Seven-time champion Novak Djokovic did not look as sharp as he would have liked, dropped a set, but still pulled through to the fourth round at Wimbledon on Friday, equalling Roger Federer’s record of most men’s singles matches won at the grass-court major.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Djokovic, the most successful player in the history of Grand Slam tennis, faced a fightback from Arthur Rinderknech at Centre Court before carving out a 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) third-round victory. With this, the Serbian former World No.1 has 105 singles wins at Wimbledon as the 39-year-old tied with Federer for the all-time record among men, with former WTA No. 1 Martina Navratilova (120) the only player boasting more.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In Friday's third-round clash, Djokovic locked in on the big moments and found a way to halt the Frenchman’s big serving and scraped through to the next round.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"To be able to make history in this sport is a huge honour and a huge privilege," Djokovic said in his on-court interview. "Particularly here, it's always been a dream childhood tournament of mine. I'm not thinking about whether it's going to be 105 or 106, but I'm just thinking about trying to win that match on a given day.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Today I was quite stressed out. There was more tension than usual. I knew it was going to be a very challenging match for me. I'm just happy to overcome this. I propose a matchup between Roger and me for 106!"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Djokovic had produced a statement performance on Wednesday night, raising his level against Stefanos Tsitsipas to defeat the Greek No. 1 across three slick sets, sending a reminder to the rest of the field. However, on Friday, he struggled a bit in his three-hour, one-minute battle with the fierce-hitting Rinderknech, which ended with both men lying on the grass after an eventful match point, told a different story.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After firing 35 winners across the opening two sets — both of which he lost — Rinderknech’s aggressive game style began to pay dividends. The 6’5” Frenchman capitalised on a tentative third set from Djokovic to pull one back before commanding the crowd in the latter stages of the fourth, when both players showed their quality with a series of absorbing rallies.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Rinderknech held serve for 4-4 by wriggling out of danger in a thrilling exchange that had Djokovic backpedalling toward the baseline before eventually missing a backhand long. This particular point had the Centre Court crowd in raptures as they dropped their jaws and lifted themselves to their feet to applaud the 25th seed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After firing 35 winners across the opening two sets — both of which he lost — Rinderknech’s aggressive game style began to pay dividends. The 6’5” Frenchman capitalised on a tentative third set from Djokovic to pull one back before commanding the crowd in the latter stages of the fourth, when both players showed their quality with a series of absorbing rallies.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Djokovic thus set up a fourth-round meeting with 28-year-old qualifier Roman Safiullin, who earlier ousted Joao Fonseca 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, with a near-flawless performance. Safiullin, who struggled with injury at the back end of 2025, did not record a tour-level win this year before Wimbledon.<\/p>\r\n\r\n