Novak Djokovic had just secured his 105th Wimbledon singles victory, drawing level with Roger Federer’s all-time men’s record, when Annabel Croft delivered what she called “a little bit of bad news”.
The 39-year-old Serb overcame a fierce challenge from the 26th seed Arthur Rinderknech, winning 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 to reach the fourth round after being granted his wish to play during the day on Centre Court. But Croft, interviewing him on court, pointed out that Martina Navratilova holds the overall record with 120 wins.
“Djokovic equals Federer's 105 Wimbledon wins, then Annabel Croft tells him Navratilova has 120.”
“So do you have 15 more wins in you here at Wimbledon?” she asked.
Djokovic, a seven-time champion, replied: “I’m sure there’s going to be someone else after 120. Obviously to be able to make history in this sport is a huge honour and particularly here. This has always been a dream childhood tournament of mine. I am not thinking about whether it is going to be 104, 105 or 106, I am just trying to win that match on a given day. Today I was quite stressed out. I had more tension than usual. I knew it was going to be a challenging match for me which it turned out to be. I am just happy to overcome this.”
Reflecting on the match, he said: “It took a bit of luck and a bit of skill in the end. It was a pretty much flawless tie-break from my side of things. I felt I did everything I could in the controllable situations. I served extremely well for most of the match, possibly except for the tie-break when I struggled with it but that was also to do with his quality. He is very tall, he hits incredible serves and he deserves a round of applause for his performance, no doubt. I’ve never faced him before so obviously I was coming into the match knowing that I was facing someone who is already a top player and doesn’t have much to lose. Last year, he beat Alexander Zverev on Centre Court, so he clearly loves the big stage and he doesn’t get overwhelmed by the occasion. He showed that today.”
Djokovic then received an unexpected boost: his potential fourth-round opponent, Joao Fonseca – who defeated him at last month’s French Open – was knocked out by qualifier Roman Safiullin.
Meanwhile, world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka beat Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 6-4 to set up a fourth-round clash with Naomi Osaka, who continued her impressive campaign by beating former world No 8 Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3. Coco Gauff outlasted qualifier Claire Liu 6-3, 6-7, 6-2 and will face Belinda Bencic in the last 16.
But the day belonged to Djokovic, who now stands on 105 wins at the All England Club – and, as Croft reminded him, 15 short of Navratilova’s ultimate mark. “I’m not really thinking about how many more I can get,” he said. “I’m just really trying to win the match on a given day.”