Stat of the Day: Novak Djokovic records 1,050th win of career with victory over Dimitrov in Rome

Two days ago, Novak Djokovic won his opening match in Rome to improve his career winning percentage on clay to 80.0%—he's actually the only man in the Open Era to have a career winning percentage of 80.0% or better on hard, grass and clay.

And today he hit yet another major milestone, battling past Grigor Dimitrov, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, for the 1,050th tour-level win of his career.

He’s just the fifth man in the Open Era to hit that number.

MOST WINS IN THE OPEN ERA (men, tour-level)
1,274: Jimmy Connors
1,251: Roger Federer
1,068: Ivan Lendl
1,068: Rafael Nadal
1,050: Novak Djokovic

In terms of win rate, though, it’s a different story—Djokovic has the best career winning percentage for a man in the Open Era.

BEST WINNING PERCENTAGE IN OPEN ERA (men, tour-level)
83.4%: Novak Djokovic [1,050-209]
82.9%: Rafael Nadal [1,068-220]
82.4%: Bjorn Borg [654-140]
82.0%: Roger Federer [1,251-275]
81.8%: Jimmy Connors [1,274-283]

Djokovic looked headed for a straight-set victory on Sunday as he originally led by a set and a break, 6-3, 4-2, before Dimitrov put together an impressive half-hour stretch, winning the next four games in a row to push the match to a third set.

But the decider was all Djokovic, who flipped the momentum straight away with a break in the opening game then held for 2-0, and after Dimitrov held one last time to close the gap to 2-1, Djokovic won the last four games in a row to close out the two-hour, 19-minute duel.

“It was a great match to be a part of,” Djokovic said afterwards in his press conference. “Of course, playing Grigor is always a challenge. I know that he’s going to deliver his quality. He is one of the most talented players on the tour, without a doubt, for many years.

“Towards the end of the second set, he showed what he’s capable of. He started to raise the level. He obviously had a good support from the crowd. The momentum shifted to his side. I was a set and 4-2 up, and had chances to close out the match, but I didn’t.

“I was very pleased that I managed to find again the right rhythm in the first game of the third set right away. That was super important to make a break early and kind of hold things under control.”

Awaiting the No. 1-seeded Djokovic in the round of 16 will be No. 13-seeded Cam Norrie, a 6-2, 7-6 (4) winner over Marton Fucsovics.

Djokovic is 2-0 against Norrie, winning routinely at the 2021 ATP Finals (6-2, 6-1) but then having to rally from a set down to beat him in the semifinals of Wimbledon last summer (2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4).