Djokovic’s Wimbledon campaign saved by breathing exercises and yoga

In his eyeline as he served towards the Royal Box end was an immaculate individual in dark sports jacket, black tie and shades: a vision of the easy life he chooses not to take.

For an hour or so, as a difficult wind swirled and Novak Djokovic trudged around the court with an air of bleak resignation, he seemed to belong up there alongside Roger Federer: consigned to the coterie of greats whose tennis race is run.

Federer was utterly implacable as Djokovic struggled in front of him, offering no applause to any point; cognisant of the dull ache that comes with a realisation that age has reduced you to something ordinary. A player who can be broken three times in the space of a half-hour first set, as Djokovic was.’

‘Sometimes I wish had a serve and volley and nice touch from the gentleman who is right there,’ Djokovic said at the end of it all, having reached a 16th quarter final here. ‘That would help!’

Federer smiled beneficently and took the applause, though Djokovic shared a lot of it too, this time. It’s hard to recall an occasion when Centre Court embraced him quite so much. His struggle and vulnerability seemed to endear him to the place.

He required no doctor’s ‘miracle pills’ this time, instead applying ice to his stomach and embarking on yogic stretches and breathing exercises, as he contended with the weapons of Alex de Minaur. Weapons, like immense pace and slices which are treacherous with the grass’s low bounce. Not the kind of challenge any 38-year-old relishes. ‘He exposes all your weaknesses,’ Djokovic reflected.

The Djokovic recovery was ground out and did not speak of invincibility. A monumental 19-minuted second game in the second set in which he, after nine deuces, recovered the break he’d just lost. He asked for some audience response to his improving level.

The fourth set was also a struggle – 3-0 down and a break point away from going 5-1 behind – but he ground on inexorably, winning 14 of the last 15 points. De Minaur’s valiance was simply not enough. 

The ice packs and yoga did not point to a physical problem, Djokovic related. ‘I was trying to manage the breathing after 30 plus shots rallies from the back of court. You need a breather and don’t have much time.’

If evidence were needed of how Djokovic is contending with the next generation now, it comes in a quarter final against the 23-year-old Italian Flavio Cobolli, whom he spoke of paternalistically on Monday night.

Djokovic declared himself ‘pleasantly surprised’ with the progress on grass of Cobolli, who has been hitting with the Serbian’s son here. ‘He’s a big fighter. We get along well. We practice whenever we can. 

‘We just had a hug. We embraced each other after the match when we saw each other on the terrace.

‘Let the better player win. What can I say? It’s quarterfinals now. I definitely need to work on my game and start the match in quarters better than I did today.’

When it was put to Djokovic that his former coach Goran Ivanisevic says the Serbian is the favourite to beat Carlos Alcaraz and win here, he offered a pragmatic response.

‘I love Goran, and I’m happy he loves me back, but I don’t think I’m a favourite,’ he said. ‘But I think I do have a chance. There’s no doubt about it. I think my results on grass even in the previous years are a testament to my confidence on this surface.

‘I’ve been playing some really good tennis this year. So I feel good about myself. I feel confident. I feel motivated to go all the way. Let’s see what happens.’

There’s the added incentive of matching the seven Wimbledon titles of that man in the jacket and shades, of course, and how much he would cherish that. 

Sentiment did not extend to a long talk with Federer, who will not want to be eclipsed. ‘He congratulated me afterwards and said it was a great match,’ Djokovic related, with the air of a man who has business to do. ‘That’s all. It was a very short greeting.’