talked about the possibility of reaching a century of wins on Monday.

"Ninety-nine is good but 100 is better. I hope I'll get more.

"I'm in a time in my career, in my life, when I feel very privileged because every time I step out on court I'm playing for the history books. It's incredible."