After Latest Victory, Novak Djokovic Says He Wishes He Had Roger Federer’s Strong Suit

Roger Federer was in the Royal Box to watch Novak Djokovic’s latest match at Wimbledon on Monday.

And although No. 6 Djokovic advanced to his 16th Wimbledon quarterfinal with a four-set win over No. 11 Alex de Minaur, the Serbian legend said he wished he had a bit of Federer’s touch to make the match less complicated.

“It was a very difficult encounter, a lot of challenging moments for me,” the 24-time major champ said after his 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory propelled him into the final eight. “Sometimes I wish I had a serve and volley and nice touch from the gentleman that is standing right there. That would help.”

Djokovic was pointing towards Federer, an eight-time Wimbledon champ, who retired in 2022 with 20 major titles and was known for his deft touch and ability to serve-and-volley effectively. With three more victories, Djokovic would tie the Swiss legend with an eighth title and would record a record 25th major title.

Djokovic has appeared in six straight Wimbledon finals, losing the last two to Carlos Alcaraz.

Djokovic will face No. 22 Flavio Cobolli of Italy in the quarterfinals on Wednesday after the Italian beat former Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic in four sets.

If Djokovic wins that match, he could face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in Friday’s semifinals. Sinner was set to face No. 19 Grigor Dimitrov later Monday in the round of 16.

Djokovic touched his stomach several times against de Minaur, but said it wasn’t an issue.

“No, it was all good,” he said. “It was just trying to manage sometimes the breathing. Obviously, after 30 plus, you know, shots rallies from back of the court, you need a breather, and you don’t have much time, so maybe that was that was the case.”

Asked how he felt about winning in four sets vs straights, Djokovic said, “Well, I obviously love winning in straights, to be honest, if I can. But in the days like this, where obviously as you progress in the tournament, the match is only going to get tougher, and you know Alex has been now established top 10-15 player for the last couple of years. And he’s very tough to play against on this surface. But hey, I can’t complain, you know, but I still have to run. I have to run a lot, and that’s fine, you know, it’s part of my game.”