Novak Djokovic he made one of his greatest survivals Wimbledon work before providing light comedy about Lionel Messihe jokes that he would happily trade more than five hours on the tennis court to catch 90 minutes of the Argentine soccer player. ball match.The 39-year-old Serbian defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime in a five-hour, 15-minute Wimbledon match on Tuesday. Later, he was asked to compare himself to another icon of the sport who is still competing at the highest level at the same age – Argentina captain Messi.Instead of talking about Messi’s longevity, Djokovic jokingly mentioned the difference in playing time.“It would be great to play 90 minutes like him,” Djokovic said with a smile after spending more than five hours on Center Court.
Argentina made a stunning comeback
Djokovic’s hilarious comments came just hours after Messi inspired Argentina to a stunning victory in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.The defending champions looked set for a surprise exit after falling 2-0 behind to Egypt, Yasser Ibrahim opening the scoring before Mostafa Ziko doubled Pharaohs’ advantage in the 67th minute.Messi’s evening was yet to be prepared. He saw a penalty saved by Mostafa Shobeir, hit the ball with a free-kick and saw the Egyptian player deny several Argentine attacks.But that momentum changed dramatically late in the tournament. Cristian Romero headed home Messi’s free-kick in the 79th minute before the captain added four minutes later with a superb strike.In stoppage time, Enzo Fernandez completed a stunning conversion, calmly slotting home the winner to seal a stunning 3-2 victory and send Argentina into the quarter-finals against Switzerland.ALSO READ: A tearful Lionel Messi was lifted in Argentina’s locker room and Buenos Aires erupted after his big escape | Look
Djokovic survives another Wimbledon tournament
Djokovic, meanwhile, was involved in an epic of his own.The seven-time Wimbledon champion defeated Auger-Aliassime 7-6 (10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) in the longest Wimbledon quarterfinal in history to reach her eighth consecutive semifinal at the All England Club.“These are the times when I play tennis,” Djokovic said.Reflecting on another marathon victory, he added: “I could fight with these young guys who are 15 years younger than me.” I can beat them on a very hard goal. We can say that it is really amazing. But at the same time, I always have high hopes for myself. “The Serbian also admitted that he would have liked the game to be shorter.“I would have liked it to be the final, then I don’t have to worry about how the body will feel tomorrow… I’m happy that he stayed because it was one of the best games I’ve had on this stadium in my career,” he said.While Messi needed 90 minutes – and a late comeback – to save Argentina’s World Cup dream, Djokovic needed more than five hours to sell his ticket to another Wimbledon semifinal.
