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Novak Djokovic proposes Roger Federer 'match-up' to delight of fans after equalling fellow legend's record at Wimbledon with third-round win

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Novak Djokovic jokingly proposed a winner-takes-all match-up with Roger Federer after he equalled the Swiss great's record of 105 wins at Wimbledon with a third-round victory over Arthur Rinderknech.

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Seven-time champion Djokovic battled past 25th seed Rinderknech in four sets on Centre Court to continue his bid for a 25th Grand Slam.

The 39-year-old has moved level with eight-time Wimbledon winner Federer as the men's singles player with the most victories ever at SW19.

Asked about his latest record in his on-court interview, Djokovic said: "I propose a match-up between me and Roger for 106.

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"Let's just stop it here, and call Roger to come!"

Djokovic is still some way off the women's singles record holder for most matches won at Wimbledon, though, as Martina Navratilova won a remarkable 120 times at the Grand Slam.

It remains to be seen if Djokovic can reach that number, but the seventh seed impressively overcame a difficult opponent for his 105th victory.

"To be able to make history on this court is a huge honour and privilege, particularly here," he said. "It's always been a dream childhood tournament of mine."

He added: "I'm just really trying to win the match on a given day. Today, I was quite stressed out, more tension than usual. I knew it would be a challenging match, which it turned out to be."

Rinderknech presented Djokovic with another test of his credentials after a challenging first-round match against China's Wu Yibing.

He breezed past Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, but Djokovic admitted that he has not quite found his best form yet.

"How to put it in simple terms... I've done everything I needed to do today under circumstances that were maybe not as good for me as in the second round, and it was enough to win," he said.

"At this age and stage of my career, every day brings something new and unpredictable for me. I'm hoping that in a few days' time, I'll come out at my best."

Djokovic secured victory with a dramatic final point to win the fourth-set tie-break, producing a diving volley after Rinderknech had fallen to the ground in an effort to reach a drop shot.

"I saw him slip and fall down, and I was just like 'please stay down!'" Djokovic said. "There was a lot of slipping and sliding, drop shots and cat-and-mouse play.

"He has that variety, the big powerful shots, comes into the net, changing the pace. He was taking me out of my comfort zone, and he did really well."

Highlights: Sinner, Djokovic and Sabalenka march into third round

Video credit: SNTV

Having sealed his progression to the last 16, where he will meet Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin, Djokovic showed off some dance moves, which he revealed he had been taught by his daughter, Tara.

"More than tennis, I hope that my dance moves will improve," he laughed. "My daughter has been teaching me, but I'm pretty poor based on what I've done there! She didn't give me a smile, she was like 'yeah, we have to practice'.

"Hopefully, I can have many more dances for the rest of the tournament. We'll see."

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