Ruthless Novak Djokovic extends Australian Open winning streak to 25 matches in a row

Novak Djokovic hit a milestone and made history on Rod Laver Arena on Monday night, beating Alex de Minaur, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, to extend his Australian Open winning streak to 25 matches in a row.

He’s now the first man in the Open Era to record multiple winning streaks of 25 (or more) matches in a row in Melbourne.

LONGEST MEN’S WIN STREAKS AT AUSTRALIAN OPEN IN OPEN ERA:

• 26: Andre Agassi [2000 to 2004 SFs, l. to Safin]
• 25: Novak Djokovic [2011 to 2014 QFs, l. to Wawrinka]
• 25: Novak Djokovic [2019 to 2023, still going]
• 20: Ivan Lendl [1989 to 1991 F, l. to Becker]
• 19: Roger Federer [2006 to 2008 SFs, l. to Djokovic]

Djokovic’s winning streak in the country of Australia is now at 38 matches in a row—that streak also includes going 8-0 at the ATP Cup in 2020 and 2021, and 5-0 to win Adelaide this year.

It’s now been more than five years—five years and one day, to be exact—since his lass loss in the country, which came to Chung Hyeon in the fourth round of the Aussie Open on January 22, 2018.

Djokovic was absolutely ruthless against De Minaur, ripping 26 winners past one of the fastest players on the tour en route to a two-hour, six-minute victory over the Australian.

The Serb’s serve was particularly lethal: not only did he never face a break point in the match, but he was only pushed to deuce in one of his 12 service games, his opening service game of the third set. Meanwhile, he held at 30 six times, at 15 four times and once at love.

“I really wanted to win in straight sets,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “Obviously you never know what’s going to happen once you’re on the court—once you’re on the court, obviously, you’ve got to deal with a lot of things that are on and off the court.

“I thought the first four, five games were quite close. One break of serve in the first set, you know, I started feeling more loose, more free to go through the ball and be more aggressive. I felt maybe he was a bit more nervous towards the end of the second and beginning of the first, and I feel like that was my opportunity to try and capitalize on those chances.

“Tennis is a very quick, very dynamic sport. Things can change in a matter of moments, a matter of points. I kept my focus all the way through, and played the best match of this year so far.”

Djokovic was also asked about the leg injury he’s been struggling with.

“I didn’t feel anything today, so today was great,” he replied. “I thank my medical team, my physio, thank God, anybody that really helped me, and keep on going.

“Obviously I don’t want to celebrate too early, I’m still in the tournament. I was feeling very good in the first match, second match not so great. So I know that things can change really quickly, and I don’t take anything for granted. I’m really pleased with the way I’ve played, with the way I’ve moved today, the way I hit the ball—so let’s keep it going.”

Awaiting Djokovic in the quarterfinals will be Andrey Rublev, who won a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (11-9) thriller against Holger Rune earlier in the day in an all-Top 10 match-up.