Djokovic sets another record at Wimbledon and jokes about sipping margaritas on beach with rivals
London(AP) : Novak Djokovic added another record to his name by reaching Wimbledon's third round for a 19th time with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 win over Dan Evans on Centre Court on Wednesday.
It was Djokovic's 99th match win at Wimbledon overall, and the 19 third-round appearances put him one ahead of Roger Federer for most by any man in the Open Era.
It's hardly the most prestigious record for Djokovic, whose 24 Grand Slam titles — including seven at Wimbledon — are the most by a male player. But he could at least use it to poke fun at his new, and much younger, main rivals.
“Nineteen times, that's a great stat,” said the 38-year-old Djokovic. “That's probably almost as much as Sinner and Alcaraz have years in their lives.”
Well, not quite.
Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the last two Wimbledon finals, is 22, while No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner — who was playing later on Centre Court — is 23.
The growing rivalry between Sinner and Alcaraz — especially in the wake of their five-set final at the French Open last month — has helped tennis move on from the era of the Big Three, where Djokovic is the last man standing after Federer and Rafael Nadal retired.
But Djokovic is too focused on proving he can still win another Slam to sit back and reflect on everything he has accomplished at Wimbledon.
“I don't pause to reflect, to be honest. I don't have time,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview. “I would like to. But I think that's going to come probably when I set the racket aside and then sip margarita on the beach with Federer and Nadal and just reflect on our rivalry and everything.”
Against Evans, Djokovic failed to convert his first nine break points in the first set. But once he got the breakthrough for a 5-3 lead — raising both arms in the air as if to say “finally” — he went five-for-six on break points the rest of the way.
“You have these kinds of days where everything goes your way,” said Djokovic, who didn't face a break point of his own until the final game. “Everything flows.”
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
