Novak Djokovic matched Roger Federer’s record of reaching his 46th Grand Slam men’s semifinal on Tuesday. He achieved this milestone with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Andrey Rublev.
“I know they want… to win. But it ain’t happening, still,” Djokovic said. He chuckled and added, “Very humble of me, right?”
This win against Andrey Rublev was Djokovic’s 33rd consecutive victory at the All England Club, bringing him closer to his fifth consecutive championship and eighth overall there – a feat that would put him on par with Federer in both categories.
Djokovic, a 36-year-old player from Serbia, is also chasing his 24th career major trophy. He recently set the men’s record in that respect by winning his 23rd title at the French Open last month, surpassing Rafael Nadal.
“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but of course I would consider myself the favorite,” declared Djokovic.
“Considering my past results here, the last four times I won at Wimbledon, I do consider myself the favorite, yes.”
Playing in his 400th Grand Slam match on Tuesday, the 36-year-old Djokovic revealed that he enjoys being the player everyone wants to beat.
“I love it. Every player wants to be in a position where all the other players want to beat you,” he shared after maintaining his unbeaten streak on Centre Court since 2013.
“The pressure never goes away every time I step on the court.
“They want to claim a victory over me, but that’s just not happening!” he added.
Next up for Djokovic is a match against Jannik Sinner, the No. 8 seed, who reached the semifinals at a major tournament for the first time by defeating Roman Safiullin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 earlier on Tuesday.
Djokovic has won both of his previous head-to-head meetings against Sinner, a 21-year-old player from Italy. One of those victories came in last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinals after Djokovic came back to win in five sets.
(With agency inputs)