Novak Djokovic breaks Roger Federer 'curse' to reach Wimbledon quarter-finals with battling victory over Alex de Minaur
Updated 08/07/2025 at 09:12 GMT+1
Novak Djokovic moved into the quarter-finals of Wimbledon with a battling four-set win over Alex de Minaur. Djokovic shook off a poor display in the first set and recovered from 4-1 down in the fourth set to prevail. Djokovic next faces world No. 24 Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals, with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner potentially awaiting in the last four.
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Video credit: SNTV
Novak Djokovic saw off the determined challenge of Alex de Minaur and broke a Roger Federer "curse" to keep alive his hopes of a record-equalling eighth Wimbledon title.
Djokovic, 38, was not at the same level as in the last two rounds and quickly lost the first set amidst a raft of errors.
But the 24-time Grand Slam champion dug deep and eventually prevailed 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 on Centre Court in front of Federer, who was in the Royal Box.
"This is probably the first time he has watched me and I won the match, so good to break the curse," joked Djokovic about Federer afterwards.
"It’s great to have Roger here, he’s a huge champion and someone I admired and respected a lot.
"We shared the stage for so many years and it’s great to have him back at his favourite and most successful tournament."
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Djokovic next faces world No. 24 Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals, with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner potentially awaiting in the semis.
Djokovic said he was pleased to "hang tough" against De Minaur after a challenging start.
"We had very windy and swirly conditions on court. He was just managing the play better from the back of the court and I didn't have many solutions, to be honest," said Djokovic.
"I kind of reset myself in the second set. It was a tough game to close out the second set and I think that was maybe a momentum shift where I felt I was back in the game. There was a lot of cat and mouse play. There were a lot of slices and he is so good at that.
"He is one of the quickest players, if not the quickest player, we have on the tour. On the grass, where the ball bounces very low, it is extremely difficult to play someone like him if you're not feeling the ball really well. He exposes all of your weaknesses.
"I was very pleased to hang in tough in the right moments and win this one."
If Djokovic is to go all the way at Wimbledon he will be hoping to avoid a repeat of his display in the first set against De Minaur.
Described by John McEnroe on commentary as one of the worst sets from Djokovic in recent memory at Wimbledon, it featured four double faults from the seven-time champion, including one on the first point of the match, and 16 unforced errors.
De Minaur only hit four winners but did not need to do much more as he broke serve three times and won the set in just 30 minutes.
Djokovic started the second set in more positive fashion with his first break, but still continued to make errors, especially when getting down to low balls.
A 19-minute second game saw Djokovic produce several outstanding shots to save five break points before eventually De Minaur volleyed home to make it 1-1.
Three more breaks followed in the next five games, with Djokovic coming out on top.
The sixth seed then fended off two break points in the 10th game to win the set.
Djokovic’s serve improved in the third set, but he continued to misfire with his groundstrokes as he was pushed hard by a relentless De Minaur.
It was Djokovic, though, who took the set, but he could not pull away from De Minaur.
The Australian continued to force Djokovic into long rallies and often came out on top.
A fifth set looked on the cards as De Minaur opened up a 4-1 lead in the fourth, but suddenly the tide changed as Djokovic found a higher gear.
Djokovic reeled off five games in a row to steam past De Minaur and advance into the last eight.
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