Novak Djokovic tested but advances to Wimbledon quarterfinals

Novak Djokovic overcame an uncharacteristically unsteady start to avoid what would have been his earliest exit at Wimbledon since 2016, coming through for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory over 11th-seeded Alex De Minaur in the fourth round Monday.

Djokovic, who has won seven of his 24 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon, advanced to his 63rd major quarterfinal. But very little went right at the outset for the 38-year-old.

After entering with 41 holds in 42 service games in the tournament, Djokovic was broken in five of his first seven against De Minaur, a 26-year-old Australian who was supposed face the Serb in last year’s quarterfinals at Wimbledon but withdrew with an injured hip.

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Despite producing merely four clean winners of his own in the opening set, De Minaur accumulated nearly twice as many points as Djokovic, 27-14. That’s because Djokovic contributed a whopping 16 unforced errors.

He lost the opening set in 31 minutes. Before Monday, Djokovic had never won fewer than two games in an opening set at Wimbledon.

“I can’t remember when I’ve seen him play a worse set than this,” John McEnroe, who won Wimbledon three times in the 1980s, said on the BBC telecast. “I mean, it’s literally been years.”

But Djokovic turned things around in the middle sets, saying afterward that he reset himself in the second and considered the end of that one a momentum shift.

He really surged at the end after trailing 4-1 in the fourth. He saved a break point to avoid going down 5-1, taking the last five games and 14 of the final 15 points.

“I’m still trying to process the whole match and what happened on the court. It wasn’t a great start for me, it was a great start for Alex,” a relieved Djokovic said in his on-court interview. “He was just managing the play better from the back of the court and I didn’t have many solutions. I was very pleased to hang tough in the right moments and win this one.”

Djokovic was clearly discombobulated early, as he rushed between points and reacted to flubbed shots by rolling his eyes or putting his arms wide as if seeking explanations from someone, anyone.

At changeovers, he placed an ice-filled towel — usually wrapped around necks by players in steamy conditions — on his stomach, which he complained about during his first-round victory last week. But afterward, Djokovic dismissed the significance of that.

“Lot of cat and mouse play, a lot of slices,” he said of what it’s like playing De Minaur. “It’s extremely difficult to play someone like him if you’re not feeling the ball very well.”

It was Djokovic’s 101st career match win at Wimbledon, tying his most (101 at French Open) at any one major. That’s also tied for the fourth-most match wins by any man at one major in the Open era.

Based on age on the final day of the tournament, Djokovic is the third-oldest man in the Open era to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, after Roger Federer in 2021 and Ken Rosewall in 1974.

PlayerWinsNovak Djokovic52Andre Agassi44Roger Federer42Ivan Lendl41Rafael Nadal37*men in Open era (since 1968)– ESPN Research

Federer, and eight-time champion at the All England Club, was sitting in the Royal Box to watch Djokovic’s match on Centre Court.

“It’s probably the first time he’s watched me and I won the match. The last couple I lost,” Djokovic said. “So, good to break the curse.”

Djokovic has now won 43 of his last 45 matches at Wimbledon and not since 2017 has he failed to reach the final. The two losses were against Carlos Alcaraz in the last two finals.

His bid for an eighth Wimbledon title and 25th Grand Slam singles trophy overall will continue against No. 22 Flavio Cobolli of Italy.

Cobolli reached his first major quarterfinal with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3) victory over 2014 US Open champion and two-time major runner-up Marin Cilic.

Cobolli’s season got off to a rocky start, as he lost seven consecutive tour-level matches beginning with his final match at the United Cup through the Miami Open. But he has been on a roll since, winning 20 of his last 27 tour-level matches that included two ATP titles at Bucharest and Hamburg during the European clay-court swing.

ESPN Research, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.