Novak Djokovic overcomes Alex de Minaur in the fourth round at Wimbledon 2025

Close but moving on.
Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon 2025
Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon 2025 | Mike Hewitt/GettyImages

Novak Djokovic had to be frustrated. He began his fourth-round match against Alex de Minaur with decent hopes of making a run at the Wimbledon 2025 title, perhaps choosing to retire at the end of the tournament. The most successful player in the history of tennis has nothing else to prove.

Or maybe based solely on how awful he played in the first set, maybe he returns simply to get the wretched taste out of his mouth. The Serb played likely his worst set in years as de Minaur did not so much win the set as Djokovic lost it.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion being so off was astonishing. He had no aces but four double faults. He landed only 48 percent of his first serves and won just 18 percent of his second serves. He had eight winners but 16 unforced errors.

Novak Djokovic gets by Alex de Minaur in the fourth round at Wimbledon

He was playing like so many of his opponents have been forced to play over the decades. Rarely, if ever, has anyone seen Djokovic start a match so flat. The question is whether he could change his level.

The second set was much better for the Serb but was still an odd set overall. Each player struggled to hold serve. Djokovic was broken twice, while de Minaur was broken three times. Even after a player broke, there was no guarantee they could hold the lead. Djokovic was able to take the set 6-4, though.

The Australian's strategy appeared to be to get into forehand-to-forehand rallies with the all-time great, and the shocking part was that de Minaur was winning a lot of those points. Djokovic also seemed more winded than the younger player as well.

The third set was much more like reality. Each player served well and sometimes held with ease. Djokovic appeared more like himself as well, able to control points by playing the angles, something he has done better than anyone in the history of the sport. But at 4-all, the Serb got a convincing break and simply needed to hold to lead two sets to one, which he was able to do.

De Minaur jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set after getting a break of Djokovic. The Serb was able to hold in his next game, though it was a tight one. The Australian came close to being up a double break in the set.

That ended up being de Minaur's last stand. Djokovic held, got a break of the Aussie and then another, and shockingly, after de Minaur had controlled the set and played so well in the first set, the Serb simply needed to hold to move into the quarterfinals. He did so with ease to win the match 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4.

Novak Djokovic will next play Flavio Cobolli in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Djokovic will be favored to win.

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