London (TIP)- After all these years, Novak Djokovic knew this particular Wimbledon tradition well. The post-match winner’s on-court speech. On Thursday, in front of packed stands on the fabled Centre Court of the All England Club, Djokovic stepped up to the microphone for the 99th time in his 20th year of competing at the Grand Slam in London. “It means that I’ve been playing quite a long time,” Djokovic said. “Nineteen times (reaching the third round at Wimbledon), that’s probably almost as much as (Jannik) Sinner and (Carlos) Alcaraz have years in their life.”

The mood in the post-match interview was jovial. But in that hour and 47 minutes just before, the seven-time Wimbledon champion was in no mood for fun. Days after he needed some “magic pills” to help him overcome a stomach bug in the first-round match against Alexandre Muller, Djokovic played a solid game to pick up a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 win over British player Dan Evans. “I had prepared well for the match,” he said. “Technically, tactically, I knew what I needed to do. I executed it perfectly. Sometimes you have these kinds of days.”

Djokovic hammered home 46 winners to Evans’ 19, and committed 14 unforced errors to his opponent’s 18. The serve, too, remained unbroken throughout the match. This was a statement win against an opponent who had beaten Djokovic the only time the duo had met previously, at the Monte Carlos Masters in 2021.

For a man driven by statistics, there are quite a few on offer at Wimbledon this year for Djokovic. The win on Thursday, July 3,  takes him one step closer to a century of wins at Wimbledon.