Novak Djokovic won his 101st match at Wimbledon and advanced to his eighth consecutive quarter-final. Not that this was enough for the Serbian all-timer. In an act of grand generosity against his opponent Alex de Minaur, he also had his worst opening set at SW19, granting a rapt Centre Court crowd a rare moment of jeopardy at one of his matches.
The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion was broken three times in the first set by the Australian 12 years his junior. Djokovic’s game was all over the place. In that short window it was possible to imagine a world in which decent, well‑rounded challengers such as De Minaur, the No 11 seed, might come into these matches with hope of something other than chastening defeat. It was a nice thought while it lasted.
Everyone at this tennis sanctum knows better than to discount Djokovic, of course, at any point in a match. Even after such a disembodied display in the opening half-hour, the projected outcome was still success for the 38-year-old, and so it duly proved. The errors sharply declined, as if he had had a strong word with himself internally. The quality of his serve rose with each game to the point that it was the decisive weapon in the third set.
The fourth set was a dogfight after going 3-0 down but Djokovic got his teeth into the contest and held on until De Minaur submitted. Next up is the Italian No 22 seed, Flavio Cobolli.
“I was not feeling good, not finding the right timing,” Djokovic said of the first set, citing the swirling wind inside Centre Court.
“[De Minaur] was obviously feeling that. He was exposing my game, exposing my weaknesses, trying to mix things up, and returning extremely well. I think he’s one of the toughest opponents you can have on this kind of day where it’s very windy. He’s so quick, he constantly makes you play. He’s also a very smart player. On the grass, he knows how to use the slice and the angles.”
Djokovic’s analysis was typically astute. With Roger Federer watching on from the royal box, something Djokovic claims has acted previously as a “curse” on his performance, De Minaur was dynamic, agile and clever. He could keep up with Djokovic’s power easily enough but could also read his range, responding to the lobs, drop shots and switches of side sharply. He bossed the longer rallies. His own error count was low and he bounced his way into the second set.
Djokovic then did what he has almost always done in moments of adversity: he doubled down and turned the screw. The very first point of the second set was a blitz of furious stroke-making and the former world No 1 secured a break of serve at the first time of asking.
To De Minaur’s credit he broke back straight away, but this was an arduous affair of seven deuces. Djokovic then stepped up and broke again. A second huge effort brought De Minaur level again but at 3-3 Djokovic broke him once more, this time to love and with the winning shot a delightful backhand slice across court that left the younger man frozen on his feet. As the Serb closed out the second set to level things up the familiar sense of inevitability began to rise.
The third set went with serve for 10 games, but the sense of De Minaur having to scramble just to keep up was growing. Djokovic’s first‑serve percentage was at 80%, up from 48% in the first set. At the crucial juncture of 4-4 and with increasingly little room for error, the pressure finally told. Djokovic won a scintillating rally at 15-30 with a jaw-dropping volley on the slide back across himself, and then his opponent delivered a gift of a loose forehand to seal the break. A couple more errors from De Minaur and the third set was gone.
Djokovic took his foot off the pedal for a moment at the start of the fourth and De Minaur stole a break of serve. He held it too, for a service game at least. At 4-2 it was all on the line and De Minaur found his best level for a final time, holding Djokovic to account in the rallies. It was not enough, though.
By now Djokovic was hitting so well that he did not need to find a winner, just gradually, incrementally turn up the pressure in his favour. And so 4-2 became 4-3 then 4-4. In the blink of an eye he broke again and served out the match. All that early drama seemed a long way away.
Djokovic is revving up for the opportunity to compete for the title once more. “I think I do have a chance – there’s no doubt about it,” he said.
“I’ve been playing some really good tennis this year. So I feel good about myself. I feel confident. I feel motivated to go all the way. Let’s see what happens.”
