By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday July 5, 2023
The world-beating 23-time Slam champion powered past Jordan Thompson to become the third man to reach 350 Grand Slam wins.
Photo Source: Rob Newell/ Camera Sport
At the moment, Novak Djokovic is like a runaway express train that only pulls in to a station when there are milestones to pick up.
Today the Djokotrain sped into Centre Court again and racked up Grand Slam win No.350, as the 23-time Grand Slam champion methodically took the wind out of the sails of upstart Aussie Jordan Thompson, 6-3, 7-6(4), 7-5 in two hours and 28 minutes.
For Djokovic, the win marks a 41st consecutive triumph on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, tennis’ hallowed cathedral in which the 36-year-old has not lost for nearly a decade.
The achievement was not lost on Djokovic on Wednesday.
“Centre Court at Wimbledon has been the most special court, without a doubt, for our tennis history,” he said. “We know the tradition, we know how long Wimbledon dates back. I know I’ve said this before and it sounds like a cliche, but I really try to marvel and enjoy every moment that I spend on the court. It is a huge privilege, especially at this age and this stage of my career.
“We have a very romantic and special relationship, this court and I.”
Djokovic, who never faced a break point and hit 40 winners against 13 unforced errors, improves to 88-10 lifetime at Wimbledon and stretches his personal winning streak at the Championships to 30 matches. He has not lost at SW19 since 2017 (via retirement), and not dropped a completed match since the third round in 2016, when he fell prey to hard serving American Sam Querrey.
Djokovic broke Thompson’s serve twice and improved to 2-0 in tiebreaks at these championships by claiming the middle set breaker, 7-4.
“He was a bit unlucky in the second set,” the gracious Serbian said. “He had some chances. He played a great match.”
Next up Djokovic will continue his bid for a record-tying eighth Wimbledon men’s singles title and 24th Grand Slam singles title overall – he will face Tomas Martin Etcheverry or Stan Wawrinka in the third round.