![\"Novak](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2E754DDKXJHUDFIFJCMPOZ4QMM.jpg\")
Novak Djokovic (right) and Arthur Rinderknech both hit the grass during their third-round match Friday. GLYN KIRK\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\nBy next weekend, Djokovic would love to equal Federer\u2019s men\u2019s record of eight singles titles, but reaching the fourth round will have to suffice for now.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, I was quite stressed out, more tension than usual,\u201d Djokovic said in his on-court interview. \u201cI knew it was going to be a very challenging match for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 24-time Grand Slam champion overcame a blip \u2014 dropping the third set in 18 minutes \u2014 and held his nerve in the fourth-set tiebreaker by hitting back-to-back aces before Rinderknech\u2019s forehand went wide to set up match point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw him slip and kind of fall down. And I was just like, \u2018Please stay down,\u2019 for that last shot,\u201d said Djokovic, who had repeatedly punched his left thigh after losing the third set.<\/p>\n
Novak Djokovic (right) and Arthur Rinderknech both hit the grass during their third-round match Friday. GLYN KIRK\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
Joining Federer on 105 singles match wins is \u201ca huge honor and privilege,\u201d Djokovic added. \u201cI propose a matchup for me and Roger for 106.\u201d<\/p>\n
Djokovic will face Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in the fourth round. Safiullin, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2023, beat Brazilian rising star Jo\u00e3o Fonseca 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.<\/p>\n
Defending champion Jannik Sinner beat Jenson Brooksby, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, on No. 1 Court to advance to the fourth round.<\/p>\n
The Italian, hoping to put his French Open meltdown in the rearview mirror, finished Brooksby in two-plus hours after his opening-round five-setter was followed by a second-round win over Nuno Borges in straight sets, albeit with two tiebreakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to find my way in. Felt better today, which was my main goal,\u201d the four-time Grand Slam champion said. \u201cTrying to move better. Return today was a little bit better. All things considered, was a small step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Coco](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/C5YAYYOGN4LVJVXWEUDSQATMUY.jpg\")
Coco Gauff of the United States celebrates her third-round victory Friday at Wimbledon.Brian Inganga\/AP Photo\/Brian Inganga<\/p>\n
Sinner will next face Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki, who stunned 23rd-seeded Rafael Jodar of Spain, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4, to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam for the first time. Mochizuki, ranked No. 151, won the Wimbledon boys\u2019 title in 2019.<\/p>\n
In other men\u2019s action, third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime beat American qualifier Michael Zheng, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2, 6-1, in the Canadian\u2019s Centre Court debut, and Jan-Lennard Struff upended eighth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.<\/p>\n
On the women\u2019s side, No.\u20091 Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka will meet for a spot in the quarterfinals after both players won in straight sets.<\/p>\n
Sabalenka beat Jelena Ostapenko, 6-4, 6-4, on Centre Court and declared herself ready for the 14th-seeded Osaka in what will be a battle of four-time Grand Slam champions.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s [a] very aggressive player, serving well,\u201d Sabalenka said. \u201cI watched a couple of her matches . . . I\u2019m ready to go out there and to bring the fight and to do anything it takes to get through this difficult match.\u201d<\/p>\n
Osaka, into the fourth round at the All England Club for the first time, eliminated Daria Kasatkina, 6-1, 6-3, on No. 1 Court. <\/p>\n
Coco Gauff got past fellow American Claire Liu, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, after having three match points at 5-4 in the second set. Gauff will next face 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic.<\/p>\n
Other winners in the women\u2019s draw included fourth-seeded Jessica Pegula, 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova, and 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.<\/p>\n
![\"Aryna](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/LQYXACGXRZBSDOFZHZNK3ZIEJ4.jpg\")
Aryna Sabalenka stayed focused during her straight-set win over Jelena Ostapenko. GLYN KIRK\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By next weekend, Djokovic would love to equal Federer\u2019s men\u2019s record of eight singles titles, but reaching the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[607,1472,467,1627,11401,11398,115,366,10118,596,610,613,11399,2339,603,1126,139,609,11400,3854,606,113,28,468,578,285,611],"class_list":["post-31753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-novak-djokovic","tag-all-england-lawn-tennis-and-croquet-club","tag-arthur-rinderknech","tag-bestof","tag-day-5","tag-essential","tag-falling","tag-france","tag-grand-slam","tag-greater-london","tag-horizontal","tag-individual-event","tag-international-tennis-federation","tag-land","tag-london","tag-london-england","tag-match-sport","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-photography","tag-returning","tag-round-three","tag-serbia","tag-sport","tag-tennis","tag-topix","tag-uk","tag-wimbledon","tag-wimbledon-lawn-tennis-championships"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/tennis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}