Novak Djokovic has been at the pinnacle of men’s tennis for so long that he holds a huge number of records. The biggest, most important, and most obvious is that he has won more Grand Slam titles than any other man in the history of the sport. In fact, his tally of 24 is more than that of any player, male or female, in the Open Era of the sport.
Djokovic is currently tied on 24 with Margaret Court, but the Australian won the majority of hers before the Open Era. Time will tell if he can surpass her tally, while the incredible Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz have broken some of the Serb’s records and will be targeting more. However, Djokovic recently broke a longstanding record of Roger Federer’s, and it is sure to stand for a very long time.
Serb Matches Wimbledon Wins Record …
Federer has long been considered the king of Wimbledon. Unless Djokovic, who is in the 2026 semis at the time of writing, can win another title at SW19 (or Alcaraz six more!), his mark of eight wins at the only grass-court major will remain the most by any man for a long, long time. There is also something about Federer’s elegance and classical game that is a good fit with Wimbledon.
In addition to that, the Swiss supremo held the record for the most matches won in men’s singles at the championships. On his way to winning eight titles and appearing in a further four finals, Federer won 105 matches at Wimbledon. He lost just 14 times over the 22 tournaments he played in, his 88% winning percentage the best he achieved at any of the four Slams.
On the 3rd of July, however, Federer lost sole ownership of that particular piece of tennis history. Djokovic brought up his 105th Wimbledon win (singles) by beating the 25th seed, France’s Arthur Rinderknech. The seven-time champion, who turns 40 in May 2027, came through 7-5 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4).
The legendary Martina Navratilova, who won nine singles titles at SW19, is currently well clear of the Serb. It seems unlikely he will be able to match or surpass her incredible tally of 120 wins, given talk about his retirement has been growing over the past 18 months. This could be his last appearance at Wimbledon, although his performances in 2026 could well give him the heart to carry on, even if he doesn’t manage to land his 25th Grand Slam this time around.
… and Then He Breaks It
Djokovic’s win over Rinderknech set up a fourth-round clash with the qualifier Roman Safiullin, from Russia. Safiullin was not expected to push the Serb too hard and seemingly had little chance of preventing his opponent from moving on to 106 career singles wins at Wimbledon.
The game played out largely as expected, with Safiullin losing 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 3-6 6-3. Djokovic showed some signs of frustration at times and did not have things entirely his own way. The 132nd-ranked Safiullin surprised just about everyone by taking the third set. But Djokovic, who had issues with his eyes early on, was later warned for an audible obscenity, and could also have been penalised when lashing out at the ball after being broken in the third, got the job done.
Win number 106 saw him break new ground, but there was more to come. The victory over Safiullin meant he was through to the quarters, but here he faced a huge jump in terms of the class of his opponent. It was clear that Canadian third seed Félix Auger-Aliassime would provide the Serb with a massive test, and so it proved.
Over the years, Djokovic has appeared in so many classic encounters at all the majors, and this is another for the list. He eventually prevailed against a man who had 14 years on him, making light of the age gap to come through a brilliant contest 7-6 (12-10) 3-6 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (10-4).
At 39 years old, he struggled at times in the heat and over the five hours and 15 minutes of the match. However, he showed his unrivalled mental resilience and the commitment to conditioning that he puts in by staying in the match and even overcoming a leg injury that required a medical time-out in the very first set.
Afterwards, he said, “I won that match with a racquet and a lot of heart,” before adding, “These are the kind of moments I still play tennis for.” Acknowledging the impact on his body as his fifth decade approaches, he went on to say that he wished “it was the final so I don’t need to worry about how the body will feel tomorrow”.
That win took him to 107 wins at Wimbledon and meant he would extend his record for the most semis at the tournament to an incredible 15. Sinner stands in the way of an 11th final, but nothing is impossible for the game’s greatest-ever player.