Olga Danilovic has done it! The Serbian WTA pro stunned World No.6 Jessica Pegula in the third round of the 2025 Australian Open on Friday. The 23-year-old young tennis sensation managed to win the contest against the American with a scoreline of 7-6(3), 6-1. The moment she beat Pegula, the crowd erupted in joy at the Rod Laver Arena. But there was someone else as well who was cheering for her from the locker room! Well, it was none other than her compatriot and 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic.

The 10-time AO king, who has himself entered the fourth beating Tomas Machac, couldn’t be happier to see another player from Serbia making it into the next stage of the season’s first Major down under. Djoker was seen watching her match curiously from inside the locker. Danilovic has been a longtime mentee of the Serbian tennis GOAT.

With the win over Pegula, Danilovic also succeeded in accomplishing her second Top 10 victory in last one year. Which means the current World No.55 may soon break into the Top 50. Her domination against Pegula, on Friday, becomes evident from the fact that she took just 90 minutes to snatch the match from the 2024 US Open finalist. With that, she’s equaled her best run at a Slam. Back in June 2024, she made it to the fourth round of the French Open.

“I’m super happy with the way I played, honestly,” said an extremely happy Danilovic after her victory, as reported by Tennis.com on January 17. While admiring her opponent and extending her gratefulness to the crowd, she added, “She’s (Jessica) on top of the world, such a great player. I knew I had to bring my AAA+++ game to beat her. But you know, in the back of my mind, I really believed in myself. I came on this court to enjoy first; this is my first time on such a big court, on Rod Laver Arena.”

“I don’t know what to say. I’m just so happy at the moment!” she concluded while trying to control the emotions.

Talking about her connection with Djokovic, it goes deep. He’s been always a motivating figure for her and she made it evident in an honest admission last year.

When Olga Danilovic opened up on her admiration for Novak Djokovic

When there’s a need for inspiration, you look up to someone. For Olga Danilovic, it’s none other than her famed compatriot, Djokovic, having 99 ATP titles to his credit. Not to mention there are 24 major trophies, too, in his collection. Many youngsters have looked up to him in recent years and Danilovic is one of them.

Last year’s French Open proved great for her as she entered its fourth round, outclassing players like Donna Vekic, and Danielle Collins. During a press conference, she spoke about Djoker’s role in her country and whether she had any conversation with him.

“I talked about Novak a billion times, I mean don’t get me wrong, I will talk again for me, it’s no problem I talked yesterday in the press.” said the WTA pro. Continuing her praise for him, she said that “he is the best player in the world by far and it’s just something that having that kind of person in the same sport as me.”

Mentioning the role of Novak Djokovic in her improvement as a player, she said, “He’s really open for us to talk you know even like some things that I don’t know you know I come to him with some day to day struggles that I have on the court and he’s really happy to share his thoughts with me”

Even on a previous occasion, in 2021, Olga Danilovic had admired him. “He’s No. 1 for me in every part of being a tennis player,” she said, as reported by Tennis.com in July 2021. “When you talk to him you think, ‘OK, now I’m going to beat everyone after talking to him.’ His energy and dedication and his passion to play and work is something that pushes you to be better.”

Now that she’s in the fourth round, Danilovic’s next goal will be the quarterfinals. On Sunday, she will face Spain’s Paula Badosa. The latter also sealed her entry in the next stage after defeating Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk on Friday. Who do you think will emerge victorious between Danilovic and Badosa? Let us know in the comments below.