Stat of the Day: Novak Djokovic records incredible 250th Top 10 win of career at US Open

Novak Djokovic already held the record for most Top 10 wins in ATP rankings history, but on Tuesday he hit a major milestone.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion became the first man ever to record 250 career wins over Top 10 players, hitting that number with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal victory over No. 9-ranked Taylor Fritz.

He was already 25 wins ahead of the next name on the list, Roger Federer, going into his match against the American.

MOST TOP 10 WINS IN ATP RANKINGS HISTORY (since 1973)
250: Novak Djokovic [250-110]
224: Roger Federer [224-123]
186: Rafael Nadal [186-102]
166: Ivan Lendl [166-92]
128: John McEnroe [128-94]
127: Jimmy Connors [127-109]
124: Pete Sampras [124-71]
121: Boris Becker [121-65]
113: Bjorn Borg [113-46]
109: Andre Agassi [109-90]

And that’s not where the history-making day ended—Djokovic is now also through to the 47th Major semifinal of his career, a new all-time men’s record, surpassing Federer’s 46.

Fritz, who had lost all seven of their previous meetings, certainly had his moments as the two duked it out for the eighth time on Tuesday—he broke twice, once in the third game of the first set and again in the eighth game of the third set—but Djokovic was already up a break both times, and he would eventually get the break again both times.

The Serb ended up improving to 8-0 in their head-to-head after two hours and 35 minutes on court, finishing the match with 25 winners to 26 unforced errors, while Fritz racked up 33 winners to 51 unforced errors on the day.

“I think it was a great match again,” Djokovic said afterwards. “We both struggled I think physically a lot, especially in the first set, set and a half. Very humid conditions. Just sweating a lot, you know, reaching the towel basically more or less after every point.

“Yeah, the first set was 6-1, but I think in terms of time played, it was almost an hour. Then, you know, in the second set I felt like he started playing better, missing less, hitting his serves, hitting the spots better. But in the crucial moments I guess I managed to just stay tough and find the right shots, make him play always an extra shot, make him run. I know that on the move he’s not really the most comfortable. I think I have done well, except a few games here and there where I struggled.

“But, you know, a very solid performance, and I’m really pleased with the way I played.”

Djokovic has now won 16 of his last 17 Major quarterfinals.

Awaiting him in the semifinals will be the winner of the all-American night-time quarterfinal between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton.