Novak Djokovic outclassed fellow Serb Miomir Kecmanovic in straight sets to reach the last 16 of Wimbledon and claim a historic 100th match win at the All England Club on Saturday.
The seven-time champion at SW19 became just the third player in the men’s and women’s singles to reach a century of match wins thanks to a 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 victory.
38-year-old Djokovic, who is going for a record 25th Grand Slam title, joins nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova and eight-time champion Roger Federer as the only people with 100 match wins at the Slam.
“It’s very historic. It sounds very nice. I’m very grateful, obviously, privileged to be in the position that I am,” Djokovic said after the match. “I’ve said it many times. Tennis made me who I am, has given me incredible things in life that I can experience.”
Djokovic started and finished the opening set with aces and grabbed the decisive break during the see-sawing eighth game. At one point he had the Centre Court crowd standing in ovation when he produced a spectacular diving winner at the net.
His 49th-ranked Davis Cup teammate cracked on serve in the opening game of the second set and allowed Djokovic to quickly reel off the games and double his advantage in what suddenly became a lopsided contest.
Kecmanovic raised his fist to applause when he stemmed the flow at the start of the third set but a double fault gifted his opponent the break in the third game and Djokovic overcame a slight wobble at the end to prevail.