After beating Taylor Fritz in the Australian Open 2024, Novak Djokovic has claimed yet another record. The 10-time champion won his 33rd consecutive match at the slam and equaled WTA great Monica Seles’ record of most consecutive match wins at the Australian Open.
When informed about his new record that he shared with Seles, Novak Djokovic said:
“It means a lot. I didn’t know that I was sharing this achievement and this record with her. It makes it, of course, even more special for me. I really love Monica.
I had Monica in my head when I was growing up in Serbia pretty much every single day, because Jelena Gencic, my tennis mother, as I like to call her, passed away in 2012 and worked with Monica when she was young. So I was hearing a lot about Monica: Monica this, Monica that, Monica eats this, Monica sleeps this much, and Monica practices this way.
So Monica was definitely one of my childhood idols and heroes, and I looked up to her very much. So when I got a chance to meet with her first time, it was really — I was very nervous. You know, so obviously she speaks our language because she was born in Serbia but spent most of her life, as she’s doing now, in the United States.
Yeah, I know that she had an incredible career, and particularly she played well in Australia. Yeah, we all wonder how far she could have gone if she didn’t, yeah, have to go through what she went through.
Yeah, about Monica, I have only nice words to say about her. I’m really glad that we are sharing this record.”
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