Djokovic Joins 300 Masters 1000 Match Wins Club

Novak Djokovic has joined Roger Federer (332) and Rafael Nadal (319) in the 300 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 match wins club after beating Juan Martin del Potro on Tuesday night for a place in the BNP Paribas Open fourth round. Read Match Report

The 29-year-old Serbian, who was last beaten in Indian Wells by del Potro in the 2013 semi-finals, is currently riding a tournament-record 19 match-winning streak and remains on course to capture his sixth trophy in the desert, which would mark his 31st ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown.

ALL-TIME ATP WORLD TOUR MASTERS 1000 MATCH WINS LEADERS

DJOKOVIC AT ATP WORLD TOUR MASTERS 1000 TOURNAMENTS

* Djokovic played at Hamburg, when it was a Masters 1000 tournament, between 2006-08.

Djokovic's road to 300 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 match wins is a product of his desire and dedication, but also how he values the series of top-level ATP World Tour events that were first introduced on the 1990 calendar.

View Djokovic's 52-Week Record In The FedEx ATP Performance Zone

"I have had an amazing [Masters] 1000 series career, winning 30," said Djokovic in Indian Wells, earlier in the week. "And that's one of the reasons why I'm here... because I value these tournaments as much as I value a Grand Slam. I want to try to do as best I can. We have to give credit to Masters 1000 events. In tennis, we know that Grand Slams are the biggest events we have, and we mostly talk about them, but we should also talk about the importance and value that we have in these tournaments as well.

"I do care a lot about Masters events. I think they always bring the best players in the world together. Some events, like in Europe, you have in one week, every single day, top quality matches, the best players in the world competing at a high level. That's something you don't have even in a Grand Slam. That's why it makes it even more difficult to go back-to-back days and win against Top 5, Top 10 players."

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The World No. 2 has proven to be remarkably consistent over the past six years at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, compiling 193 of his 300 match wins between 2011 and 2016, including 25 of his record 30 crowns. He won a season-record six titles in eight ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final appearances in 2015 and holds three of the Top 4 longest-winning streaks in the history of the series – 31 consecutive wins in 2011, 30 in both 2014 and 2015, and 23 in 2014-15.

DJOKOVIC SEASON-BY-SEASON ATP WORLD TOUR MASTERS 1000 RECORD

In beating del Potro for the 13th time on Tuesday at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, following on from their recent Abierto Mexicano Telcel second-round epic, Djokovic also moved to tied No. 10 in the Open Era match wins leaders' list alongside Pete Sampras with 762 career victories. He is now 18 match wins away from Ilie Nastase, the first No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings on 23 August 1973.

OPEN ERA MATCH WINS LEADERS (since May 1968)