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Djokovic breaks Federer’s Wimbledon record to reach quarters

Published

3 months ago

2026/07/5

Priyan

Novak Djokovic has reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals for a ninth consecutive year [BBC]

Novak Djokovic claimed the all-time record for most men’s singles match wins at Wimbledon, but had to overcome moments of visible frustration to beat qualifier Roman Safiullin and reach the quarter-finals.

Djokovic had matched Roger Federer’s record with his third-round victory on Friday, and the 39-year-old earned his 106th win at SW19 by defeating the 132nd-ranked Safiullin 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 3-6 6-3 on Sunday.

That is second only to the 120 wins achieved by nine-time women’s champion Martina Navratilova.

The Serb beat Safiullin despite an apparent issue with his eyes early in the contest, while he later received a warning for an audible obscenity and was fortunate to avoid a penalty after firing a ball to the back of the opposite side of the court when he lost serve in the third set.

“Survive to thrive – that’s how I feel,” Djokovic said, reflecting on his performances in the first week.

“Hopefully the thriving part is coming!”

Acknowledging his behaviour during the match, he added: “I’m known for my outbursts and meltdowns, I had a few of those today so I apologise.

“Our mind wanders all the time. It is very hard to keep it in the present moment. Whoever manages to do that is the winner.

Djokovic – who is bidding to match Federer’s men’s record of eight Wimbledon titles and claim an outright record 25th major title – was the overwhelming favourite against Safiullin, but found his latest test far from straightforward.

Safiullin, a former quarter-finalist, was in tears after his stunning third-round victory over rising star Joao Fonseca, having struggled with an injury he feared he would never fully recover from six months ago.

The free-hitting Russian, 28, was rewarded for his persistence when he took his first set in four meetings with former world number one Djokovic to prolong the contest beyond the three-hour mark.

But, just as he did against Arthur Rinderknech in the previous round, Djokovic captured the fourth set to seal victory and set up a last-eight meeting with Canadian third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime or Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Safiullin appeared full of belief as he began his bid for a monumental upset, responding to Djokovic’s immediate break of serve by winning five of the next six games.

But he could not convert that positive position, faltering as he served for the set at 5-3 and eventually coming up short in the tie-break.

Despite the 125-place ranking gap, Safiullin had continued to prove a nuisance in the second set until he presented Djokovic with an opening in the sixth game, and eventually conceded a fourth break point.

Having to come through three consecutive five-set matches since the final round of qualifying to arrive here began to take its toll as Safiullin required a medical timeout for a left-leg problem during the third set.

But he successfully managed that issue to capture his first set in four tour-level meetings with Djokovic, who landed only 57% of his first serves and took out his frustration on a ball after Safiullin took a sixth break point for a 4-2 lead.

Despite that incident, which was booed by the crowd, Djokovic quickly reset and launched a decisive fourth-set response, breaking to love in the second game as Safiullin’s challenge began to fade.

Lifting over a closing drop shot to serve out victory to love, Djokovic embraced Safiullin at the net – and there was deserved warm applause for the spirited qualifier’s performance as his superb run, in which he also ousted 12th seed Andrey Rublev, came to an end.

Djokovic has now been taken to four sets in three of his four wins at this year’s championships, but remains in the hunt for history after reaching his 17th Wimbledon quarter-final.

[BBC]

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Latest News

Landslide Early Warnings issued to the Districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Matale and Ratnapura

Published

2 days ago

2026/10/4

Priyan

The Hational Building Research Institute (NBRI) has issued landslide early warnings to the Districts of Kandy, Kegalle, Matale and Ratnapura valid from 2200 hrs on 03rd October upto 2200 hrs on 04th October 2026.

Accordingly,

LEVEL II (AMBER) landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Udu Dumbara and Minipe 8n the Kandy district, Dehiowita in the Kegalle district, and Ambanganga Korale and Matale in the Matale district.

LEVEL I (YELLOW) landslide early warnings have been issued to the Divisional Secretaries Divisions and surrounding areas of Rambukkana in the Kegalle district, Rattota in the Matale district, and Eheliyagoda in the Ratnapura district.

Latest News

Turkish court detains football refereeing chief pending corruption trial

Published

2 days ago

2026/10/3

Priyan

The refereeing scandal is the latest controversy to shake football in Turkiye [Aljazeera]

The head of Turkiye’s football refereeing body and four other officials have been placed in pretrial detention by a court as part of a corruption investigation, the state news agency Anadolu reports.

Ferhat Gundogdu, head of the Central Referees Committee, and six others appeared before a judge over allegations of manipulation of the referee administration process, Anadolu said on Saturday.

They appeared on Friday before a judge at Istanbul’s Caglayan courthouse on several charges, including forgery of official documents, breach of trust and illegal acquisition of personal data, the report said.

The judge remanded five people in custody and granted the other two conditional release, Anadolu said.

It was the latest scandal to shake football in Turkiye, coming exactly a year after the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) suspended 149 referees on charges of illegal betting.

On Thursday night, police from the illegal betting and sports crime unit also detained Yasin Kol, a referee from Turkiye’s top-flight Super Lig, as well as an assistant referee, media reports said.

Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said prosecutors are examining claims about “interference in the processes of referee classification, assignments, scoring and appointments as well as the exams on rules”.

During raids on Tuesday, police searched the VAR room at TFF’s headquarters in Istanbul. Observers said the investigation was likely linked to last year’s betting scandal and would have implications for the federation.

“It does seem to be a continuation of 2025, and it looks like it will continue further,” sports journalist Ayhan Sensoy told the AFP news agency.

Sensoy, who wrote a 2024 book on the issue called The Gambling Pit, said it was unlikely that federation bosses “have any chance of staying in office”.

So far, the TFF has not directly addressed the arrests as its top officials are due to fly home on Saturday after attending Friday night’s Belgium-Turkiye UEFA Nations League clash in Liege, which Turkiye lost 3-0.

[Aljazeera]

Foreign News

Ten injured after car crashes into rugby supporters in Australia

Published

2 days ago

2026/10/3

Priyan

A fire truck drives towards a crash site as a police vehicle blocks a road in Wallsend, News South Wales, on October 3, 2026, after a car drove into a crowd [Aljazeera]

A car has crashed into a crowd of rugby league supporters in the eastern Australian city of Newcastle, injuring 10 people, including three children.

New South Wales police said on Saturday that two of the injured – a five-year-old girl and a 67-year-old man – were in a critical condition and the other eight were in stable condition in hospital.

Police said they had arrested the 18-year-old man driving the vehicle and were investigating what happened. They said the crash was not believed to be related to “terrorism”.

The crowd had gathered to farewell the local rugby league side, the Newcastle Knights, ahead of their grand final against the Sydney Roosters on Sunday.

Newcastle Lord Mayor Gavin Morris said the driver, a rugby league fan, had lost control of his vehicle and had been taken into custody.

“He was revving the car, he was excited, he was a supporter, he was there for the joy of the moment,” Morris told the national broadcaster ABC.

“Somehow he lost control of the car … and he’s gone into the crowd,” he added.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: “My thoughts are with everyone injured or involved in the horrible incident this morning in Newcastle.”

“Rugby league brings people together, and this should have been a weekend of excitement and pride for Newcastle fans,” he wrote in a social media post.

[Aljazeera]