In the shadows of a sporting shrine where centuries are usually celebrated, Novak Djokovic reached an unprecedented 100 that took a touch of the glow off his streak of reaching the quarterfinals at a 27th consecutive major.
“These are the tournaments that we value the most and to be able to always come up with the best performance in the Grand Slams, of course I’m very proud of it and hopefully I can keep going,” Djokovic said after holding off Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-7 (1), 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 on Sunday at the Australian Open. He will next meet No. 7 Kei Nishikori, who beat No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Five-time champion Federer won the last match of night, beating No. 15-seeded David Goffin 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 to secure a quarterfinal against No. 6 Tomas Berdych, a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 winner over Roberto Bautista Agut.
Djokovic’s 100 unforced errors were the most startling statistic of the day. He said he expected it to be tough against Simon, who is relentless in long rallies, but couldn’t remember such a high number of errors.
“No, I don’t think I’ve had any number close to 100,” he said.
“In terms of the level that I’ve played, it’s the match to forget for me.”
Djokovic followed them on court, and needed 4 hours, 32 minutes, enduring relentless and long rallies before beating 31-year-old Simon.
Also No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanksa rallied from 5-2 down in the third set to win 6-7 (6), 6-1, 7-5 against Anna-lena Friedsam, who finished the last two games hobbling and in tears, and also conceded a point penalty on her last serve, after taking a medical timeout for what appeared to be cramps. Radwanska next plays No. 10 Carla Suarez Navarro, who had an 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Russian-born Australian Daria Gavrilova.
Djokovic only lost one match in a Grand Slam last year the French Open final and for the sixth straight major hadn’t dropped a set in reaching the fourth round. Despite all that, he was ready to take tips from the public.
A man in the crowd yelled out during the post-match interview that Djokovic should give up on the drop shots.
“OK, thanks buddy,” Djokovic deadpanned. “I hate to say, but you are absolutely right.”
Paes, Bopanna advance
It was a good day at office for India’s mixed doubles pairs as both leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna advanced to the second round of the event.
While Paes and Martina Hingis posted a 6-3, 7-5 win over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Dominic Inglot, Bopanna and Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei defeated the Australian pair of John Millman and Kimberly Birrell, 7-5, 6-1.
However, Bopanna’s campaign got over in men’s doubles as he and Mergea, were handed a shock defeat 4-6, 3-6 by Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi.