Novak Djokovic poked fun at how young Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are after storming into the third round of Wimbledon with a statement performance. The seven-time champion breezed past British wildcard Dan Evans 6-3 6-2 6-0 in under two hours, firing down 46 winners to just 14 unforced errors.
The 38-year-old Serb has now won 99 matches at Wimbledon and will be going for his 100th on Saturday – and he’s now reached the third round here for a record 19th time. After being told of his latest achievements, Djokovic’s mind went to Sinner and Alcaraz.
Asked what the two new records meant to him, Djokovic replied: “It means that I’ve been playing quite a long time! And also, I mean 19 times, that’s a great stat, that’s probably almost as much as Sinner and Alcaraz have years in their lives!”
The world No. 6 will have to go through both Sinner and Alcaraz if he wants to lift the trophy at SW19 for the eighth time. World No. 1 Sinner, who beat him in the French Open semi-final last month, could be his opponent at the same stage here.
Djokovic is also on for a rematch of the 2023 and 2024 Wimbledon final against Alcaraz, where he will be seeking revenge after finishing runner-up for two years in a row. And he’s as motivated as ever to win another Major.
He continued: “I still enjoy, this sport has given me so much and I’ve said this a million times before but I have to repeat it again, Wimbledon still stays the most special tournament in my heart, the one that I always dreamed of winning when I was a kid.
“So any history made here is obviously extra special for me and it’s the beginning of the tournament so yes, I’m aware of the history on the line and obviously I’m in a privileged position to do that but at the same time, I’m thinking about the big things that I can make in this tournament.”
Djokovic might be almost double the age of his two young rivals, 23-year-old Sinner and 22-year-old Alcaraz, but his clinical performance against Britain’s Evans will show the top two seeds that he can still be a threat.
After dropping just five games in his second-round match, the Serb said: “I was preparing well for the match I think technically, tactically, I knew exactly what I needed to do and I executed perfectly, sometimes you have these kinds of days.
“It was not for me, it was more for my coach, I was sending him a message in case he didn’t see it well. But yeah, you have these kinds of days where everything goes your way, everything flows and it’s good to be in the shoes and holding a racket on a day like this, no question about it.”
Djokovic will take on countryman Miomir Kecmanovic for a spot in the second week. The world No. 6 has a winning 3-0 record against Kecmanovic and beat him in the same stage at Wimbledon three years ago.
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