Novak Djokovic hardly has any records left to match or break, but he has one he can do at Wimbledon. The Serb has seven titles at the grass-court major, one short of the record number held by Roger Federer. Djokovic was likely driven by this when entering the tournament.
His quarterfinal match on Wednesday against 23-year-old Flavio Cobolli was not going to be an easy one, however. The Italian lacks the extreme height of huge servers such as Taylor Fritz, but he can still hit a first serve at nearly 140 mph. That kind of bombast kept Djokovic off-balance in set one, and Cobolli shocked everyone by taking the set in a tie-break.
The Serb ended any potential drama early in the second set, getting a break of Cobolli, and Djokovic won the set 6-2. The world seemed right again, and the 24-time Grand Slam winner also appeared to settle in.
Novak Djokovic defeats Flavio Cobolli in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon
In a tight third set, Cobolli's serve kept giving Djokovic issues, but as often happens with elite players, Djokovic was able to play big at the end of the set. He got a late break to take a 6-5 lead and held with ease to take it 7-5.
Expecting Cobolli to come back and win the last two sets might have been foolish at this point, but he was playing well enough and striking the ball well enough to keep giving the Serb issues. After all, the Italian had 10 aces through three sets against arguably the best returner in the history of tennis.
The Italian was also playing aggressively, with 39 winners and 35 unforced errors. He wasn't going to wilt.
The fourth set was exceptionally well played by both players, but Cobolli made a huge mistake by not taking advantage of an easy net point on his own break point at 4-all. Instead of a simple drop shot, he hit the ball into the net, and Djokovic got the break.
Serving at 40-30 and trying to take the set and match, Cobolli hit a forehand that landed in but Djokovic turned to hit the ball and immediately went to the ground. He was able to hold by winning the last two points, but he was clearly hobbling. How much this affects him in next match, in the semifinals against Jannik Sinner, remains to be seen.