Novak Djokovic took over three hours in his first match at the 2024 Australian Open, and historically, that's not been a good thing for him.
So far, Djokovic has won 24 Grand Slam titles in his career. He could have won a few more, but what's especially interesting is that he has never won a Grand Slam after needing more than three hours in the event's opening round.
Quite a few of those matches happened a while ago when he wasn't this dominant. Back in 2009, Djokovic took 3 hours and 29 minutes to beat Julien Benneteau 6-7(8) 7-6(1) 6-2 6-4 and he didn't win that event.
It was Roger Federer who beat Andy Roddick in the final that year, while Djokovic lost to Tommy Haas. A year later, Djokovic faced Viktor Troicki in the first round of the US Open and beat him 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.
That took 3 hours and 40 minutes, and he didn't win the event either, as he lost to Rafael Nadal in the final 4-6 7-5 4-6 2-6. The 2010 Wimbledon also saw him take over three hours to win his first round.
He played Oliver Rochus and bested him 4-6 6-2 3-6 6-4 6-2 in 3 hours and 51 minutes. He didn't win Wimbledon that year because Rafael Nadal did. Djokovic was beaten by Tomas Berdych 3-6 6-7(9) 3-6.
Back in 2005, a teenage Djokovic took 3 hours and 57 minutes to defeat Gael Monfils 6-2 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 in the first round of the US Open, and he didn't win the event as Roger Federer did.
Fast forward to now, and Djokovic took well over 3 hours to take down Dino Prizmic in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open. It was actually his longest first-round match ever at over 4 hours, and now we'll have to wait and see.
Will this streak continue? Will he fail to win the Grand Slam? We don't know, but we do know that he won the 2018 US Open. If you wonder how his first-round match went, well, he beat Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 in two hours and 59 minutes.
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