With Roger Federer, an eight-time Wimbledon winner, sitting in the front row of the Royal Box, so little went right at the outset for the 38-year-old Djokovic on the grass below during a breezy afternoon with the temperature in the 60s Fahrenheit (teens Celsius), a week after matches were contested in record-breaking heat.

Novak Djokovic overcame a slow start to defeat Alex de Minaur in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon on Monday. Djokovic dropped the first set of the match before he ultimately moved one step closer to his eighth Wimbledon title with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over de Minaur.

The match started with one of the poorest sets the Serbian star has ever played and turned into an absorbing war of attrition as the Australian went “toe-to-toe with one of the greats”.