Djokovic Becomes Winningest Man in Wimbledon History

Novak Djokovic (Image credit: Wimbledon)

Novak Djokovic added another milestone to his glittering career on Sunday by becoming the winningest men's player in Wimbledon history. The seven-time champion defeated world No. 132 Roman Safiullin 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to register his 106th match win at the All England Club, moving past Roger Federer's record of 105 victories. Only Martina Navratilova, with 120 Wimbledon match wins, has more victories at the tournament. The win also sent Djokovic into the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the 17th time, just one short of Federer's all-time record.

Djokovic survives a stern test

The victory, however, was far from straightforward. Djokovic found himself trailing 5-2 in the opening set and had to save two set points before fighting back to force a tiebreak, which he eventually won. The Serbian also struggled in the third set, where he was broken early and received a warning from the chair umpire after shouting in frustration. He later drew boos from the Centre Court crowd after hitting a ball away following the loss of the set. Despite the setbacks, Djokovic regained control in the fourth set, racing to a 3-0 lead before comfortably serving out the match.

'Survive to thrive'

After the match, Djokovic admitted he had not played his best tennis during the opening week of the tournament. "Survive to thrive, that's how I feel. So hopefully the thriving part is coming," he said. The 39-year-old also apologised for losing his temper during the contest. "I had a few outbursts, a few meltdowns today," Djokovic said during his on-court interview. He also revealed he had changed his tactics after finding it difficult to match Safiullin from the baseline. "I don't get to feel inferior from the back of the court with too many players throughout my career. Today was one of those days where I didn't want to stay in the rally for too long. So I had to mix things up, and it worked." Djokovic will next face the winner of the match between third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and 22nd seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Krejcikova knocked out, new women's champion guaranteed

The women's singles draw will crown a new Wimbledon champion for the ninth consecutive edition after defending champion Barbora Krejcikova crashed out in the fourth round. The Czech lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 to fellow Czech Karolina Muchova. Krejcikova was the last former Wimbledon champion left in the women's draw after earlier exits for Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Serena Williams. Muchova will now face the winner of the match between world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, fourth seed Jessica Pegula also booked her place in the last eight with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over fellow American Iva Jovic.