Preview: Novak Djokovic vs. Roman Safiullin - Wimbledon prediction, form, head-to-head

Competing in the fourth round at Wimbledon for the 18th time in his career, Novak Djokovic aims to maintain his perfect record against Roman Safiullin on the singles draw when the two face off on Sunday.

In his Friday affair, the 24-time Grand Slam champion defeated Arthur Rinderknech 7-5 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4) while Safiullin ousted Joao Fonseca 6-3 6-3 6-3.

Match preview

He has been pegged back a couple of times at the tournament so far, but Novak Djokovic always seems to find the will to forge ahead like he did on Friday.

At Wimbledon this year, he has twice been forced into a fourth set but won the only tiebreak in his round three outing to get the upper hand.

Not since 2006 have we seen the Serbian lose a round of 16 match at the All England Club, when Mario Ancic beat him in five sets.

Djokovic will qualify for the quarter-finals of this event for the ninth consecutive time should he triumph on Sunday.

His serve remains a major weapon with the seventh-seeded player on the men’s draw hitting a combined 42 aces in his three matches at Wimbledon in 2026.

At the same time, the seven-time Wimbledon champion has won over 75% of his first serves in all three of his outings thus far.

Roman Safiullin has kept his Wimbledon aspirations intact to this point, showing plenty of power, balance and resiliency, while winning three epic five-set outings at the tournament so far.

A qualifier at the event this time around, the Russian did not register a single double fault on Friday and did not concede a break point.

This weekend, he has a chance to equal his best-ever finish at Wimbledon on the singles draw, advancing to the quarter-finals of this tournament in 2023.

In 2026, he has not lost one round of 16 outing, advancing beyond that stage in all four of his singles matches on tour.

Since advancing from the qualifying stage this year, the 28-year-old has won over 70% of his first serves in each of his last three matches, including 79% on Friday.

He has not lost a Wimbledon singles match after winning the opening set since 2024, when Arthur Fils came back to beat him in five sets.

Tournament so far

Novak Djokovic:

First round: vs. Wu Yibing 6-5 5-7 6-4 6-4

Second round: vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3 6-4 6-2

Third round: Arthur Rinderknech 7-5 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4)

Roman Safiullin:

Qualifier: vs. James McCabe 6-3 7-6 (7-4)

Qualifier: vs. Kimmer Coppejans 7-6 (7-2) 7-5

Qualifier: vs. Jerome Kym 4-6 7-6 (7-2) 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4

First Round: vs. Andrey Rublev 6-4 6-7 (6-8) 3-6 6-3 7-6 (14-12)

Second Round: vs. Botic van den Zandschulp 6-0 4-6 6-3 3-6 7-6 (10-5)

Third Round: vs. Joao Fonseca 6-3 6-3 6-3

Head To Head

Tel Aviv Open (2022) - Semi-finals: Djokovic wins 6-1 7-6

ATP Masters Monte Carlo (2024) - Round of 32: Djokovic wins 6-1 6-2

ATP Masters Shanghai (2024) - Round of 16: Djokovic wins 6-3 6-2

Four years ago, in the first meeting between these two, Djokovic won 84% of his first serves while converting three of his break-point opportunities to earn a victory.

In the Principality in 2024, Djokovic got the better of Safiullin again, winning 92% of his second serves while the latter won just 33% of his.

Djokovic made it three for three later that year in China, winning 88% of his first serves and converting eight break points.

We say: Djokovic to win in three sets

As resilient as Safiullin has been throughout the tournament so far, we wonder how much stamina he will have left against a battle-tested Djokovic who still looks as hungry as ever to lift this trophy one more time.