Novak Djokovic enters 900-wins club: Looking back at the milestone wins of the Serb's career
World No. 2 Novak Djokovic launched his campaign for a record-extending 8th title by taking out Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in the first round of the 2020 Australian Open.
The four-set win marked the 14th consecutive time Djokovic has successfully negotiated the opening hurdle of the first Grand Slam tournament on the tennis calendar, after enduring a pair of first-round exits in his first two appearances Down Under in 2005-06. The 32-year-old Serb has since gone 55-0 in first-round matches in Majors.
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In the process, the Serb extended his perfect record in 2020 to 7-0, and also entered an exclusive group of players to have recorded 900 or more match wins in singles. Djokovic now trails Jimmy Connors (1274), Roger Federer (1238), Ivan Lendl (1068), Rafael Nadal (981), and Guillermo Vilas (949) in the all-time match wins leaderboard.
On that note, let us have a look at Djokovic's milestone wins during the course of his illustrious career.
# 1st win: 2004 Davis Cup
In his first tour level match, Djokovic beat Janis Skroderis in straight sets. It was a 2004 Davis Cup match between Serbia and Latvia in Belgrade.
The then 17-year-old Serb dropped only two games in each set against an overmatched Skroderis to launch his professional career on a winning note.
That would be the first of just two wins during his first year on tour; Djokovic closed the season with a record of two wins and three losses.
# 100th win: 2007 Umag Round of 32
In just his third full season on tour, Djokovic displayed signs of his immense potential by winning his first Masters 1000 title in Miami. He also reached his first Grand Slam semifinal, losing to Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.
Having also won titles at Adelaide and Estoril earlier in the season, Djokovic beat Spain's Pablo Andujar 6-1 6-3 in the opening round at Umag to become one of the youngest players ever to record 100 singles match wins.
Later in the season, Djokovic would win his second Masters 1000 title at the Coupe Rogers, beating Roger Federer in a third set tiebreak, before being stopped by the same player in his first Major final at the US Open.