NOVAK Djokovic claimed his latest piece of history today as he battled past Arthur Rinderknech to reach the Wimbledon fourth round and equal Roger Federer’s men’s record of most singles match wins at SW19.
After the seven-time champion produced a statement performance against former top-10 player Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, Djokovic had to overcome a far sterner test on his return to Centre Court.
But the 39-year-old Serb withstood an inspired resurgence from French 25th seed Rinderknech to prevail 7-5 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4).
Nine-time women’s champion Martina Navratilova is now the only player to have won more singles matches (120) than Djokovic (105) at Wimbledon.
Victory also meant Djokovic matched eight-time men’s singles champion Federer’s record of Wimbledon fourth-round appearances by reaching that stage for the 18th time.
After being told he had equalled Federer’s record of 105 wins, Djokovic joked: “I propose a match between me and Roger for 106! Whoever wins it, gets it. Let’s just stop this here and let’s call him down.”
Djokovic, the men’s record 24-time major winner, will face Roman Safiullin for a place in the quarter-finals after the Russian qualifier stunned Joao Fonseca 6-3 6-3 6-3.
Defending champion Jannik Sinner was tested but came through 6-4 6-3 6-4 against American Jenson Brooksby to reach the fourth round.
BBC Sport
