Six-time Miami Open champion and No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic moved into the fourth spherical of the match with a record-setting win Sunday.
Djokovic’s 6-1, 7-6 (1) conquer fortunate loser Camilo Ugo Carabelli was his 411th ATP Masters 1000-level match win, breaking a tie with Rafael Nadal for many on the all-time record.
After the match, Djokovic — a 24-time Grand Slam champion who has spent greater than 400 weeks at No. 1 on the earth and at present sits fifth — mentioned chasing the highest rating just isn’t his important goal anymore, and that he would fortunately take main match victories as a substitute.
“If it comes as a consequence of nice outcomes and titles that I win in a season, then that is wonderful. However that is not my goal,” Djokovic instructed reporters. “My goal is to have the ability to play my finest tennis on the Grand Slams and the tournaments the place I take part. My schedule is revised, so clearly I am not chasing rating factors.
“It is totally different these days, perhaps, than it was just a few years again [or] for many of my profession, to be sincere. I am comfortable to win a Grand Slam and a giant match slightly than attending to No. 1. Proper now, that is extra vital for me.”
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Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) are the one males with extra singles titles than Djokovic. However he acknowledged climbing to the highest of the record might be tough.
“It might undoubtedly be wonderful to get to that file,” Djokovic mentioned. “Connors is somebody that I really admire and respect. He is at all times very supportive of me in public, I am grateful for that. It might be wonderful.
“However once more, it is in all probability harder to attain that these days for me than perhaps it was some years in the past. I will go step-by-step. I will see. I do not understand how lengthy I’ll compete for. However I am nonetheless having fun with myself once I play properly.”
Djokovic, who can also be searching for a file seventh Miami Open title, takes on Lorenzo Musetti within the spherical of 16. The Italian fifteenth seed beat Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
In different males’s motion Sunday, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, who misplaced in final yr’s closing, was a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5 winner over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.
Dimitrov, the No. 14 seed, subsequent faces American Brandon Nakashima, who beat David Goffin 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 after the Belgian’s upset of No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz within the earlier spherical.
American Sebastian Korda upset Greek ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (4), 6-3 to arrange a fourth-round conflict with Gael Monfils, who beat Jaume Munar 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (1).
Additionally advancing was No. 5 seed Casper Ruud, a 6-4, 7-6 (4) winner over Alejandro Tabilo. A former Miami Open finalist, Ruud will tackle Francisco Cerundolo, who beat American twelfth seed Tommy Paul 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Reuters contributed to this report.
