And just like that, Novak Djokovic added another milestone to his remarkable resume. His 7-6(6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Roman Safiullin marked his 106th career Wimbledon match win, moving him past Roger Federer for the most victories in tournament history. But while the Serbian celebrated the record, he also took a moment to apologize for his behavior during the match, after Center Court turned on him with boos over his on-court conduct

At one stage of the match, Novak Djokovic received a code violation for an audible obscenity after being broken to trail 0-2 in the third set. The crowd’s frustration with him grew moments later when he lost the set, smashing the ball away in anger, an outburst that drew audible boos from the stands.

Speaking after the match, the Serbian reflected on that moment and explained how maintaining focus has been one of the defining traits of his career. “And the outbursts as well,” he said, before elaborating further. “The outbursts. You know, the meltdowns. I had a few of those today as well. I apologize.”

His on-court stats helped to justify the scrappier quality of the victory, as the Serbian picked up 10 aces and committed 37 unforced errors in four sets, edging Safiullin 124 points to 114 across the four sets.

The victory continued a streak of nine Wimbledon quarter-finals and 17 overall. This is part of a larger Grand Slam record, showing Djokovic reaching the quarterfinals in 79.5% of his major tournament appearances, a record for the Open Era. He now awaits the winner between third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, with a potential semi-final meeting against defending champion Jannik Sinner looming beyond that.

Safiullin’s run ends, but Djokovic’s pursuit continues

The defeat marked the end of an incredible fortnight for Safiullin, who entered the All England Club without a win over the past year after being knocked out of action by injury. He beat 24th seed Joao Fonseca in straight sets before grinding through two five-set matches, including a final-set tie-break win over 12th seed Andrey Rublev, to reach the second week for the first time in his career. He was ahead 5-2 in the first set, and even had two set points on serve before the seven-time champion found his way.

Djokovic’s victory maintains a streak that is more than just a record of wins. At 39, he is still pursuing an eighth Wimbledon title, which would draw him level with Federer at the top of the men’s all-time list for championships won at the tournament. Reaching that final would likely mean navigating Sinner, who has won five of their last six meetings, in what would be a rematch of this year’s Australian Open semi-final, one of the rare recent wins Djokovic holds over the Italian on the biggest stages.

The second week of the tournament will see a clash of titans: an all-time great aiming for one last historic achievement against the man who has been steadily following his footsteps.