Novak Djokovic is synonymous with breaking almost every tennis record in existence in his playing career, but it's not every time for the right reasons.
The Serb has won the most Grand Slams of any man with 24 and has won a record 40 Masters 1000 titles. He is also the oldest ATP year-end No. 1 in history and the only player to be ranked World No. 1 for more than 400 weeks, now 200 more weeks than the next active ATP player.
In fact, Djokovic could still hit no fewer than five milestones by Sunday should he retain the Australian Open title. Having tied Roger Federer for the most Grand Slam quarterfinals of any man in the Open Era last Sunday, Djokovic progressed into his 11th semifinal at Melbourne Park.
He defeated Taylor Fritz in four sets to advance and will now look to keep his undefeated streak intact in the Australian Open semifinals. But despite beating the American eight times without reply in the head-to-head, victory was far from assured on Tuesday in their ninth meeting.
The first two sets were highly competitive, with both players trading hellfire from the baseline. Djokovic is undoubtedly the greatest returner in the history of the sport, but he set himself a truly bizarre record. He conjured as many as 15 break points in the first two sets but could not convert any.
The set he won was in a tiebreak after going 0/8 on break points. In the second set, Fritz leveled, saving another seven break points. It is the first time in Djokovic's career that he failed to convert a break point on an opponent's serve after having had a look at 15 chances.
Before this, Djokovic had played 130 matches in which he created at least 15 or more break points in the match but managed to break at least once. But failure to do so against Fritz was certainly a one-off, showing just how brilliant and clutch the American was on serve.
Fritz's bubble burst at the start of the third start when Djokovic broke him for the first time. The defending champion broke his serve three more times en route to a four-set win. Overall, Djokovic fashioned 21 break points and converted four.
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