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Novak Djokovic reaches 50th Grand Slam quarterfinal; Roger Federer becomes oldest Wimbledon quarterfinalist in Open era

Tennis, ATP

LONDON -- Two-time defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic reached his 50th Grand Slam quarterfinal and Roger Federer became the oldest man to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals in the Open era with his 105th career victory at the tournament on Monday, while a parade of newcomers also made the final eight. 

First-timers on the men's side included Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime, Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, Italian Matteo Berrettini and Russian Karen Khachanov, who won a bizarre fifth set to beat American Sebastian Korda on Korda's 21st birthday.

The fourth-round match between No. 2-seeded Daniil Medvedev and No. 14 Hubert Hurkacz, meanwhile, was suspended in the fourth set until Tuesday because of rain. Medvedev leads 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 3-4, with the players on serve in the fourth set. Medvedev also is seeking his first berth in a Wimbledon quarterfinal.

Djokovic earned his 12th quarterfinal berth at Wimbledon by defeating Cristian Garin of Chile 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, which ties him with Arthur Gore for third place on the men's all-time list, behind Federer's 18 and Jimmy Connors' 14. He is the fifth player to reach 50 Grand Slam quarterfinals, joining Federer (58), Chris Evert (54), Serena Williams (54) and Martina Navratilova (53), according to ESPN Stats & Information.

"It's a privilege to break records in the sport that I truly love,'' Djokovic said. "I'm devoted to this sport as much as I think anybody out there on the tour. I just try to do my best.''

The top-ranked Serb lost just three points on his first serve in the match and saved the only two break points he faced. He is looking for his sixth title at the All England Club and a record-tying 20th Grand Slam trophy.

The 39-year-old Federer, who has won the Wimbledon title eight times, broke the age record for quarterfinalists in the Open era (since 1968) held by Ken Rosewall, who was also 39 when he reached the last eight in 1974, by beating Lorenzo Sonego 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 on Centre Court. Rosewall was 39 years, 224 days old on the final day of the '74 Wimbledon tournament, according to ESPN Stats & Information, while Federer will be 39 years, 337 days old on the last day of this year's event.

"Well, I mean, I guess to some extent it's nice to see that the work I put in paid off, that I'm able to play at this level,'' said Federer, who only had played eight matches this year before last week.

It also was Federer's 105th match victory at Wimbledon in his career, tying Rafael Nadal (105 match wins at the French Open) for most such wins at a Grand Slam in the Open era, according to ESPN's Stats & Information.

Shapovalov defeated No. 8-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-3, 7-5, while the 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime, seeded 16th, earned his first five-set victory and his first berth in a major quarterfinal by beating No. 4 Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 3-6, 6-4. It's the first time two Canadian men have advanced to the quarterfinals of the same Grand Slam tournament, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

"It's unbelievable,'' Auger-Aliassime said. "I'm a normal guy from Montreal, Canada, and here I am. Surely the best victory of my life.''

Fucsovics became the first Hungarian man to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals since 1948 after finally getting the better of Andrey Rublev on Monday.

Fucsovics rallied to beat the No. 5-seeded Russian 6-3, 4-6, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3 on No. 2 Court to set up a meeting with Djokovic.

Fucsovics was eliminated by Rublev in four straight tournaments earlier this season, including one injury withdrawal, and also lost to him at last year's French Open.

He became the first Hungarian man since 1981 to reach the quarterfinals of any Grand Slam tournament and the first since Jozsef Asboth in 1948 to do so at Wimbledon.

Berrettini became the first Italian man in 23 years (since Davide Sanguinetti in 1998) to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals by easing past unseeded Ilya Ivashka 6-4, 6-3, 6-1.

The seventh-seeded Berrettini landed only 53% of his first serves but was broken only once in the match. He finished with 37 winners to 16 for Ivashka, and broke his opponent six times.

Berrettini won the Queen's Club grass-court tournament last month and has dropped only one set so far at Wimbledon. 

Khachanov, seeded No. 25, outlasted Korda 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 10-8. With both players battling fatigue and nerves, there were 13 services breaks in the final set, and for Korda, it was a disappointing end to an otherwise impressive Wimbledon debut.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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