Novak Djokovic admits Roger Federer’s iconic record is firing his ambitions at Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic is ticking off the list of iconic records set by his great rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal and now he has revealed an extra motivation ahead of Sunday’s Wimbledon final against Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic set up a blockbuster repeat of last year’s showpiece against Carlos Alcaraz after swatting aside Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

The seven-time champion went under the knife on June 5 after suffering a torn meniscus at the French Open.

He further dispelled any physical concerns, despite still sporting his grey knee support, with a comprehensive 6-4 7-6 (2) 6-4 semi-final win in two hours and 48 minutes.

Djokovic admitted he was still unsure if he would be able to compete in SW19 just three days before the tournament began.

Now he stands on the brink of history, with the chance to tie Roger Federer’s record of eight titles and finally move past Margaret Court with a 25th Grand Slam crown.

Djokovic has now confirmed that both of those magical milestones will be at the forefront of his mind when he steps out on Centre Court for his rematch with Alcaraz after the duo served up an epic contest a year ago.

“Obviously I’m aware that Roger holds eight Wimbledons. I hold seven. History is on the line. Also, the 25th potential Grand Slam,” said Djokovic.

“Of course, it serves as a great motivation, but at the same time, it’s also a lot of pressure and expectations. Every time I step out on the court now, even though I’m 37 and competing with the 21-year-olds, I still expect myself to win most of the matches, and people expect me to win, whatever, 99 per-cent of the matches that I play.

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“I always have to come out on the court and perform my best in order to still be at the level with Carlos or Jannik (Sinner) or Sascha (Zverev) or any of those guys, Daniil (Medvedev).”

Djokovic also suggested a Wimbledon win would reignite his season as he warned his rivals it could reignite is ambitions for the second half of 2024.

“This year hasn’t been that successful for me,” he added.

“It’s probably the weakest results the first six months I’ve had in many years. That’s okay. I had to adapt and accept that and really try to find also way out from the injury that I had and kind of regroup.

“Wimbledon, historically, there’s been seasons where I wasn’t maybe playing at a desired level, but then I would win a Wimbledon title and then things would change.

“For example, that was the case in 2018 when I had elbow surgery earlier in the year, dropped my rankings out of top 20, losing in fourth round of the Australian Open, I think it was quarters of Roland Garros, and just not playing the tennis that I want to play.

“Then I won Wimbledon and then won US Open and then later on became No. 1 very soon. Yeah, Wimbledon just extracts the best of me and motivates me to really always show up and perform the best I can.

“Of course, I’m aware of what’s on the line. It always is really. Any Grand Slam that I play, there’s always history now on the line. I will try to use that as fuel to play my best tennis.”

Sporting history has beckoned for Djokovic time and again in recent years, but this time his targets are among the last he has been targeting in his remarkable career.