Roger Federer blamed for ‘shocking’ Novak Djokovic scare at Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic recovered from an alarming scare to book his place in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in front of his old rival Roger Federer.

Djokovic produced what John McEnroe described as ‘his worst set in years’ as Alex de Minaur won a one-sided opener 6-1 in 30 minutes.

The seven-time champion was broken three times in the first set by a player who is yet to reach a semi-final of a Grand Slam.

Djokovic was also broken twice in the second set – while saving multiple other break points – but did enough damage on the De Minaur serve to level the match.

The 38-year-old’s revival continued in the next two sets as Djokovic completed the comeback to secure his place in a 16th Wimbledon quarter-final.

Eight-time Wimbledon champion Federer was one of the guests in the Royal Boy on Centre Court and some fans suggested his presence affected Djokovic’s performance.

Djokovic is bidding to match Federer’s all-time record of eight Wimbledon titles while also chasing a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam singles title.

‘The pressure of playing in front of Roger Federer is clearly impacting Novak Djokovic at the moment,’ one fan said on social media.

Others accused Djokovic of ‘choking’ and ‘getting nervous’ in the presence of his old rival, who retired in 2022.

Federer made the visit to SW19 a couple of days after revealing his prediction for the tournament.

The 43-year-old tennis icon named Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Djokovic as the three favourites and said he slightly favoured two-time defending champion Alcaraz.

Djokovic will face Flavio Cobolli in the next round after the Italian knocked out former US Open champion Marin Cilic to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

More to follow…