Qualifiers Safiullin and Mochizuki target Djokovic, Sinner at Wimbledon

Roman Safiullin wiped away tears after beating 24th-seeded Joao Fonseca 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, a straight-sets win that sent the No. 132 qualifier into Wimbledon’s fourth round. Shintaro Mochizuki also came through qualifying to reach the second week, setting up a shot at defending champion and world No. 1 Jannik Sinner while Novak Djokovic kept his pursuit of a record 25th Grand Slam singles title alive.

Safiullin’s run carried extra weight because of what had come before it. The Russian returned to the tour in February after about six months out with a knee injury, and he had already stunned 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev earlier in the tournament. His victory over Fonseca left him with a 9-3 Wimbledon record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, a remarkable mark for a player who entered the event far from the top of the seed list.

The emotional reaction after the Fonseca win made the scale of the comeback clear. Safiullin struggled to hold back tears as he reached the fourth round again, three years after his first run to that stage at the Championships. For a player who spent much of last season sidelined, the result was another sharp reminder of how quickly Wimbledon can elevate a qualifier into the tournament’s center stage.

Mochizuki’s progress added another unexpected layer to the draw. By advancing from qualifying into the second week, the Japanese player earned the right to test himself against Sinner, who arrived in London as the defending Wimbledon champion and the ATP world No. 1. Sinner had already been pushed hard in his opening match, and Mochizuki’s route through the field turned that looming meeting into one of the tournament’s most intriguing early-week matchups.

Djokovic and Sinner have continued to dominate the Wimbledon spotlight, but Safiullin and Mochizuki have forced their way into it from the qualifying ranks. Djokovic, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, remains the benchmark at the top of the draw, yet the early rounds have already shown that lower-ranked players were not content to fill the brackets.