Novak Djokovic passes Roger Federer's legendary Wimbledon record

Drew Bishop

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Novak Djokovic passes Roger Federer's legendary Wimbledon record image

Novak Djokovic just took another step toward becoming the best grass-court player in tennis history.

The Serbian defeated Italian Flavio Cobolli 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to advance to his 14th Wimbledon Semifinal. It's the most semifinals reached by one player in the tournament's history.

"It means the world to me that I'm still able at 38 to play the final stages of Wimbledon," Djokovic said after the match.

He passed Roger Federer, who has made the final four of Wimbledon 13 times. Jimmy Connors has 11 appearances followed by Boris Becker with 9.

It's another key record that adds to Djokovic's case as the best player to ever grace Wimbledon Centre Court. 

The win also gets him closer to breaking the record of all records: Federer's eight Wimbledon titles. Djokovic has seven of his own and could tie his former foe with a win this year. 

But to reach that illustrious mark, he'll have to go through Jannik Sinner and then potentially Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic faces Sinner in the semifinals on Friday and if he comes out alive he'll face the winner of Alcaraz and Taylor Fritz in the final. 

It's a tall task for the Serbian who just lost in straight sets to Sinner at the French Open. 

But the motivation for Djokovic to become the best player ever on grass could push him to do the unthinkable. 

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Drew Bishop

Drew Bishop is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. After graduating from the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University, he worked in local media in Sandusky, Ohio at BCSN and the Sandusky Register, freelancing as a reporter, broadcast director and play-by-play commentator for high school sports. He then moved on to KRIS 6 News where he serves as a producer in the news department.