LONDON: Novak Djokovic overcame a patchy performance against Alex de Minaur to move into his 16th Wimbledon quarter-final.
The sixth seed got off to a slow start and then struggled to find consistency on the court throughout his roller-coaster 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, win. In a stark contrast to his match of two days ago when he dominated proceedings against Miomir Kecmanović, Djokovic looked out of sorts at times as he leaked 44 unforced errors and was particularly vulnerable behind his second serve, winning just 41% of those points. One potential explanation could have been his stomach which he was seen clutching at multiple stages.
“I’m still trying to process the whole match and what happened on the court,” Djokovic said during his on-court interview.
“It wasn’t a great start for me, it was a great start for him. He broke my serve three times in the first set. It was very windy conditions on the court, and he was managing better.”
“I didn’t have many solutions, to be honest, but I reset myself in the second set.
“There was a lot of cat and mouse play, a lot of slices. He is one of the quickest, if not the quickest, players on the Tour. On the grass, when the ball bounces low if it is very difficult to play somebody like him if you are not feeling the ball well. He exposes all your weaknesses.
“I’m pleased to hand in tough and win this one.“
While it was not a vintage performance from Djokovic, he can take some comfort in becoming only the third man in the Open Era to reach the last eight at Wimbledon after their 38th birthday and the first to do so since Roger Federer, who attended the tournament today and was seen watching the match.
“It’s the first time he has watched me, and I have won my match. It is good to break the curse,” Djokovic joked.
“It’s great to have Roger, a huge champion, somebody I admire. It’s great to have him back.”
The centre court showdown was a repeat of a match that was meant to happen 12 months ago at Wimbledon. On that occasion, de Minaur was prevented from taking part in the quarter-final showdown due to a hip injury.
Despite Djokovic’s credentials of being a seven-time champion, it was the Australian who started the strongest as he surged to a 4-1 lead in just over 20 minutes. The 24-time major champion was struggling to find his footing on the court, especially when it came to his serve. Things didn’t get any better for Djokovic, who ended the opener by hitting an unforced error in six out of the last 10 points played.
With alarm bells ringing for the Serbian’s camp, Djokovic’s next tactic was to try to get the crowd on his side. After trading breaks for three games in a row at the start of the second frame, he put his finger towards his ear in the hope that it would get them more involved. Meanwhile, on the court, de Minaur was having issues with his serve, losing three out of five service games played, to give his rival enough of a margin to draw level at a set all.
Incredibly, it wasn’t until two hours and 21 minutes into the match that Djokovic managed to lead for the first time. This occurred at a critical moment with the two tied at 4-4 in the third set. A de Minaur forehand error handed Djokovic the break and a chance to serve the set out, which he did with the help of a drop shot on his last point.
However, there was still plenty of work for Djokovic, who narrowly avoided the match going into five sets by coming back from 1-4 down in the fourth. He then closed out the match by winning 14 out of the last 15 points played.
“I love winning in straight sets if I can. But on days like this, as you progress in the tournament, the matches are going to get tougher. Alex has been an established top 10 player for the last couple of years,” he said.
“I was slightly more nervous coming into this match, and that reflected on my game in the first set. It was a difficult encounter with a lot of challenging moments.”
Djokovic’s next opponent will be Falvio Cobelli, who is experiencing his best-ever run at a Grand Slam event. The Italian ousted Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3).
