Stat of the Day: Novak Djokovic reaches third round of Roland Garros for 18th year in a row

Novak Djokovic continued to impress at Roland Garros on Wednesday, defeating Marton Fucsovics in a second-round clash in the feature night match on Court Philippe Chatrier, 7-6 (2), 6-0, 6-3.

With his victory over the Hungarian, Djokovic is now through to the third round of Roland Garros for an incredible 18th year in a row.

The only time Djokovic has ever lost before the third round of Roland Garros came in his 2005 debut, when he had to retire against Guillermo Coria in the second round due to breathing problems. He’s reached at least the third round of the clay-court major every year since 2006—and apart from just one third-round exit in 2009, he’s actually been to the quarterfinals or better every year since 2006, too.

And there’s more: with his straight-set win over Fucsovics, he's now won his last 83 sets in a row in the first two rounds of Roland Garros.

The last set he lost in either the first or second round at the event was the second set of his 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 first-round victory over Kazakhstan’s Evgeny Korolev... all the way back in 2010.

Things could get tricky for Djokovic in the third round, though, as he takes on the No. 29 seed, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6) winner over French teenager Luca Van Assche earlier in the day.

Djokovic won the pair’s first two meetings routinely in straight sets, both in 2021, at Rome (6-2 6-1) and the Tokyo Olympics (6-3 6-1), but Davidovich Fokina won their third and most recent meeting in the second round of Monte Carlo just over a year ago, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-1.

That meeting was only Djokovic’s fourth match of 2022, though, and he would end up working his way into top form in the weeks that followed, winning 14 of his next 16 matches—a stretch that took him to his sixth title in Rome and his 13th straight Roland Garros quarterfinal.