'Not super excited': Djokovic's compliment for Demon
After Australia's No.1 de Minaur and the man considered by many to be the sport's GOAT Djokovic set up their Wimbledon last-16 date with accomplished victories on Saturday, they both conceded it should be a terrific contest.
De Minaur, who beat Danish qualifier August Holmgren in straight sets, has been itching to get his chance for the Wimbledon clash against the seven-time champ that he had hoped to enjoy last year until injury struck, admitting: "It's exciting.
"These are the matches you want to be playing in. You don't want to go through a draw or a grand glam and feel like everything has been handed to you. You ultimately want to be beating the best players, and that's my focus.
"Novak has completed the game, right? He's broken all the records,. It's amazing for him to still be showing up and still showing that fire and desire to win more."
But Djokovic doesn't sound quite so enthusiastic about coming up against the hungry Australian, paying him the ultimate compliment by suggesting: "You're not super excited to play Alex de Minaur on grass, that's for sure!
"He has improved his game tremendously in the last couple years. He's playing the tennis of his life. He's definitely knocking on the door of the final stages of grand slams.
"He's gotten to the quarters several times. Yeah, last year he had to pull out unfortunately because of his injury, but this year again he's there.
"He's playing well. He's so quick and he's a complete player, all around, gaining pace on his serve, as well. He hits his spots very well.
"It's going to be a great test to see where my game is at against a top player like Alex."
It was another landmark occasion for Djokovic as he celebrated his 100th match win at Wimbledon - a 6-3 6-0 6-4 win over Miomir Kecmanovic - to join Martina Navratilova and Roger Federer as the only players to do so.
"I try not to take anything for granted" 🥹Novak Djokovic is still giving everything he's got on the court - and what a match it was to take him to a century of #Wimbledon wins 👊 pic.twitter.com/df9ShJ7giN
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 5, 2025
"Any history I make at my favourite tournament, I'm blessed," said Djokovic.
But even the great man on his landmark day couldn't keep the limelight from his seven-year-old daughter Tara, who stole the show with her victory dance.
After doing his own version of the post-match victory celebration, Djokovic had been trying to explain it was the family's accompaniment to a song called "Pump It Up".
"There's a song with my kids — look my daughter's doing it right now," a smiling Djokovic said as he looked into the crowd. "You want to show it, darling?"
Tara then showed everyone how it's done - pump your fists down, then left, right and overhead.
The crowd roared and laughed. "She's the master," said Djokovic. "It's a little tradition we have right now. Hopefully we can keep going so we can keep pumping more in Wimbledon."
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