Federer and his wife, Mirka, were guests of honor on the first day of Wimbledon's second week. The Swiss legend was present in the Royal Box at Centre Court before Djokovic and De Minaur entered. Federer then spent nearly 4 hours watching one of Djokovic's toughest matches of the tournament.

Federer waves to the crowd as he is introduced on Centre Court at the All England Club, London, England on 7/7. Photo: Reuters

Unlike his quick victories in the previous two rounds, Djokovic struggled from the first game against De Minaur. The second seed started slowly, appearing uncomfortable against his younger opponent's speed. Djokovic also made frequent errors at the net, losing two of the first three games. He also missed a break point in the second game.

De Minaur wasn't dominant from the baseline, but his excellent court coverage and ball control allowed him to dictate play. His mobility helped the Australian player overwhelm Djokovic and win another service game to finish the first set 6-1.

De Minaur's weakness was his stamina. Djokovic exploited this from the second set onwards, consistently pushing De Minaur to both corners of the court and mixing in drop shots to drain his opponent's energy. Despite losing his own serve, Djokovic pressured De Minaur's service games and repeatedly earned break points. De Minaur made 15 unforced errors in this set, significantly more than the 5 in the first. He lost three of his four service games and missed two of three break points in the final game.

The 6-4 victory in the second set paved the way for Djokovic to continue exploiting De Minaur's endurance. In the final two sets, Djokovic was more willing to engage in longer rallies and often gained the upper hand due to his varied shot selection. De Minaur lacked a decisive finishing shot and had to rely on forcing errors from his opponent. His limited serving ability, with a first-serve percentage of only 55%, also contributed to his decline. The 11th seed lost the third set 4-6 and then lost the fourth by the same score despite leading 4-1.

This 101st victory at Wimbledon sends Djokovic to his 16th quarterfinal. He trails only Federer in these statistics and is also pursuing his record of 8 Wimbledon titles. "Sometimes I wish I had the serve-and-volley game and the touch of the gentleman standing over there," Djokovic joked, gesturing towards Federer during his post-match interview. "This is the first time he's watched me win here; I lost the previous times." Federer responded with applause and a broad smile.

Djokovic will face Italian player Flavio Cobolli after the 22nd seed defeated Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(3) to reach his first Wimbledon quarterfinal. Cobolli is young and in good form, but theoretically, he is a less challenging opponent than others Djokovic could have faced in the quarterfinals, such as Jack Draper, Alexander Bublik, or Jakub Mensik. Djokovic defeated Cobolli in their only previous encounter at the Shanghai Masters last year.

Vy Anh