LONDON — The drop-shot volley that broke the record was barely a shot. Novak Djokovic floated it just over the tape at the net, and Roman Safiullin, lunging from the baseline, had no answer. Win number 106 at Wimbledon, one more than Roger Federer had ever compiled at the All England Club, arrived on a ball that barely moved.
It came at the end of 3 hours and 25 minutes on Centre Court on Sunday, a 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 result that sent Djokovic to his ninth consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final. He is 39 years old, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, and a 24-time Grand Slam winner. He is also, as of Sunday afternoon, the man who has won more singles matches at this tournament than anyone in the Open Era.
Roger Federer had accumulated 105 wins at Wimbledon across exactly 119 appearances. Djokovic, having also made 119 appearances, now has 106. They needed the same number of tournaments to arrive at a different record, and the difference came from a player who spent most of Sunday afternoon reminding the crowd that the record would not arrive cleanly.
Safiullin arrived at the fourth round as a world number 132 qualifier who had turned this Wimbledon into a statement about the depth of the men’s draw. He beat Andrey Rublev in five sets, then Botic van de Zandschulp in five more, before dismantling Joao Fonseca in the third round. He did not arrive on Centre Court as a comfortable opponent. “Another hard-fought win,” Djokovic said afterward. “Roman started very well. He was very aggressive so I didn’t maybe feel as comfortable.”
The first set illustrated the problem. Djokovic led 5-2, a margin that suggested resolution was close. Safiullin dragged it to a tiebreak that went to 8-6. The second set was cleaner, 6-3 without genuine drama. The third set was something else. Djokovic dropped his serve at 2-3, and the frustration that followed became visible: a ball launched against the far wall drew jeers from the crowd on Centre Court. He took the fourth set 6-3 anyway, steadied by a first serve that held throughout the closing stages. “I managed to find the accuracy and precision on my first serve,” he said, “which really got me out of trouble in the fourth set.”
The tournament’s second week had arrived after a fortnight of upheaval in both draws. In the women’s draw, Maya Joint’s first-round defeat of Serena Williams had signaled that established hierarchies were unstable. On Saturday, Alexandra Eala stunned defending champion Iga Swiatek to make Philippine tennis history on Centre Court. Djokovic’s record provided the men’s draw its equivalent landmark, with rather less certainty about what it means for what comes next.
He has reached the quarter-final in 66 of his 83 Grand Slam appearances, a 79.5 percent rate that is the highest in Open Era history, The National confirmed. His 106th win puts him one clear of Federer in men’s singles match wins at the All England Club. Only Martina Navratilova, with 120 overall, has more across all genders in Wimbledon singles. The 11 hours and 17 minutes he spent on court this fortnight before Sunday began is a figure that belongs in a separate column from the record: it is the constraint rather than the achievement.
There were outbursts on the way to this one, and he acknowledged them. “The outbursts,” he said. “You know, the meltdowns. I had a few of those today as well. I apologise.” The apology came from the same player who closed the match with a deft drop-shot volley, the most precise shot available at the most significant moment. Both things happened in the same afternoon, which is how it usually goes with him.
The record Djokovic has not yet broken is the one that matters most to him. Federer won eight Wimbledon titles. Djokovic, with seven, needs one more to tie it, and that would be Grand Slam number 25, a number no player in the history of men’s or women’s tennis has reached, the ATP Tour noted. His next match is against the winner of Felix Auger-Aliassime against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and the question of how 11-plus hours of accumulated court time affects the quarter-final is not one the record books will answer.
The drop-shot landed. The record changed. What it takes to win this tournament again is still open, and his body will answer before the fortnight ends.
