Ageless Novak Djokovic reached yet more milestones ​at a sun-drenched All England Club as he advanced to the Wimbledon fourth round with his 105th victory on the lawns on Friday (July 3, 2026), while top seed ‌Jannik Sinner showed he was slowly warming to the task of defending his title.

The 39-year-old Djokovic, aiming for a ​men’s record-equalling eighth Wimbledon crown and outright record 25th Grand Slam title, beat Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 7-5 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) ⁠with another vintage Centre Court display.

Italian world number one Sinner, whom Djokovic could meet in the semi-finals, has taken a while to stamp his authority on his return to the grass but stepped up a level as he outclassed American Jenson Brooksby 6-4 6-3 6-4.

While Djokovic and Sinner dominated the spotlight, Canadian Felix ‌Auger-Aliassime continued to fly under the radar as he moved past American Michael Zheng 7-6(1) 6-2 6-1 for a meeting with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka also moved ominously into the last 16 as she comfortably dispatched Latvia’s Jelena ‌Ostapenko 6-4 6-4 in a high-octane Centre Court duel.

Sabalenka’s bid for a first Wimbledon title faces a big test next in the shape ‌of ⁠Japan’s Naomi Osaka who paired her flair off the court with growing confidence on it to thrash Daria Kasatkina ⁠6-1 6-3 and reach the last 16 for the first time.

Coco Gauff, another Grand Slam champion for whom Wimbledon has proved a tricky puzzle to solve, scrambled into the fourth round past fellow American Claire Liu, winning 6-3 6-7(5) 6-2 after squandering match points in the second set.

Iva Jovic, one of 15 Americans to advance to the third round ​of the singles draws, continued to impress as the 18-year-old ‌beat experienced Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 3-6 6-4.

But it was the end of the road for two 19-year-old dark horses in the men’s draw as Brazil’s Joao Fonseca and Spain’s Rafael Jodar got reality checks with defeats to qualifiers.

Fonseca, the 24th seed, was outplayed by Russian Roman Safiullin 6-3 6-3 6-3 while Jodar crumbled to Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki, going down 1-6 7-6(5) 6-4 6-4.

Trying to move better: Sinner

Sinner has improved after his first-round scare against Miomir Kecmanovic and he looked dominant against Brooksby.

“Trying to move better. Return today was a little bit better. So all things considered, today was a small step forward,” said Sinner, who faces 151st-ranked ‌Shintaro Mochizuki next and cannot face a seed until the semi-finals.

End of the road for Medvedev

Eighth seed Daniil Medvedev could have been a quarter-final opponent for Sinner but ​the Russian went down 7-6(4) 7-6(5) 7-5 to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

Sabalenka’s clash with 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko was expected to provide some fireworks but she enjoyed a relatively routine victory.

“She is really dangerous. Last match I played against her, ⁠I couldn’t do anything, she just smashed me off the court,” Sabalenka, who is yet to drop a set, said on court.

“The plan is to ⁠get better every day. A little better level every time I am competing on this beautiful grass.”

She may need an extra gear against fellow four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka.

“I’m ready to fight and do whatever it takes to get through,” Sabalenka said.

American fourth ‌seed Jessica Pegula continued to work her way through the draw as she beat Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro while 11th seed Belinda Bencic needed a deciding set tiebreak to edge past Anna Kalinskaya.

Barbora Krejcikova, the 2024 Wimbledon champion, took out Nikola Bartunkova 6-3 7-5 and ​will next take on another fellow Czech in 10th seed Karolina Muchova, who ended the run of Thai Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-2 7-6(1).

Defending Wimbledon ‌champion Jannik Sinner had several members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team ​watching his second-round clash with Nuno Borges on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) and in golfing ⁠parlance he kept it straight down the middle in a relatively risk-free victory.

After the hazards he found against Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in a nervy five-set victory in round one, top seed Sinner rarely ‌looked in danger as he won 7-6(4) 7-6(2) 6-4.

World number 48 Borges provided stubborn resistance and was a point away from taking the second ‌set, but Sinner was rock-solid when it mattered as he avoided another long ‌contest.

Sinner, ⁠the hot favourite in the absence of injured chief rival Carlos Alcaraz, ⁠failed to convert any of the three break points he earned in the opening set but stepped on the throttle in the tiebreak to take the opener.

Ryder Cup players watching on

He strayed off course at the ​start of the second set and ‌sprayed a forehand long to drop his serve.

Portugal’s Borges stayed ahead throughout the set, but serving at 5-4 he buried a routine backhand into the net on set point and paid the price as Sinner broke back and then reeled off ‌six points in a row to win the second tiebreak of the match.

Sinner ​dominated thereafter to rack up an Italian record 95th Grand Slam match win, moving ahead of Nicola Pietrangeli.

Francesco Molinari, Italy’s first winner of the ⁠British Open in 2018, was in the Royal Box along with the likes of Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose to watch the man who became Italy’s first Wimbledon champion by ‌beating Alcaraz last year.

Molinari, whose laser-like accuracy helped him triumph on the treacherous Carnoustie course, would have been impressed with the precision Sinner used to navigate his way around the more manicured turf of Centre Court.

Sinner says he has to improve at Golf

Sinner wrapped up the win in two hours 32 minutes but was not tempted to copy the ‘golf swing’ celebration that Alcaraz used at last year’s U.S. Open.

“I’m not as good ‌as Carlos at golf that’s for sure,” Sinner, who will face unseeded American Jenson Brooksby next, said ​on court. “I’m pretty sure if we played I would hit everything except the ball, I still have to improve.”

More importantly, the 24-year-old said his ⁠level of tennis was on the up after arriving at Wimbledon without having played a competitive ⁠match since his shock defeat by Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the second round of the French Open, when he suffered physically in searing temperatures.

“Two wins ‌now and we’ll see what’s coming next,” Sinner said. “A couple of things to improve but I’m very happy.”

Sinner may be less happy about the weather forecast for next ​week with heatwave conditions possibly returning to London after a mild start to the Championships.