Novak Djokovic breaks two more Grand Slam records with latest win at Roland Garros

It was a doubly historic day for Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros on Monday, as he battled past Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round of the clay-court Grand Slam, 6-1, 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.

First of all, it was his 370th career win at a Grand Slam, which breaks the all-time men’s record for most Grand Slam wins, surpassing Roger Federer’s previous mark of 369.

Second of all, his latest victory on the terre battue puts him through to the 59th Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career, which also breaks that all-time men’s record, surpassing Federer’s 58.

Djokovic’s tower of Grand Slam records is now complete.

ALL-TIME MEN’S GRAND SLAM RECORDS:

• Most titles: Djokovic, 24 (next: Nadal, 22)
• Most finals: Djokovic, 36 (next: Federer, 31)
• Most semifinals: Djokovic, 48 (next: Federer, 46)
• Most quarterfinals: Djokovic, 59 (next: Federer, 58)
• Most wins: Djokovic, 370 (next: Federer, 369)

Having only just completed his third-round victory after 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, a 7-5, 6-7 (6), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over No. 30 seed Lorenzo Musetti, things looked like they would progress much more smoothly on Monday afternoon as Djokovic stormed through the opening set against the No. 23-seeded Cerundolo, 6-1.

But things got complicated from there—clearly struggling with a leg injury from early on in the second set, Djokovic watched on as Cerundolo caught fire, hitting the corners more and more with his big, heavy groundstrokes, and the Argentine soon found himself up two sets to one on the defending champion, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Cerundolo even led 4-2 in the fourth set, but no man has ever done as much winning at Grand Slams as Djokovic, literally, and the world No. 1 got to work, breaking back and eventually sending the match to a fifth. And then, after the two traded breaks early on in the decider, Djokovic grabbed the critical break for a 5-3 lead and served out the four-hour, 39-minute victory.

The numbers don’t lie, it was a phenomenal match from both sides—Djokovic finished with 52 winners to 46 unforced errors, while Cerundolo had 68 winners to 45 unforced errors.

The Serb was rock solid on the big points, too, going 6/11 on break points and fighting off 15 of the 19 break points he himself faced.

He’s now through to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros for the 15th year in a row, another all-time men’s record—no other man has even hit double digits (Federer is next with nine years in a row).

Djokovic discussed his injury in his post-match press conference.

“Well, for the last couple weeks I have had, I would say, slight discomfort—I would call it that way—in the right knee, but I haven't had an injury that would be concerning me at all. I was playing a few tournaments with it, and no issues until today," he said.

“Of course late finish from few nights ago didn't help the sleeping, the biorhythm and recovery, but I actually felt great coming into the match, as good as I could under the circumstances, and played really well first set. Then in the third game of the second set I slipped, one of the many times that I slipped and fell today.

“That affected the knee. Then, you know, I started feeling the pain and asked for the physio treatment and the medical timeout and tried to take care of it. It did disrupt me definitely in play. For two sets, two sets and a half, I didn't want to stay in the rally too long. Every time he would make sudden dropshots or change directions, I would not be feeling comfortable to do the running.

“At one point I didn't know whether I should continue or not with what's happening. I got the medications, and then after the third set was done, I asked for more medications, and I got them. That was the maximum dose that kicked in, as I heard now from doctor after 30 to 45 minutes, which was just about the time kind of end of the fourth when things started to really improve for me. I started to feel less limitations in my movement. Basically the whole fifth set was almost without any pain, which is great. But then the effect of the medications will not last for too long, so I'll see. I guess we'll do some more screening and tests and check-ups tomorrow, as well. We have done some with doctor right now after the match. Some positive news but also some maybe concerns, so let's see tomorrow. I can't tell you more about it at the moment.

“I'm glad I was able to play fifth set and last three, four games of the fourth without feeling that pain that I felt for two-and-a-half sets. But you never know what will happen tomorrow. I have had situations in my career where I had muscle tears and different things and played with that during the tournament. I'm not the only one. Many players have played with different injuries. There are medications, anti-inflammatories, stuff that you can do. The adrenaline that kicks in, that helps you go through the tournament. Sometimes is a match or two, sometimes the entire tournament. Good thing about the Slam is that you have a day between that will allow hopefully the healing process to happen more efficiently.

“That's it. I don't know what will happen tomorrow or after tomorrow if I'll be able to step out on the court and play.

"You know, I hope so. Let's see what happens.”