Novak Djokovic has spent much of his remarkable career chasing down records once held by longtime rival Roger Federer, and Friday at Wimbledon was no different. The Serbian tennis great earned his 105th career match win at the All England Club, tying Federer’s mark and punching his ticket to the fourth round.
The 39-year-old, who has his sights set on Federer’s record of eight men’s singles titles at Wimbledon, had to work hard for the victory. Djokovic defeated Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech by a score of 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) on a sun-soaked Centre Court, but it was far from easy.
Djokovic came into the match fresh off a dominant second-round performance against Stefanos Tsitsipas, and he looked equally sharp through the first two sets against the 30-year-old Rinderknech. His precise shot-making and signature flexibility wowed the crowd, who responded with enthusiastic applause.
Rinderknech, however, was not content to simply go through the motions. The Frenchman, seeded 25th in the tournament, played an electrifying third set, running away with it and coming dangerously close to handing Djokovic his first 6-0 shutout set at Wimbledon.
With increased power and accuracy on his serve, Rinderknech turned into a genuine threat. But Djokovic regrouped, steadied his game, and delivered a near-perfect fourth-set tiebreak to seal the match, winning the tiebreak 7-4.
With one more win — this time against Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin — Djokovic would move into second place on the all-time Wimbledon match wins list, trailing only Martina Navratilova’s record of 120.
