Novak Djokovic 'upset' over Aryna Sabalenka breaking his record at Australian Open

Novak Djokovic got upset by his good friend Aryna Sabalenka breaking one of his many record during the 2026 Australian Open.

Djokovic holds dozens of records in tennis. He has the most major titles ever won by a man, he has the most weeks at world No. 1 rank, but also the most weeks spent inside the Top 2, Top 3, and Top 4 on the ATP Tour. He finished the season as the year-end world No. 1 record eight times, and has won a record 40 Masters titles.

The list of records that Djokovic holds is almost infinite. However, as of Sunday, January 25th, 2026, he holds one less record, as that was taken from him by his good friend Aryna Sabalenka.

Djokovic and Sabalenka started spending time together recently, even having a double date in Greece. Now, the 24-time major winner playfully reacted to the WTA world No. 1 player breaking one of his records.

At the start of his Grand Slam career, Djokovic had an absolutely incredible record in tie-breaks. In fact, he won 19 consecutive tie-breaks at the start of his career at majors. He won his first on his Wimbledon debut in 2005 as a qualifier against Juan Monaco, winning that match 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3.

Djokovic then won 18 more consecutive tie-breaks until his third-round match at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships against Nicolas Kiefer. He won two tie-breaks against Guillermo Garcia Lopez, one against Gael Monfils, one against Mario Ancic, one against Fernando Verdasco, another against Tommy Haas, two more against Gael Monfils, one also against Paul Goldstein and Tommy Robredo, two against Mardy Fish, one against Santiago Giraldo, two against Olivier Patience, one against Fernando Verdasco, one against Amer Delic, and ultimately, one against Nicolas Kiefer.

In fact, Djokovic won two tie-breaks in that match against Kiefer, which he won 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-6(5), but as he lost the second-set tie-break, his streak of consecutive tie-breaks won ended at 19. That was an all-time record until the 2026 Australian Open.

Aryna Sabalenka has now won 20 tie-breaks in a row at Grand Slams. She has last lost a tie-break at the 2023 Roland Garros against Karolina Muchova, who beat her 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 7-5. That match also included the first tie-break of Sabalenka's 20 consecutive tie-breaks won, as she won the second-set tie-break after losing that in the first set.

After that match, Sabalenka won a tie-break against Ons Jabeur, two tie-breaks against Madison Keys, one tie-break against Coco Gauff, Mirra Andreeva, Emma Navarro, Clara Tauson, Qinwen Zheng, Iga Swiatek, and Coco Gauff again.

Then one tie-break against Marie Bouzkova, Emma Raducanu, Elise Mertens, Polina Kudermetova, Leylah Fernandez, and Amanda Anisimova, before a two-tie-break win against Anastasia Potapova. She reached number 20 with a tie-break win against Victoria Mboko at the 2026 Australian Open, beating the Canadian 6-1, 7-6(1).

After the match, Sabalenka was asked about her record in tie-breaks, and she joked that the fact that there's so much being said about her tie-breaks probably puts more pressure on her opponents when it comes to a tie-break, which actually helps her.

Her good friend Djokovic noticed a post on social media, announcing that Sabalenka broke his record, to which the Serbian legend reacted with a playful message, saying he was upset by the fact that Sabalenka stole his record.