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Serbian tennis icon Novak Djokovic continued his remarkable habit of rewriting the tennis record books, adding another milestone to his illustrious career at Wimbledon on Sunday.
Although the 39-year-old was not at his clinical best, the seven-time Wimbledon champion dug deep to overcome spirited qualifier Roman Safiullin 7-6(6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 on Centre Court, securing his place in a ninth successive Wimbledon quarter-final and the 17th quarter-final appearance of his career at the All England Club. The victory also marked Djokovic's 106th singles win at Wimbledon, taking him past Roger Federer for the most men's singles victories in the tournament's history. Only Martina Navratilova, with 120 singles wins, has recorded more victories at Wimbledon than the Serbian great. "Another hard-fought win. Roman started very well. Roman started very well, very aggressively. I didn't feel so comfortable from the back of the court. I knew it was going to be a challenge staying in the rallies with him. He's a very solid player... He should be proud of the performance today," Djokovic, the former No. 1 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, said as per the ATP Tour website. "I don't get to feel inferior from the back of the court with too many players. Today was one of those days where I didn't want to stay in the rally for too long, so I mixed things up. In some moments, it worked. In some moments, it didn't. In the end, the accuracy and precision with the first serve was what got me out of trouble," Djokovic added. The Serbian now stands one victory away from a potential blockbuster meeting with World No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner, who beat him in last year's semi-finals. First, though, Djokovic will face third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or 22nd seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the last eight. (ANI)
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