Novak Djokovic wrote himself further into Wimbledon folklore as he broke yet another record at the All England Club.
The Serb, eyeing a 25th Grand Slam title of his career, had drawn level with the retired Swiss for total matches won at Wimbledon when he defeated 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech in four sets in the third round.
On Sunday, when he took on Roman Safiullin, he knew that one more victory would set him ahead of the eight-time champion.
He duly did so, moving to 106 victories on the hallowed turf of SW19, with a four-set win over the Russian qualifier on Centre Court.
The 39-year-old emerged a 7-6(4) 6-3 3-6 6-3 victor in three hours and 25 minutes, moving into the quarter-finals where he will face either third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Djokovic, himself a seven-time winner at Wimbledon, was not at his vintage best, but it was clear that his rhythm was returning as he continues his comeback trail from his stunning French Open defeat by Joao Fonseca last month.
Safiullin, who had dumped out both 12th seed Andrey Rublev and Fonseca himself en route to the last 16, adopted a no-fear mentality as he went toe-to-toe with one of the greatest to ever grace Centre Court, and that was demonstrated with the Russian’s ball-striking, as he sought to step inside the baseline and attack the Djokovic groundstrokes.
Djokovic, meanwhile, ageing like a fine wine, was alive to it, and sought to alter his playstyle as a result. In fact, he instead turned back the clock and adopted a serve-and-volley approach far more often than most would have expected, looking to cut points shorter after he said that he had arrived in London with “more energy” than he had had at Roland-Garros.
That showed, although some would argue that he was wasting valuable energy with his irate outbursts during a difficult fourth set.
Lady Luck smiled down on Safiullin, who was bidding to keep his fairytale run from qualifying alive, as he profited from net cords and close line calls that went down to mere milimetres.
It led to Djokovic - several times through the encounter - raising his arms to the heavens, as if to cry, ‘Why me?’.
It all got too much for the Serb when the world No132 broke to go up 4-2 in the second, as he lashed a ball away in disgust to secure his second code warning from the chair umpire.
But in the end, it didn’t matter. He harnessed his experience when it mattered, and leant on Safiullin’s inexperience on the big stage to see him through.
The immediate break in the second game of the fourth was the turning point. The pendulum had swung, and he had Centre Court in the palm of his hand once more.
He is through - with another record in the bank - and the dream of 25 is still very much alive.
