LONDON: Late in the opening set of his Wimbledon third-round match, Novak Djokovic, slightly off balance, flung himself to his right to meet a volley, placing it perfectly for a winner. Seconds later, the supple 39-year-old was back on his feet, taking a bow on Centre Court before turning to the crowd and asking for more love. In the stands, his son Stefan leapt up in animated celebration, completing what is increasingly becoming the Djokovic show.More than three hours later, after 225 points and 41 games of gripping tennis, Djokovic was taking another bow. This time, both he and his opponent Arthur Rinderknech were sprawled on the grass after the Serbian flicked a winner past the giant Frenchman to seal victory. Djokovic was the first back on his feet, striding around the net to embrace and applaud Rinderknech, nine years his junior, whose fearless performance had pushed the 24-time major champion further than he would’ve liked.Djokovic, who walked out in his GOAT blazer looking every inch the seven-time Wimbledon champion, shifted gears at just the right moments to earn a 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) victory over the 30-year-old Frenchman and book his place in the fourth round, where he will face the world No. 132 and qualifier Roman Safiullin.“A bit of luck, a bit of skill, in the end,” Djokovic said when asked how he had got the job done. “It was pretty much a flawless tie-break from my side. I did everything I could. I think I served extremely well, only in the tie-break. For most of the match, I struggled with that serve.”“But it was also due to his quality. He’s very tall, he hit some incredible serves. It was a really tiring, really close match. Sometimes you just have to find a way to win, and I’m happy I did that today.”Friday’s victory, which featured 107 winners — 67 of them from Rinderknech — saw Djokovic draw level with Roger Federer‘s record of 105 singles match wins on the men’s draw at Wimbledon. The pair trail only Martina Navratilova, who holds the all-time mark with 120 victories at the grass-court major.At this stage of his career, Djokovic prefers to conserve energy. The seven-time champion said he hopes his body continues to cooperate as the tournament progresses.“I think I’ve done everything I needed to do today, under circumstances that weren’t maybe as good for me as they were in the second round, and it was still enough to win,” he said. “At this age and stage in my career, every day brings something new and unpredictable for me. I’m hoping that I will come out at my best in a few days’ time.”
Fonseca, Jodar bow out
It was not the best of days for the two 19-year-olds left in the men’s draw. Rafael Jodar and Joao Fonseca, seeded 23rd and 24th respectively, were both outplayed by qualifiers Shintaro Mochizuki and Safiullin.Fonseca, sluggish in both movement and shot-making on the day, looked like someone forced to function without their morning coffee as he bowed out 3-6, 3-6, 3-6 to comeback man Safiullin.Safiullin, who was ranked as high as No. 36 and reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2023, had to cut short his 2025 season in September after injuring his knee. He arrived at this year’s championships without a tour-level win in 2026. But after battling through qualifying, the Russian has reeled off three strong victories, over Andrey Rublev, Botic van de Zandschulp and now Fonseca, to book his place in the round-of-16.Jodar, meanwhile, went down 6-1, 6-7 (5), 4-6, 4-6 to Shintaro Mochizuki, the world No. 151.
