In his quest to win a record-extending 25th grand slam title, Novak Djokovic cares only about results. How perfectly he plays holds less importance. On Sunday he was pushed hard by the Russian Roman Safiullin, and at times he cut a frustrated figure on Centre Court as his game didn’t flow the way it usually does. But for a record 106th time here, he came out on top, reaching the quarter-finals for the ninth time in a row and a 17th occasion in all. The 39-year-old has now made the quarter-finals of a major tournament 66 times.
Djokovic’s 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory against Safiullin required almost three and a half hours of effort on another warm afternoon in which he was rattled at times, mostly by the performance of the Russian, who played far more like his career-high ranking of 36 than his present mark of 132. Safiullin had two set points at 5-2 in the opening set only to be edged out in a tiebreak and was good enough to take the third set before Djokovic raised his game at the start of the fourth to avoid it going to a decider.
“Another hard-fought win,” a clearly relieved Djokovic said. “Roman started very well. He was very aggressive. I didn’t maybe feel as comfortable from the back of the court. I knew it was going to be a challenge staying in the rallies with him, particularly from the end where we were playing against the wind for pretty much the whole match.
“I don’t get to feel inferior from the back of the court against too many players throughout my career, if I’m totally honest. Today was one of those days where I didn’t want to stay in the rallies too long, to be honest, so I had to mix things up. It worked in some moments and in others it didn’t. In the end, I managed to find the accuracy and precision on my first serve, which really got me out of trouble in the fourth set.”
Asked to sum up his first week’s efforts, “Survive to thrive, that’s how I feel,” Djokovic said. “Hopefully the thriving part is coming.” When told he is famous for his focus, he added an honest observation. “And the outbursts as well, the meltdowns. I had a few of those today as well, I apologise.”
One of those moments came early in the third set, when he was serving at 2-3. Having saved a couple of break points, he had to face a third and after Safiullin ripped a forehand almost straight through him to break for 4-2, he turned and batted the ball to the back fence. Luckily for Djokovic, it didn’t hit anyone.
The frustration had been there from the start, thanks to the power of the Safiullin game, which was keeping him pinned behind the baseline and on the defensive more than usual. Though he broke in the opening game, Djokovic seemed to have trouble with sweat in his eyes, as well as the wind and the sun and Safiullin took advantage to lead 5-2. He had two set points on the Djokovic serve but could not take them and then played a loose game to be broken back. Djokovic was still not flowing freely but snatched the tiebreak 8-6 to move ahead after 62 minutes.
The second set was straightforward enough for Djokovic and it looked as if he would go on to finish it in straight sets. Certainly his son, Stefan, seemed to think all was well as he played Exploding Kittens, the card game, in the player box. But Djokovic’s level dipped at the start of the third set and Safiullin won it to halve the deficit.
It was then that Djokovic clicked into gear. Realising he needed to get forward to finish points sooner, he won four of five serve and volley points, and nine of 13 at the net. The attacking change took him quickly to a 3-0 lead and he cruised through the rest of the set to advance to a clash with either Felix Auger Aliassime of Canada, the No 3 seed, or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain.
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