(Tennis news) On Tuesday, Novak Djokovic returned to Centre Court for the third straight day after playing his 100th Wimbledon match on Monday, winning his 400th Grand Slam match. The Serbian advanced to his 46th major semifinal after defeating Andrey Rublev in four sets, tying Roger Federer’s record for men’s singles.

With perseverance and accuracy, Novak Djokovic prevailed 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 to maintain his chances of winning his 24th major championship, record-tying eighth Wimbledon title, and fifth consecutive victory on the London lawns. 

In addition, the outcome propelled him temporarily to the top of the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. To retake the top rank from Carlos Alcaraz in the upcoming Pepperstone ATP Rankings, he must surpass the Wimbledon performance of the Spaniard, who will play Holger Rune in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. 

With these stats, Djokovic is clearly the man to beat at SW19. After Hubert Hurkacz’s big-serving attempt in the fourth round was unsuccessful, the Serbian fought off a strong start from Rublev to once more prevent a younger challenger from earning a career-defining victory.

“I love it,” Djokovic said of having the proverbial target on his back. “I think any tennis player wants to be in a position where everyone wants to win against you. I think it is a privilege, as Billie Jean [King] said. Pressure is part of what we do, it’s part of our sport. It’s never going to go away”

“I know that they want to get a scalp, they want to win. But it ain’t happening, still,” he added with a laugh. “Very humble!”.

Andrey Rublev, 25, was competing in his ninth major quarterfinal, but he has yet to reach a Slam semifinal. In the Open Era, no man has competed in as many Grand Slam quarterfinals without a victory. In the quarterfinals of the Australian Open this year, Djokovic also defeated Rublev, and the Serbian went on to win the match. The pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head match is now 4-1 in favour of Djokovic thanks to three straight victories.

The strength of Rublev initially alarmed Djokovic; the seventh seed dominated the opening set with his forehand and converted on his first break point of the match at 4-4. That was sufficient to win the first set, but Djokovic swiftly settled in to dominate the second, shackling his opponent to take away his tools and establishing a 5-0 lead to establish his dominance over the quarterfinal.

“There were some thrilling rallies. Andrey is a guy I respect a lot,” Djokovic said post-match. “Obviously he brings a lot of intensity on the court, you can see by the way he’s grunting after his shots. Especially on the forehand, it’s kind of scary — both the ball that is coming from that corner and the sound as well,” he continued, drawing laughs from the crowd.

The deciding third set was tense, and for a large portion of the hour-long set, both players summoned their best tennis. Djokovic repeatedly poked Rublev’s backhand during painful rallies, but the Russian held his ground and still had plenty of chances to attack from both baseline wings.

Five break points were presented to Djokovic in the set, but he saved them all, including three when he served for a two-sets-to-one advantage. In order to win set three, he battled through six deuces, winning the longest game of the match. He then immediately solidified his lead by securing his fourth break of the match early in set four.

Djokovic advanced into his 12th semi-final at the All England Lawn Tennis Club with his 33rd straight win at Wimbledon. Only Roger Federer (40) and Bjorn Borg (41) have longer winning streaks in the men’s singles competition, and only Federer (13) has advanced to that stage more frequently at the grass-court major.

The semi-final matchup between Djokovic and Jannik Sinner, who upset Roman Safiullin in four sets, comes up next. Rematch of their Wimbledon quarterfinal from last year, when Djokovic came back from two sets behind to win 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Since then, they have not clashed, with the Serbian holding a 2-0 advantage in their Lexus ATP Head2Head. In 2021, they faced up for the first time, with Djokovic winning in straight sets at Monte Carlo.

Also read: Jannick Sinner set to face Roman Safiullin at Wimbledon 2023