Birthday Gift! Djokovic Claims 1100th Victory on Turning 37

As he prepares to defend his French Open crown, Novak Djokovic celebrated his 37th birthday on Wednesday by winning his 1100th match and advancing to the quarterfinals in Geneva.

In the second round at the Parc des Eaux-Vives, the world number one defeated Yannick Hanfmann of Germany 6-3, 6-3.
To try to turn around a worrying decline in form before the second Grand Slam of the year, the French Open, next week, Djokovic accepted a wild card to play in Geneva.

Now he has a 13 win, 5 loss record for the year, and he hasn't made it to a tournament final in 2024.

Following Djokovic's victory over Hanfmann, the audience sung him "Happy Birthday" while a cake adorned with candles was shown on the court.

Serb remarked:

"The birthdate held the key. If I didn't win the match, my birthday certainly wouldn't be the same,".

"It's great to be participating in this tournament for the first time and to have my family here to provide support." He mentioned his current Geneva-based relations, saying, "I spent the most of my childhood growing up with my aunt, uncle, and two cousins".

It's great because we haven't had much opportunity to see one other recently. Both on and off the court, I'm spending some really valuable time.

"I appreciate you singing "Happy Birthday" very much. I'm thrilled to have won on this particular day since that truly moved me".

Rain caused the play to be stopped, but Djokovic came back from a 3-0 deficit to win the second set.

In the quarterfinals on Thursday, Djokovic will play either Denis Shapovalov or Tallon Griekspor.

Shapovalov won the first set on a tie-break, but the match was abandoned due to rain at 3-3 in the second set.

Meanwhile, Austrian qualifier Sebastian Ofner was defeated 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 by second seed Casper Ruud, who won the Geneva championship in 2021 and 2022. This victory guaranteed Ruud's place in the quarterfinals.

Ruud has won 32 games at the tour level this season. In 2024, no player has amassed more wins.

Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic will play Alex Michelsen in the round of eight after the American defeated third-seeded American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.