Novak Djokovic recovered from an alarming scare to book his place in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in front of his old rival Roger Federer.
Djokovic produced what John McEnroe described as ‘his worst set in years’ as Alex de Minaur won a one-sided opener 6-1 in 30 minutes.
The seven-time champion was broken three times in the first set by a player who is yet to reach a semi-final of a Grand Slam.
Djokovic was also broken twice in the second set – while saving multiple other break points – but did enough damage on the De Minaur serve to level the match.
The 38-year-old’s revival continued in the next two sets as Djokovic completed the comeback to secure his place in a 16th Wimbledon quarter-final.
Eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer was one of the guests in the Royal Boy on Centre Court and some fans suggested his presence affected Djokovic’s performance.
Djokovic is bidding to match Federer’s all-time record of eight Wimbledon titles while also chasing a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam singles title.
‘The pressure of playing in front of Roger Federer is clearly impacting Novak Djokovic at the moment,’ one fan said on social media.
Others accused Djokovic of ‘choking’ and ‘getting nervous’ in the presence of his old rival, who retired in 2022.
McEnroe was ‘shocked’ by Djokovic’s level during the first set and said the 24-time Grand Slam champion would be ‘absolutely disgusted with himself’.
‘We certainly weren’t expecting to see that,’ McEnroe said on BBC One. ‘This is what normally happens to 38-year-olds and we’ve all been waiting for it to catch up with him.
‘Sometimes as you age, you can’t figure out the reason for a drop-off. You do everything possible to prepare but to see Novak look this way is surprising because it happens so seldomly to Novak.
‘It’s like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. It’s hard to believe we’re watching this right now. It’s been an extremely one-sided first set. Shocking is the way to put it.
‘I can’t remember him playing a worst set than this. It’s literally been years. He’s absolutely disgusted with himself.
‘Federer had to take his shades off because he couldn’t believe what he was watching. He was thinking “where was this Djokovic when we played in finals here?”’
Wimbledon’s most successful player made the visit to SW19 a couple of days after revealing his prediction for the tournament.
Federer, 43, named Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Djokovic as the three favourites and said he slightly favoured two-time defending champion Alcaraz.
Asked how it felt to play in front of Federer, Djokovic said: ‘It’s probably the first time he’s come to watch me and I’ve won the match! The last couple I lost so it’s good to break the curse.
‘It’s great, obviously, to have Roger here. He’s a huge champion and someone I admire and respect a lot. It’s great for him to be back at his most successful and favourite tournament no doubt.’
Djokovic will face Flavio Cobolli in the next round after the Italian knocked out former US Open champion Marin Cilic to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Australian number one De Minaur was due to face Djokovic in the quarter-finals of this tournament last year but has to withdraw through injury.
The 26-year-old gave a superb account of himself on Centre Court but his quest to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final goes on.
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