Novak Djokovic records 100th career win in Australia with victory over Shapovalov

In a career full of milestones, Novak Djokovic reached yet another one in Adelaide on Friday night, battling past Denis Shapovalov, 6-3, 6-4, for the 100th tour-level win of his career in Australia.

He’s now an incredible 100-10 in the country.

Broken down by event, Djokovic’s record Down Under includes 82-8 at the Australian Open, 8-0 at Adelaide, 2-1 at Sydney, 0-1 at Brisbane and 8-0 at the ATP Cup (which includes three wins in Brisbane, three wins in Sydney and two wins in Melbourne).

This is the fourth country in the world where Djokovic has won 100 or more matches in, after the other three Grand Slam countries.

DJOKOVIC’S 1,034-206 CAREER RECORD BY COUNTRY:
217-42 in United States [.838]
141-29 in United Kingdom [.829]
140-29 in France [.828]
100-10 in Australia [.909]
72-10 in China [.878]
72-11 in Italy [.867]
43-7 in United Arab Emirates [.860]
37-6 in Serbia [.860]
37-7 in Canada [.841]
35-13 in Monaco [.729]
35-14 in Spain [.714]
15-2 in Qatar [.882]
13-3 in Switzerland [.813]
13-4 in Netherlands [.765]
11-5 in Croatia [.688]
10-2 in Austria [.833]
10-4 in Germany [.714]
9-2 in Japan [.818]
6-0 in Israel [1.000]
5-0 in Kazakhstan [1.000]
5-0 in Portugal [1.000]
3-2 in Thailand [.600]
2-1 in Mexico [.667]
1-0 in Belgium [1.000]
1-0 in Slovakia [1.000]
1-1 in Romania [.500]
0-1 in Brazil [.000]
0-1 in Russia [.000]

And at .909, Djokovic’s winning percentage in Australia is his best in any country he’s played seven or more matches in.

(The above numbers include all matches the ATP counts as tour-level—not just from ATP main draws, but also matches at tour-level team events like Davis Cup, ATP Cup and Laver Cup.)

The scoreline of the match seemed routine, but it was anything but.

Both players toughed out long, drawn-out service games throughout most of the first set, and it looked like there would be an eighth consecutive hold as Shapovalov was serving at 3-4, 40-15, but Djokovic stepped up at just the right time, reeling off eight points in a row to grab the first break of the match for 5-3 and then hold at love to close out the opening set after exactly an hour.

The second set saw a string of three-game swings—after Shapovalov held in the opening game, Djokovic won three games in a row to lead 3-1, then Shapovalov won three games in a row to lead 4-3. But there was one more three-game swing and it went to Djokovic, who held, broke and held one last time to close the Canadian out after an hour and 55 minutes on court.

Djokovic improved to 8-0 lifetime against Shapovalov with the win.

Up next for the 21-time Grand Slam champion will be Daniil Medvedev, who won an all-Russian quarterfinal clash against Karen Khachanov earlier in the day, 6-3, 6-3.

Djokovic leads Medvedev in their head-to-head, 8-4.