London: Late in his opening game Wimbledon The third round of competition, Novak DjokovicSlightly off balance, he lunged to his right and fired a volley, perfectly sealing the winning goal. Seconds later, the lithe 39-year-old was back on his feet, taking a bow at center court before turning to the crowd for more love. In the stands, his son Stefan jumped to his feet in celebration, completing an increasingly Djokovic performance.More than three hours later, after 41 gripping games of tennis and 225 points, Djokovic took another bow. This time, the Serbian sealed victory with a winner that knocked down the French giant, leaving both him and his opponent, Arthur Lindeknech, lying on the grass. Djokovic was the first to stand up, striding in front of the net to hug Lindenich, who was nine years younger than him, and applaud him. Lindenich’s fearless performance allowed the 24-time Grand Slam champion to go further than he expected.Djokovic, who walked off the court looking like a seven-time Wimbledon champion in a goat coat, switched gears at just the right moment to beat the 30-year-old Frenchman 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) and set up a fourth-round meeting with qualifier Roman Safiulin, ranked 132nd in the world.“At the end of the day, a little bit of luck, a little bit of skill,” Djokovic said when asked how he made it work. “It was almost a perfect tiebreak for me. I did everything I could. I thought I served really well, only in the tiebreak. I struggled with my serve most of the match.”“But it’s also because of his ability. He’s tall and he hit some incredible serves. It was a very tiring, very close match. Sometimes you just have to find a way to win and I’m glad I did that today.”There were 107 winners in Friday’s win (67 of them from Lindknecht), with Djokovic and roger federerThe record for wins in men’s singles draw at Wimbledon is 105. The pair trail only Martina Navratilova, who holds the all-time record for wins at grass-court majors with 120.At this stage of his career, Djokovic prefers to conserve energy. The seven-time champion said he hopes his body will continue to cooperate as the fight goes on.“I think I did everything I needed to do today, and even though things may not have been in my favor like they were in the second round, it was still enough to win,” he said. “At this age and stage of my career, every day brings something new and unpredictable to me. I hope I can be at my best in a few days.”
Fonseca and Hodar withdraw
It’s not the best of days for the two remaining 19-year-olds in the men’s draw. Rafael Jodar and Joao Fonseca, seeds No. 23 and 24 respectively, were defeated by qualifiers Shintaro Mochizuki and Safi Ulin.Fonseca, whose movements and shots were sluggish on the day and looked like a man forced to work without coffee, lost 3-6, 3-6, 3-6 to the returning Safiullin.Safiullin, who was ranked as high as No. 36 and reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2023, had to cut his 2025 season short in September due to a knee injury. In 2026, he entered this year’s tournament without a Tour-level win. But after making it through qualifying, the Russian recorded three strong wins, beating Andrei Rublev, Botik van der Zandschulp and now Fonseca to reach the last 16.Meanwhile, Jordahl lost to world No. 151 Shintaro Mochizuki 6-1, 6-7 (5), 4-6, 4-6.
