LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic screamed out his frustrations at times before overcoming a surprisingly tough challenge from 132nd-ranked qualifier Roman Safiullin on Sunday to break one of Roger Federer’s Wimbledon records.
Djokovic had to save two set points when trailing 5-2 in the first set and was warned for apparently screaming out an obscenity in Serbian on Centre Court when he was broken early in the third. But the seven-time Wimbledon champion
went on to win 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 for his 106th match victory at the All England Club.
That puts him one ahead of Federer atop the all-time list for men, although he still trails Martina Navratilova's 120 match wins.
It also puts him into the quarterfinals for the 17th time — one behind Federer’s record — and three matches away from joining his former rival on eight Wimbledon titles. But the Serb acknowledged that he will have to raise his game in order to get there.
“Survive to thrive, that’s how I feel,” Djokovic said when asked to sum up his first week of the championships. “So hopefully the thriving part is coming.”
The 39-year-old Djokovic has never lost a Grand Slam match against a player ranked as low as Safiullin, or to a qualifier, but looked in danger at times on Centre Court.
Djokovic seemed to struggle with the sunny and windy conditions in the first set before rallying from 5-2 to force a tiebreaker, where he converted his third set point. In the third, he got the warning from the umpire after going 2-0 down and then drew boos from the crowd when he hit the ball away in frustration after losing the set.
In his on-court interview, he apologized for what he called “the outbursts, the meltdowns.”
“I had a few of those today,” he said.
Djokovic, who is renowned for his ability to chase down almost every shot, also acknowledged that he opted to play more at the net than usual after repeatedly being outplayed in long rallies by Safiullin.
“I don’t get to feel inferior from the back of court with too many players, to be honest, throughout my career," Djokovic said. "Today it 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.”
He quickly seized control in the fourth set by jumping out to a 3-0 lead, and then served out the match at love.
Djokovic will next play the winner between third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 22 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
There will be a new women’s champion at Wimbledon for the ninth straight time after Barbora Krejcikova lost to fellow Czech player Karolina Muchova in the fourth round.
Krejcikova, the 2024 winner, was the only former champion left in the women’s draw after Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Serena Williams all went out earlier.
Krejcikova followed suit with a 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 loss on No. 2 Court.
No woman has won multiple Wimbledon titles since Williams won her seventh in 2016.
Muchova will play the winner between top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and 14th-seeded Naomi Osaka, who played later on Centre Court.
No. 4 Jessica Pegula also advanced by beating fellow American Iva Jovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
