Novak Djokovic saw Arthur Rinderknech falling toward the Centre Court net after a volley and said to himself “please stay down.” The Frenchman did — and 39-year-old Djokovic dove to hit a backhand volley winner on match point for a 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4) record-equaling victory in the third round at Wimbledon on Friday (July 3, 2026).

Djokovic’s 105th match win at the All England Club ties Roger Federer on the men’s list for most singles match victories. Martina Navratilova won 120 singles matches at Wimbledon.

By next weekend, Djokovic would love to equal Federer’s men’s record of eight singles titles, but this one will have to suffice for Friday.

“Today, I was quite stressed out, more tension than usual,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “I knew it was going to be a very challenging match for me.”

The 24-time Grand Slam champion overcame a blip — dropping the third set in 18 minutes — and held his nerve in the fourth-set tiebreaker by hitting back-to-back aces before Rinderknech’s forehand went wide to set up match point.

“I saw him slip and kind of fall down. And I was just like please stay down’ for that last shot,” Djokovic, who had repeatedly punched his left thigh after losing the third set, said of the final play.

Joining Federer on 105 singles match wins is “a huge honor and privilege,” Djokovic added. “I propose a matchup for me and Roger for 106.”

Djokovic will face Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin in the fourth round.

Also Thursday, defending champion Jannik Sinner beat Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 on No. 1 Court to advance to the fourth round.

Fonseca loses to Safiullin Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin wiped away tears after beating Brazilian rising star João Fonseca 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to reach the fourth round.

Safiullin, ranked No. 132, dealt with a knee injury last year but this week has eliminated two seeded opponents at the All England Club. He surprised 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev in the first round. Fonseca was seeded No. 24.

The 28-year-old Safiullin, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2023, became emotional when he described his journey back.

“After the U.S. Open, I had to stop — for treating my injury,” he said in an on-court interview. “That time was super tough. Even let’s say half a year ago I didn’t know if I will be able to be back.” Safiullin then paused and used his shirt to wipe away tears as fans applauded on No. 2 Court.

“I’m super happy to be back here,” he added.

In the women’s draw, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka plays Jelena Ostapenko later on Centre Court.

Former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova fought from a set down ​to systematically dismantle fifth seed Mirra Andreeva 4-6 ‌7-5 6-4 on Wednesday (July 1, 2026) and move into ​the third round at the All ⁠England Club.

Czech Krejcikova made a blazing start against the 19-year-old Russian, who won her maiden major at the ‌French Open a few weeks ago, but her level dropped after she went ‌3-0 up and she quickly found herself ‌a ⁠set down on Centre Court.

The 2024 ⁠Wimbledon champion, who also has a French Open crown in her trophy cabinet, found her groove again in the ​next set to force ‌a decider, where Andreeva’s frustrations appeared to boil over in the face of some determined tennis.

Andreeva saved six match points in the ‌decider, but was not able to stop ​Krejcikova from crossing the finish line and claim only her second victory over ⁠the youngster.

“What a match. This is the fifth time I’ve played Mirra I think and it’s ‌always been a huge fight,” said Krejcikova.

“She’s such a young and unique player. She has everything in front of her. Very difficult match, but I’m really happy that we were able to put on a great show. ‌We were fighting till the very last point.

“I’m extremely ​proud I managed to win on this beautiful Centre Court. The best court in ⁠the world.”

Krejcikova will now look forward to a ⁠meeting with her Czech compatriot Nikola Bartunkova, while Andreeva threw her racket to her ‌chair and was left to reflect on what could have been after hitting the ​heights in Paris. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in London; Editing by Alison Williams)

French Open champion Alexander Zverev came through a testing four-set battle with Belgian debutant Alexander Blockx to reach the Wimbledon second round on Tuesday (June 30, 2026).

The German, who was beaten in round one last year, won 6-4, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/0) on Centre Court and will next face France’s Valentin Royer.

Zverev was in danger of becoming the first reigning men’s Roland Garros champion to go out in the first round at the All England Club since Rafael Nadal in 2013 at several points in the match.

But the 29-year-old dug deep to beat Blockx for the third time in as many meetings this year.

Zverev clinched his long-awaited maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open earlier this month after several near-misses.

He has never enjoyed a deep run at Wimbledon, though, failing to get past the last 16 in nine previous appearances.

The second seed needed just 30 minutes to take the first set, courtesy of the only break in the ninth game.

Blockx showed his mettle in a second-set tie-break, saving a set point and then levelling the match when Zverev double-faulted.

But a couple of double-faults in the third-set breaker proved costly for the 21-year-old, and Zverev wrapped up victory in the next set in another tie-break.

Naomi Osaka made her mark on Wimbledon day one on Monday (June 29, 2026) with a first-round victory over ​Elsa Jacquemot after she caught fans’ attention with an eye-catching ‌Japanese-inspired outfit.

The four-time Grand Slam champion walked onto ​Court 3 in an all-white kimono, the traditional ⁠national dress of Japan, paired with a traditional kanzashi hair ornament, before unveiling a white Nike dress.

The kimono, which was decorated with ‌embroidered cranes and cherry blossoms, was created by Tokyo-based designer Hana Yagi and covered in “British Vogue” ‌as the tournament opened.

Osaka told reporters after her win ‌that ⁠her culture, combined with Wimbledon’s strict dress code, ⁠which instructs players to wear almost entirely white attire from the moment they enter the courts, helped inspire the outfit.

“When I think about Wimbledon ​obviously it’s all white ‌and the oldest tournament. There’s the tradition of it all and in my head when I think about that and I think about my culture, my heritage, which ‌is Japanese and Asian, and then if I ​dive deeper into Japanese culture I think about the most iconic silhouette, which for me is ⁠the kimono,” she said.

“I was thinking about my favourite movies. I love ‘Kill Bill’ and then I remembered absolutely falling in ‌love with Lucy Liu’s character, and she has an all white kimono. I remember thinking that was really cool and amazing.

“It was my interpretation of that and also my respect and love for Japan.”

It was Osaka’s tennis that grabbed all the attention when the match began, however, as ‌she fired 34 winners and won four out of nine break ​points in the 79-minute mauling of Frenchwoman Jacquemot.

The former world number one, who retired midway through ⁠the Bad Homburg final against Karolina Muchova last week, showed no ⁠obvious signs of the foot injury that had hampered her.

She takes on Anastasia Gasanova or Emiliana Arango ‌next.

Osaka also turned heads with a jellyfish-inspired outfit at the Australian Open in January this year, and a ​yellow-brown and gold dress during the French Open.

Women’s top seed Aryna ​Sabalenka began her latest attempt to ‌claim her first Wimbledon ​crown with a routine ⁠6-2 6-3 defeat of Serbian qualifier Teodora Kostovic on Monday (June 29, 2026).

Still smarting ‌from an unsettling French Open exit, the world ‌number one was laser-focused ‌on ⁠Centre Court as she ⁠won the opening four games against the lowly ranked Kostovic.

She was eventually ​made to work ‌and there was a minor blip when she dropped serve at 5-2 in the ‌second set but it ​was only a temporary delay as she avoided any ⁠possibility of the sort of collapse she suffered in Paris ‌against Diana Shnaider.

“I’m super excited to be back,” she told a crowd that included former England soccer captain David Beckham.

“I was happy ‌I could close this match in ​straight sets. For the first match I feel pretty ⁠good, maybe eight out of ⁠10.”

Sabalenka, a losing semi-finalist on her last three ‌visits to Wimbledon, will take on American McCartney Kessler ​next.

Men’s defending champion Jannik Sinner flirted with a first-round exit before ​passing a stern physical test on the opening day of Wimbledon but several seeds departed on a day when defeats for ‌British players piled up.

With chief rival Carlos Alcaraz injured, Sinner is the big favourite ​to retain his crown but arrived with question marks over his stamina after collapsing to ⁠a shock second-round defeat at the French Open.

When he lost the first and third sets to Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic on Centre Court he looked in danger of becoming only the third defending men’s champion to lose in round one but battled to ‌win 4-6 6-3 6-7(6) 6-2 6-3.

While Sinner lived to fight another day, men’s 11th and 12th seeds Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev bowed out. Ruud was handed a tough draw in ‌the shape of big-serving Pole Hubert Hurkacz and duly lost 6-4 6-2 7-6(7) while Rublev was edged ‌out ⁠in a five-set cliffhanger against fellow Russian Roman Safiullin, losing a decider set tiebreaker 14-12 ⁠after missing two match points.

Home hopes quashed

There was heartbreak too for surprise French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska as she lost 2-6 7-5 6-2 to Thai qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew on Monday (June 29, 2026) after the Pole fell and hurt herself while on match point.

Japan’s Naomi Osaka once again ​dressed to impress and her tennis shone too ‌as the 14th seed beat Elsa Jacquemot 6-1 7-5.

American fourth seed Jessica Pegula beat Darja Vidmanova 7-5 6-3 while Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic had far too much experience for young British wildcard Mika Stojsavljevic.

It was a grim day for the home nation.

Twenty-one players, including 12 wildcards, were in the first round ‌draw but after Emma Raducanu withdrew with an injury on the eve of the tournament, she ​was followed on Monday (June 29) by Jack Draper who announced he was also pulling out with an arm injury.

Six other home players did take to court but all six lost, including ⁠British number one Cameron Norrie, seeded 26, beaten in five sets by American qualifier Michael Zheng.

Sinner survives fall and bloodies foot

Sinner racked up his 94th Grand Slam match-win, equalling the Italian record of Nicola Pietrangeli, but shed plenty ‌of sweat and a little blood in reaching that mark.

“It was a little tight in the beginning, I didn’t play at my best but I tried to get into it. It was my first official match on grass (this season) which is also a very important factor,” Sinner told the Centre Court crowd.

“I’m happy I turned it around because the third set was a very tough one to swallow.”

Sinner suffered a fall in the third set and later had blood stains on his white shoe from a broken toenail. He had a point to ‌go two sets to one ahead but lost it and Kecmanovic pounced.

The Italian dominated from then and later said his foot injury ​was not serious despite the pounding it took during his third-longest match at Wimbledon at three hours and 30 minutes.

“I’m actually surprised that they let me keep playing because my ⁠all white outfit turned into a little red,” he added.

Court One fans expecting to see Raducanu in action were left ⁠disappointed as a duel between two more former U.S. Open champions Daniil Medvedev and Marin Cilic fell flat.

Cilic was made to look all of his 37 years as eighth seed Medvedev romped to ‌a 6-1 6-2 6-4 victory.

Two of the new generation shone though. Brazil’s Joao Fonseca, cheered on by a large contingent of fans in yellow soccer shirts, beat Spanish veteran Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(4) 6-4 ​6-3 while rising Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar, also aged 19, made an impressive debut, beating British wildcard Felix Gill 6-3 6-3 7-5.