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Djokovic, Sabalenka hit new heights at Rod Laver Arena

  • Matt Trollope

There are few Australian Open records Novak Djokovic does not own, yet the enduring star set more milestones thanks to his performances during AO 2026.

Djokovic won his 90th match at Rod Laver Arena with his extraordinary semifinal victory over Jannik Sinner, then took to the same court for his 100th outing in the final against Carlos Alcaraz.

The loss to Alcaraz was his first in an AO night match since 2018, and the 10-time champion's first ever defeat in an AO final.

Djokovic now owns a win-loss record of 90-10 at the storied arena, making him just one of three players to hold a career winning rate of 90 per cent or better at RLA.

Following his win over Sinner, Djokovic’s success rate approached 91 per cent, a mark bettered only by Monica Seles.

That 90th win saw Djokovic close in on Roger Federer’s all-time record of 93 match victories at RLA. Federer and Djokovic are the only players who have played 100 or more matches at RLA.

 

BEST WIN % AT RLA%WinsLossesMatches
Monica Seles91.8934337
Andre Agassi90.2046551
Novak Djokovic90.009010100
Steffi Graf89.7435439
Serena Williams87.50771188
Martina Hingis87.5042648
Aryna Sabalenka87.1027431
Roger Federer86.929314107
Pete Sampras86.0537643
Jannik Sinner84.2116319

*minimum 3 matches

Women’s finalist Aryna Sabalenka continued to make her mark on the same court throughout AO 2026.

She hit a 90 per cent win rate (27-3 win-loss) with her dominant semifinal victory over Elina Svitolina, which meant she had won 26 of her past 27 matches at RLA.

That 27th win – which propelled her into a fourth consecutive AO final – saw her surpass compatriot Victoria Azarenka into outright third place for the most RLA victories among active players.

Despite her eventual loss to Elena Rybakina, Sabalenka now sits in 15th place (men and women combined) for the most match wins in RLA history.

MOST RLA WINSActive playerWins
1Novak Djokovic90
2Venus Williams34
3Aryna Sabalenka27
4Victoria Azarenka26
5Alexander Zverev17
6Jannik Sinner16
7Naomi Osaka16
8Stefanos Tsitsipas16
9Daniil Medvedev15
10Carlos Alcaraz13

 

Rybakina extended her RLA winning streak to four matches with her second Grand Slam title, while men’s champion Alcaraz now owns a seven-match unbeaten streak there.

Sinner extended his RLA win streak to 15 matches by beating Ben Shelton in the quarterfinals, before running into an inspired Djokovic.

Interestingly, it was Sinner who snapped Djokovic’s 33-match RLA winning streak – the best streak of all time – in the AO 2024 semifinals, en route to his first major singles title.

BEST RLA STREAKWinsStartedEnded
Novak Djokovic332019 1R2024 SF (l. Sinner)
Monica Seles261991 1R1999 SF (l. Hingis)
Martina Hingis251997 1R2000 F (l. Davenport)
Andre Agassi252000 1R2004 SF (l. Safin)
Novak Djokovic222011 1R2014 QF (l Wawrinka)
Steffi Graf201988 1R1991 QF (l. Novotna)
Aryna Sabalenka202022 1R2025 F (l. Keys)
Roger Federer192006 1R2008 SF (l. Djokovic)
Victoria Azarenka172012 1R2014 QF (l. Azarenka)
Roger Federer172017 1R2019 4R (l. Tsitsipas)

Sinner’s fellow Italian Jasmine Paolini recorded her own piece of RLA history during AO 2026.

During the 38 years the stadium has hosted AO matches, Paolini became the first player to win multiple matches there without experiencing a loss.

After beating Renata Zarazua in the second round in 2025, she beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich in round one this year – the first RLA match of AO 2026 – to improve her record on the court to 2-0.