The king of the most revered grass court in the world is no longer Roger Federer. The crown now belongs to one Novak Djokovic, who needed every bit of grit and moxie to stake his claim as the all-time men’s singles match winner at Wimbledon.
To get there, Serbian superstar and 7th seed had to dig deep to persevere against world No. 132 Roman Safiullin, who endeared himself to tennis fans by stretching the Centre Court match to extra sets on Sunday. It was no easy task, to say the least. Djokovic looked visibly frustrated throughout the match. At one point, Djokovic let out an audible obscenity, which triggered a warning from the umpire. He also uncharacteristically double-faulted, which might have been the result of vision problems on the court.
It was clear from the start that Djokovic was in for an uphill battle, as the 28-year-old Russian broke serve multiple times in the first set. Safiullin would win the third set, but Djokovic pulled through in the three-hour-plus match 7-6(8-6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
“Another hard-fought win,” Djokovic told reporters post-match. “Roman started very well. I didn’t feel too comfortable from the back of the court. I knew it was going to be a challenge staying in the rally with him, particularly from that end where you play against the wind pretty much the whole match.
“I don’t get to feel inferior from the back of the court with too many players, to be honest. Today 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: some moments it worked, some it didn’t. But I found the accuracy and the precision with the serve that got me out of trouble on the fourth.”
On to the quarterfinals, Djokovic can only hope that the hardest challenge is behind him.
“Survive to thrive,” Djokovic quipped. “That’s how I feel. So, hopefully, the thriving part is coming.”
Djokovic eyeing history … again
Djokovic, 39, passes Federer with the most men’s singles wins at Wimbledon with 106. The all-time Wimbledon record belongs to nine-time champion Martina Navratilova, with 120.
Djokovic will now eye another major milestone: tying Federer for most Wimbledon titles with eight. Djokovic has seven Wimbledon titles, tied with the great Pete Sampras for second-most. If he accomplishes the feat, the Serbian will claim his 25th Grand Slam title, the most in tennis history.
His 24 major titles (the most in men’s singles) are tied with Margaret Court on the women’s all-time singles side. Serena Williams’ 23 Grand Slam titles are an open-era record.
