India, July 8 -- A great deal of running took place along the baseline. cross-court, down the line, backhand and forehand, left and right. Again, and again. And once more.

It wasn't until Alex de Minaur hit a backhand slice that landed far outside the court to conclude the play. The longest at this Wimbledon tournament, that rally lasted 35 shots. It gave Novak Djokovic a 2-1 lead in the second set by a break.

The Serbian responded by raising a finger to his ear, urging the audience to cheer him louder, and throwing in a few fist pumps as well. It wasn't until more than an hour into the game on Monday that Djokovic was finally motivated.

After a somewhat subdued defeat in the first set, he rebounded to win De Minaur 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, earning him his 16th quarterfinal appearance at the All England Club.

In his on-court interview following the match, Djokovic stated, "It wasn't a great start from me, it was a great start from (De Minaur).". The court had "very windy, very swirly conditions." (De Minaur) was handling the situation more effectively. To be honest, I didn't have many options, but I sort of reset myself during the second set. I was only happy to hold on strong at the appropriate times and win this one.

The couple first met on a grass court in this instance. The Australian withdrew from the quarterfinal match at Wimbledon last year due to an injury. The 26-year-old, however, was prepared for the chase on Monday.

The Sydney man is one of the quickest players on the tour right now, using counter-punches. Although he doesn't have any clear weaponry on his groundstrokes, he has the heart and legs to chase down even the toughest balls.

For this reason, 38-year-old Djokovic, who was aware that there would not be many quick points, found him to be a challenging customer.

"To be honest, I obviously love winning in straight, if I can," said Djokvoic, "but on days like this when you advance in the competition, the matches will only get harder." For the last few years, Alex has maintained a position in the top 10 or 15. On this surface, it's quite challenging to compete against him. I was a little anxious going into this game because I had never faced him on this pitch. In the first set, that showed in my game.

In order to help his opponent, Djokovic did attempt to prevent the match from becoming a baseline battle. The Serb, on the other hand, varied his game, chipped and charged, served and volleyed, and approached the net 52 times, scoring 35 points.

However, he ultimately understood that he would have to work hard to earn the victory.

"Sometimes I wish I had the gentleman's serve and volley and delicate touch." That would help," Djokovic remarked with a smile, pointing in the direction of Roger Federer, the eight-time Wimbledon champion, who was watching the match from the Royal Box on Centre Court. "But I can't complain; I still have to run. It's a big part of my game, and I have to run a lot."

The game was tied at one set apiece when Djokovic broke De Minaur's serve at the ideal time—when De Minaur was serving at 4-4. The seven-time Wimbledon winner then served out the set at 30.

However, De Minaur seemed to be the more astute of the two players in the fourth set, and he quickly jumped out to a 4-1 lead.

The legendary John McEnroe said during commentary at the time that Djokovic had a 41-11 fifth set record in Grand Slams. However, at that point, Djokovic changed course. He started to accelerate the speed of his groundstrokes and force the Australian player back and forth over the court until he could hit a winner.

He won five straight games from 1-4 down, securing the match with a powerful forehand down the line that De Minaur pursued but was unable to reach.

Despite having a stomach illness, he prevailed in his first round match. After that, there was an almost flawless performance in the second and third rounds. He demonstrated his preparedness and ability to grind it out on Monday in the pursuit of the elusive Grand Slam. No.25.

The globe is next. Flavio Cobolli, number 24.

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