Novak Djokovic battles through pain for 300th Slam win

Novak Djokovic celebrates a point against Milos Raonic. Pic/AP, PTI

Novak Djokovic clocked his 300th Grand Slam win on Sunday, playing through pain from an abdominal injury that nearly forced him to pull out of the Australian Open to oust Milos Raonic and make the quarter-finals.

The World No. 1 took to the court despite suggesting his title defence might be over on Friday after sustaining the injury in a thrilling five-setter against Taylor Fritz. He battled on against giant Canadian Raonic on a fan-less Rod Laver Arena, grinding through 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash with sixth seed Alexander Zverev.

But Djokovic said if it wasn't a Grand Slam, he would have pulled out. "No preparations, basically, for this match. I used every single hour I had since the last match against Taylor to recover and put myself in a position where I have a possibility to compete," he said.

"If it was any other tournament than a Grand Slam I would retire and withdraw. I didn't know before I finished my warm up today, three hours before, whether I would play or not," Djokovic added.

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