Novak Djokovic Breaks Federer’s Wimbledon Match-Win Record in ‘Ugly’ Fourth Round Victory

Djokovic passed Federer’s record by recording his 106th win at Wimbledon, though he didn’t seem too pleased with his fourth round performance after the match.

Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates beating Russia's Roman Safiullin during their men's singles round of 16 tennis match on the seventh day of the 2026 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 5, 2026. Henry Nicholls/AFP via Getty Images

Novak Djokovic earned his 106th career win at Wimbledon after a fourth-round win over qualifier Roman Safiullin on July 5, passing Roger Federer to become the men’s all-time leader in Wimbledon match-wins.

The seventh-seeded Serb saved set points in a tight first set before finishing 7–6(6), 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 in what he called an “ugly” win on Centre Court.

“To be honest, I haven’t felt really great on the court. So, I was just relieved to get out of it and get a win,” he said in the post-match press conference. “Satisfaction and enjoyment was not part of today’s win.”

Djokovic said his first serve helped him close out the match in the fourth set, while mixing things up allowed him to avoid long rallies.

The seven-time Wimbledon champion needs one more title at the All England Club to tie Federer’s Wimbledon championship record.

Djokovic downplayed the Wimbledon match-win record and focused on improving his form for the rest of the tournament.

“[It’s] not on my priority list, to be honest. I haven’t thought about it and didn’t even know about it until … after the last match win,” he said. “It’s really quite insignificant to me at the moment.”

Djokovic, 39, said his older age in recent years has made recovery between matches more time-consuming and not a process he always enjoys.

“The amount of time I spend recovering nowadays is more than I have ever done. It’s just the demands of the body nowadays. More wear and tear,” he said.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion’s last Wimbledon title in 2022 helped him pass Federer’s Grand Slam record, while his 2023 French Open title helped him pass Rafael Nadal to become the men’s all-time Grand Slam leader.

Djokovic already holds numerous records across the sport, including his 10 Australian Open titles, 40 Masters 1000 titles, most weeks at No. 1, and most years ended at No. 1.

However, his new young challengers in Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have made adding to his major tally difficult, even after Federer and Nadal retired.

Djokovic won four consecutive Wimbledons from 2018 to 2022, but lost to Alcaraz in back-to-back finals in 2023 and 2024, and lost to Sinner in last year’s semifinals.

With Alcaraz out due to injury, a potential semifinal rematch looms against the first-seeded Sinner, whom Djokovic most recently beat in a five-set thriller in this year’s Australian Open semifinals.

On Tuesday, Djokovic will play in his 17th Wimbledon quarterfinal against Canada’s third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who he has a one-to-one record against and has not played since 2022.

Reuters contributed to this report.