Oh man, Djokovic must've breathed the biggest sigh of relief after that one. Imagine grinding your way through a brutal Centre Court battle, all while Federer’s sitting there in the Royal Box, probably looking cool as ever. No pressure, right? And Novak knows it he even joked about finally breaking the Federer curse after losing a couple times with Roger watching. Honestly, I get it. Playing in front of the GOAT? That’ll mess up even the steeliest mind.
De Minaur came out swinging, by the way. First set? Djokovic was all over the place double faults, getting broken three times, just generally looking like he’d left his mojo in the locker room. At one point, he was down 4-1 in the fourth, and I’ll admit, I was starting to mentally write his Wimbledon obituary. Nope. Not this guy.
Djokovic they don’t call him a seven-time champ for nothing somehow clawed his way back. Even when he was wobbling, he found those little flashes of brilliance. The crowd got a bit of the ear-cup celebration after a big point. Classic Novak, soaking up the drama. And De Minaur? Dude just wouldn’t go away. He kept Djokovic on the ropes, but when it really mattered, Novak put the hammer down five games in a row to close it out. You could almost see the life drain out of De Minaur.
Now, Djokovic is three wins away from snatching another Grand Slam and maybe even catching up to Federer’s Wimbledon record. Next up, he’s got Flavio Cobolli, with Sinner lurking in the semis if things go according to script. For a guy who looked cooked in set one, he’s sitting pretty.
At the end, Novak just said what everyone was thinking: “I don’t know how I’m feeling, to be honest. It wasn’t a great start for me.” No kidding, man. But as always, he dug in, weathered the storm, and, yeah, Federer finally got to see him win one in person. Took him long enough.