Roger Federer had one unique ability that made him rule Wimbledon throughout his career. The Swiss maestro went on to win an astonishing eight Wimbledon titles, becoming one of the most successful players there. Federer used the serve and volley technique to perfection there and hardly gave any chances to his opponents. While not many players have been using that technique of late, Novak Djokovic wants to take a leaf out of Federer’s book to overcome difficult encounters at Wimbledon.

The Serb was up against Alex de Minaur in the round of 16 clash earlier today. Djokovic didn’t have the best of starts to the match, losing the first set 6-1. However, he came back strongly to win the next three sets and book his place in the quarterfinals. After the match, Djokovic gave a shoutout to Roger Federer, who was present in the stands, complimenting Federer’s skills on the court.

During his post-match interview, Djokovic said, “It was a very difficult encounter, a lot of challenging moments for me. Sometimes I wish I had a serve and volley and nice touch from the gentleman that’s standing there (Federer). That would help.”

Djokovic’s primary strength is playing from the baseline and engaging in long rallies. Seldom has he used serve and volley tactics, even on the grass courts at Wimbledon. However, with age, Djokovic has felt the need to shorten the rallies and utilize more of Federer’s tactics to prolong his career and also get out of tricky situations. Nonetheless, it comes with its disadvantages as Djokovic isn’t much used to serve and volleying, thereby increasing the chances of errors.

Meanwhile, Djokovic had to fend off a poor start and challenging conditions to triumph over de Minaur. After the match, he explained how he made a comeback after losing the first set.

Novak Djokovic is a master of comebacks

The Serb is in search of an elusive 25th Grand Slam title that will lead him to the record books. No player has ever managed such success and Djokovic is more determined than ever to make it count at this year’s Wimbledon.

During the post-match interview after defeating de Minaur, Djokovic said, “I am still trying to process the whole match and what happened on court. It wasn’t a great start for me, it was a great start for him. He broke my serve three times in the first set. Very windy, swirly conditions on the court. He was just managing better with the play from the back of the court.”

Further, he went on to add, “I didn’t have many solutions but I managed to reset myself. It was kind of a tough game to close out the second set. Perhaps that was a momentum shift where I just felt like ‘OK, I am back in the game’. It was a lot of cat-and-mouse play, a lot of slices and he is so good at it. He is one of the quickest players we have on the Tour and on grass where the ball bounces so low, it is extremely difficult to play someone like him if you are not feeling the ball really well. He exposes all your weaknesses and I was pleased to hang in tough in the right moments.”

With his win over de Minaur, Djokovic is in the quarterfinals of the tournament. He will next face Flavio Cobolli, and the match can be followed on EssentiallySports’ Live Blog. It’ll be interesting to see if Djokovic can win his 25th major title here at Wimbledon.