Novak Djokovic stays on track for Wimbledon glory under Roger Federer’s gaze

LONDON – Novak Djokovic said it was “good to break the curse” in front of Roger Federer, after recovering from a set down to beat Alex de Minaur and reach his 16th Wimbledon quarter-final on July 7.

He was lethargic and unusually tentative in the early stages of his last-16 match against the Australian 11th seed on Centre Court, but eventually found his rhythm to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4.

It keeps the seven-time champion on track for a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title, which would be the crowning achievement of an astonishing career.

If he wins the crown on July 13, the 38-year-old Serb would also draw level with Federer’s record of eight men’s titles at the All England Club.

Retired Swiss great Federer watched from the royal box as his long-time rival was given his toughest test of the tournament so far.

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

“No, it’s great, obviously, great to have Roger, a huge champion and someone that I admired and respected a lot.

“We shared the stage for so many years, and it’s great to have him back.”

Djokovic’s tally of 16 Wimbledon quarter-finals is second only to Federer’s total of 18 in men’s tennis.

“I’m still trying to process the whole match and what happened on the court,” Djokovic said. “It wasn’t a great start for me, it was a great start for him obviously.

“I was just very pleased to hang in tough in the right moments and win this one.”

Djokovic will next face Flavio Cobolli.

Earlier, the Italian marched into the quarter-finals, snuffing out the once-lethal Marin Cilic in a statement win that lit up a sunny but breezy Court Two.

Wielding his bright orange racket like a fluorescent sabre, the 23-year-old carved through the Croat’s defences to win 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3).

For Cilic, now 36 and a finalist here in 2017, it was a flat, sobering exit – a campaign that had briefly stirred echoes of past glories ending with a performance that just did not show verve or resolve.

In the women’s draw, Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic reached her first Wimbledon quarter-final in nine attempts on July 7, dismissing 18th-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 in just under two hours on a breezy Court One.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion, 28, shed tears after she finally broke the fourth-round barrier 15 months after giving birth to her daughter Bella and said she felt very proud of herself.

But she needed six match points to down 30-year-old Alexandrova, who just in June beat Bencic with the loss of only three games at the Bad Homburg grass-court tournament in Germany.

Bencic, who has been knocked out in the fourth round here three times before, said she turned the tide by being more courageous.

“I think I tried to be more brave. I had more matches under my belt and it turned out better than the last time I played her,” she said.

“I always got stuck in the fourth round. It was so important for me to break through to the quarter-finals,” she added.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon chiefs on July 7 blamed human error for an embarrassing failure in the tournament’s electronic line-calling system.

Officials apologised to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Sonay Kartal after the malfunction during their fourth-round match on Centre Court the previous day, which Pavlyuchenkova won 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.

After an investigation, the organisers admitted the technology was turned off in error on a section of the court for a game, with the mistake becoming apparent only when a shot from Britain’s Kartal that clearly missed the baseline was not called out.

A fully automated system has replaced human line judges at Wimbledon in 2025, in line with the Australian and US Opens.

But the glitch on July 6 follows concerns raised by other players about the technology, including British stars Emma Raducanu and Jack Draper. AFP, REUTERS