For a heady half-hour Alex de Minaur was in dreamland, for three hours he was in contention, but ultimately he was unable to achieve what would have been one of the biggest wins of his career and knock over Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.

De Minaur won the first set 6-1, stunning Djokovic, the Centre Court crowd, and millions watching on television.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Novak Djokovic overcomes fighting Aussie.

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But Djokovic was not going to let his own dream of winning a record 25th grand slam, eclipsing Margaret Court, slide away. He refocused and came back to defeat de Minaur 1-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 in three hours, 19 minutes to reach his 16th Wimbledon quarter-final.

“I didn’t have many solutions in the first set,” Djokovic said. “There were a lot of challenging moments for me.

“It was a tough game to close out the second set, I felt that was a momentum shift.”

It was, but as late as midway through the fourth set De Minaur had a break and looked set to force a fifth only for Djokovic to up a gear and ruthlessly finish off the 11th-seed winning 14 of the last 15 points.

“I felt like I put myself in a great position,” De Minaur said. “I’m disappointed I didn’t manage to win that fourth (set).

“He lifted his level big-time.

“I had a chance to break him and get the double break. He started going after it a little bit more and raised his level, which completely changed the momentum.

“I’m frustrated I let that set slip away. But he’s been pretty good in big moments for a very long time.

“In the bigger moments today I think my level dipped, and I didn’t rise to the occasion as I needed to if I wanted to beat someone as good as him.

“There’s positives (from the match) but where I am in my career I want more. I want to be on the other side of this match coming out on top because that’s the next step in my career.

“If I’m going to make the next step, these are the types of matches that need to start going my way.

“The right thing to do, to tell myself, ‘Hey, I was close, I probably should have been into a fifth set, and who knows what happens in that fifth set against Novak at Wimbledon and one of his best grand slams’. I should be telling myself that.

“But right now... I won’t see that side of things. It’s still too early. It’s a little bit more about, ‘yes, I lost to Novak, but I lost in the fourth round when I was hoping for more this week’.”

Pressed, De Minaur did list the positives, but nevertheless ended on a negative.

“From the back of the court I went toe-to-toe with one of the greats. I was definitely taking it to him and probably felt like I had the upper hand if we had indeed got into a rally.

“I was moving the ball well. I was hurting him from the baseline and gave myself plenty of opportunities and chances. The returning, I’m always going to give myself chances. I’m always going to put a lot of the pressure on my opponent, and I did that today.

“What I need to improve on is the serve. When (Djokovic) needed it, he really raised his serving. It felt like he was breezing through games.

“The serve needs to get me out of trouble, needs to help me in big moments, needs to step up if I want to win these matches.”

De Minaur had been waiting a year for this match, having been forced to withdraw from a quarter-final date with Djokovic last year due to the hip injury that dogged him through the back half of last year.

The 26-year-old had beaten Djokovic at Perth in the United Cup in the interim, but to do so at Wimbledon, where the Serb has won seven times, would be something else entirely.

But while he is a champion, he is an aging one: the 38-year-old was bidding to become the third oldest Wimbledon quarter-finalist after Ken Rosewall in 1974 and Roger Federer in 2021.

The latter was watching from the Royal Box, along with England Ashes veterans Joe Root and James Anderson, and must have been astonished by what he was watching as de Minaur swept the first set.

Djokovic double-faulted on the very first point of the match and while he followed that with an ace down the centre the tone had been set.

Troubled by a gusting wind the Serb struggled with his serve dishing up four double faults in the set, getting fewer than half his first serves in and winning the point on only 18 per cent of his second serves.

He also made 16 unforced errors prompting former Wimbledon champion John McEnroe to state on BBC commentary, “I can’t remember when I have seen him play a worse set than this, it’s literally been years. It’s incredible to see him play like this.”

But that was to give insufficient credit to de Minaur. His trademark scurrying seemed even more effective than usual, covering the grass with extraordinary speed but arriving at the ball with the composure and poise to deliver some superb passing shots and drop volleys.

While the first set was a mind-blowing walkover what followed was a lot more competitive. The sun came out, the wind dropped, and Djokovic found his rhythm.

But de Minaur was equal to the challenge. Djokovic claimed the second set but it took him more than an hour as the pair traded breaks of serve and he had to save a break point when serving for the set.

The third stanza was studded with magnificent shots from both, with each applauding the other. But Djokovic secured the first break, in the ninth game, and served out.

The Australian would not go quietly, snagging an early break to race into a 3-0 lead in the fourth set. But at 4-1 he failed to take a break point and that proved crucial.

The end came quickly as Djokovic broke, and broke again.

“It wasn’t a great start for me, it was a great start for Alex de Minaur obviously. I kind of reset myself in the second set,” Djokovic said.

“I was very pleased to hang in tough in the right moments and win this one.”

“It’s probably the first time (Roger is) watching me and I’ve won the match.

“The last couple I lost, so good to break the curse.

“No, it’s great, obviously, great to have Roger, a huge champion and someone that I admired and respected a lot.

“We shared the stage for so many years, and it’s great to have him back.”

The veteran also admitted, somewhat surprisingly, that he had been nervous about the match.

“Alex de Minaur has been an established top 10 or top 15 player for the last couple of years so he is very tough to play against, especially on this surface,” he said.

“So I was definitely more nervous coming into this match and I think that reflected in the first set.

“It was a very difficult encounter, a lot of difficult moments for me. Sometimes I wish I had a serve and volley or a nice touch like Roger Federer’s, that would help. But hey, I can’t complain. I still have to run a lot and that’s fine, it is part of my game.”

De Minaur was warmly cheered as he left court, with Djokovic leading the applause, but it was another case of so near, but so far.

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