Novak Djokovic Creates History, Surpasses Roger Federer’s Wimbledon Milestone

July 04,2025
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Novak Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, reached the third round at Centre Court for a record 19th time on July 3, 2025. Photo: AP

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Novak Djokovic broke a Roger Federer milestone as he stormed into the third round of Wimbledon for a record 19th time with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 win over Dan Evans on Thursday. It was Djokovic's 99th win at Wimbledon - the oldest Grand Slam tournament. The victory propelled the Serbian great past Swiss legend Federer for the most third-round appearances by a man at SW19. Djokovic, who is chasing his eighth Wimbledon title and 25th Grand Slam title, is already the winner of the most titles at Centre Court by a male player.
After he went past Federer's milestone, Djokovic quipped, "Nineteen times, that's a great stat. That is probably almost as much as Sinner and Alcaraz have years in their lives." Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the last two Wimbledon finals, is 22, while No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner - who was playing later on Centre Court - is 23.
Djokovic admitted he doesn’t stop to reflect often. “I would like to,” he said, “but I think that's going to come probably when I set the racket aside and then sip margarita on the beach with Federer and Nadal.”
Against Evans, he failed to convert his first nine break points in the first set. But once he got the breakthrough for a 5-3 lead - raising both arms in the air as if to say "finally" - he went five-for-six on break points the rest of the way.
"You have these kinds of days where everything goes your way," said Djokovic, who didn't face a break point of his own until the final game. "Everything flows."
Meanwhile, seventh-seeded Mirra Andreeva and No. 10 Emma Navarro both advanced with straight-set wins. The 18-year-old Andreeva beat Lucia Bronzetti of Italy 6-1, 7-6 (4), and Navarro cruised past Veronika Kudermetova 6-1, 6-2. No. 11 Elena Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champion, beat Maria Sakkari 6-3, 6-1.
In the men's singles draw, Alex de Minaur defeated Arthur Cazaux 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-0, while Grigor Dimitrov outlasted Corentin Moutet 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5. Djokovic is set to face fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in the third round on Saturday.