Novak Djokovic continued to march along in the ongoing Wimbledon with a resilient round three win against Arthur Rinderknech. The Serbian registered a 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4) win against the Frenchman to equal his former rival Roger Federer’s tally of 105 wins at SW19 on Friday.

Djokovic bagged the opening two sets but Rinderknech bounced back in the third set. However, the seven-time Wimbledon champion was able to take the fourth set in the tiebreaker and qualified for the fourth round.

“To be able to make history in this sport is a huge honour and a huge privilege,” Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “Particularly here, it’s always a been a dream childhood tournament of mine. I’m not thinking about whether it’s going to be 105 or 106, but I’m just thinking about trying to win that match on a given day.

“Today I was quite stressed out. There was more tension than usual. I knew it was going to be a very challenging match for me. I’m just happy to overcome this. I propose a matchup between me and Roger for 106!”

Djokovic admitted he struggled with Rinderknech’s serve and praised the opponent for bringing his A-game to the court.

“A bit of luck, a bit of skill, in the end,” Djokovic said when asked about how he got the job done. “It was pretty much a flawless tie-break from my side. I did everything I could. I think I served extremely well, pretty much only in the tie-break. For most of the match, I think I struggled with that serve.

“But it was also due to his quality. He’s very tall. He hit some incredible serves. So, he deserves a round of applause for his performance today. It was a really tiring, really close match. I’m happy to overcome it. Sometimes you just have to find a way to win, and I’m happy I did that today.”

Djokovic will next take on Roman Safiullin in the round of 16 on Sunday.