Roland Garros
Going into their French Open quarterfinal, Jurgen Melzer was 0-22 in his career at majors after falling behind two sets to love. The Serbian had been 49-0 at majors after winning the first two sets.
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Going into that match, Melzer was 0-22 in his career at majors after falling behind two sets to love. Even more daunting?Djokovic had been 49-0 at majors after winning the first two sets.
But Melzer would move on to the semifinals to take on Rafael Nadal. Meanwhile, Djokovic took the loss hard.
“I wanted to quit tennis because all I saw was black,” he toldtold Sky Sports Italia earlier this year. “But it was a transformation. After that defeat I freed myself. I had won in Australia in 2008, I was No. 3, but I wasn’t happy. I knew I could do more, but I lost the most important matches against Federer and Nadal. From that moment I took the pressure off myself, and I started playing more aggressively.
“That was the turning point.”
Since that pivotal moment, Djokovic has gone 160-0 at majors after winning the first two sets to bring his career record to 209-1.
And it gets even better.
Of the 210 total times Djokovic has gone up two sets to love at a major, the match has ended in the third set 185 times (88%), in the fourth set 21 times (10%) and in the fifth set just four times (2%). The only other times Djokovic has been pushed to a fifth set after winning the first two came against Fernando Gonzalez at the French Open in 2006, against Marcos Baghdatis at Wimbledon in 2007, and against Andy Murray at the French Open in 2015.
Djokovic would get his revenge on Melzer. In the pair’s only meeting since the 2010 French Open, the Serb crushed the Austrian in just 54 minutes the 2012 Beijing quarterfinals, 6-1, 6-2.
