MELBOURNE, Australia — Eight-time Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic beat Milos Raonic in four sets to advance to the quarterfinals and register his 300th win in a Grand Slam match.
Top-ranked Djokovic is just the second player to reach the 300-win milestone after Roger Federer.
Djokovic hurt a stomach muscle when he fell during his third-round victory over Taylor Fritz, and he skipped practice Saturday.
There were concerns he wouldn’t recover in time for his match against Raonic but the defending champion went onto Rod Laver Arena without showing any noticeable signs of trouble. He was wearing tape above his right hip.
The 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win extended Djokovic’s unbeaten streak to 12 straight against Raonic, the 2016 Wimbledon finalist.
Djokovic said he’s going to prepare as best as he can for his next match against Alexander Zverev, but only because it’s one of the big four tournaments in tennis.
He said: “If it’s any other tournament than a Grand Slam, then I’d withdraw from that event, that’s for sure. But because it’s a Grand Slam I want to do my best to recover.”
