Novak Djokovic passes Roger Federer for best winning percentage in Arthur Ashe Stadium

Novak Djokovic made a winning start to his US Open campaign on Monday night, defeating Moldovan qualifier Radu Albot, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, in a first-round clash under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

And with his latest victory, Djokovic added yet another piece of history to his already-historic career: he now has the best career winning percentage for any player ever—male or female—in Arthur Ashe Stadium, with a minimum of 25 matches played.

He’s now 78-11, or .876, on the biggest tennis court in the world, breaking a tie with Roger Federer, who’s 77-11, or .875.

BEST CAREER WINNING PERCENTAGE IN ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM (male or female, minimum 25 matches played):
.876: Novak Djokovic [78-11]
.875: Roger Federer [77-11]
.873: Serena Williams [103-15]
.865: Rafael Nadal [64-10]
.862: Pete Sampras [25-4]

Arthur Ashe Stadium made its debut at the US Open in 1997.

Albot broke Djokovic once on Monday night—when Djokovic was already up a set and a break at 6-2, 2-1—but apart from that it was one-way traffic for the 24-time Grand Slam champion, who broke the Moldovan six times for a two-hour, seven-minute win.

But Djokovic, who was playing his first match on hard courts since Indian Wells, is still looking forward to improving his level.

“I think it was a solid start,” he told reporters afterwards. “Look, I struggled with my serve and the rhythm on certain shots. Overall from the back of the court I thought I played pretty well.

“It’s always challenging to start, particularly when you haven’t played on this surface for five, six months and coming off an Olympic gold and playing on clay. I haven’t had any official matches before US Open. So I’m expecting to be probably challenged a little bit more in the opening rounds.

“Hopefully I can play better each day. The good thing about Slams is you have a day between matches where you can train, where you can really work on things and perfect your game. That’s what I need. That’s what I feel like I need. So I’m going to hit the practice courts tomorrow and work on things that haven’t really worked during the match and, yeah, keep striving to be better.”

Up next for Djokovic is fellow Serb Laslo Djere, and if their previous meetings are anything to go by, it could be close—Djokovic is 2-0 against him, beating him on clay in Belgrade in 2022, 2-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (4), and at the US Open a year ago, 4-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.