Following the breakthrough season in 2005 when he scored the first Grand Slam wins, Novak Djokovic reached the first quarter-final on the biggest stage at Roland Garros in the next season. Novak was forced to retire after the second set against Rafael Nadal but he was there to stay, adding the first last eight appearance to his name and never looking back, playing in the quarter-final at Majors at least once over the previous 13 years! The talented Serb became a Grand Slam contender in 2007 when he was the semi-finalist at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and the runner-up at the US Open, setting his eyes on the most significant tennis trophy that arrived at the Australian Open in January 2008.
Equipped with an outstanding ability to deliver his best tennis when it matters the most and on every surface, Novak was the player to beat at Majors for some ten years, reaching the quarter-final 35 out of 37 times between Roland Garros 2007 and the same tournament in 2016, including 28 in a row, the second longest streak behind Roger Federer! For six consecutive years (2010-2015), Novak Djokovic was in the last eight at every Grand Slam and he had ten straight years with at least three quarter-finals reached, a feat that will be hard to imitate anytime soon.
After his fourth-round win over Daniil Medvedev at Melbourne Park, Novak has become only the fourth player with ten quarter-finals at the Australian Open and also the second player in the history of the game with double-digit numbers at all four Majors after Roger Federer.
The Swiss had achieved this unique effort at the US Open in 2014 and Novak has now joined him to share the record probably for many years to come, as Rafael Nadal played in the quarter-final of Wimbledon just six times.
On the overall list, Novak is ten Grand Slam quarter-finals short of Roger Federer and he has plenty of time to catch the Swiss in the years to come if he maintains the current level. <table
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