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De Minaur ready for Djokovic showdown at Wimbledon 2024

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Alex de Minaur is among nine Australians scheduled to compete on day 10 at Wimbledon 2024.

London, Great Britain, 10 July 2024 | Leigh Rogers

A semifinal spot is the prize on the line when Alex de Minaur meets Novak Djokovic on day 10 at Wimbledon 2024.

The 25-year-old De Minaur is hoping to extend his career-best run at the All England Club and become the first Australian to beat the world No.2 at a Grand Slam in 18 years.

“I played Novak once in a Slam and it’s fair to say it was quite a challenge,” acknowledged De Minaur. “I’m looking forward to this match-up next time around. I think I’m a different player. I’m definitely looking forward to the challenge.”

De Minaur has proven he can beat the seven-time Wimbledon champion, scoring a straight-sets victory at the United Cup in Perth earlier this season.

“He’s going to be a tough battle, but the type of battle that I want to be playing,” said the world No.9. “These are the challenges that I want to take advantage of and go out there and show what I can do.”

Alex de Minaur v Novak Djokovic
Head-to-head record
Result Date Event Round Surface
Djokovic won 6-2 6-1 6-2 January 2023 Australian Open 4R Hard
De Minaur won 6-4 6-4 January 2024 United Cup QF Hard
Djokovic won 7-5 6-4 April 2024 Monte Carlo Masters QF Clay

Djokovic described De Minaur as “the quickest guy on tour”.

“He has improved so much I think in the last year and a half,” the 37-year-old Serbian said.

“I think his serve became a weapon. That maybe wasn’t the case before. He takes the ball so early. He’s not a afraid to come to the net. He’s a great all-around player.

“He’s now established in the top 10, 15 in the world. He also has plenty of experience in playing on a big stage in the latter stages of Grand Slams. I’m sure he’s going to come out on the court giving his all and believing he can win. He already beat me this year in Australia, so there’s no reason why he wouldn’t think that he can win that match. But obviously Grand Slam is a whole different game, I guess, but I like my chances.”

> READ: Australian legends rate De Minaur’s chances at Wimbledon 2024

Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson also have a chance to progress to a Wimbledon semifinal in the men’s doubles competition.

Yet to drop a set this tournament, the 15th seeds now face Argentine combination Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez in the quarterfinals. This is a rematch of a second-round match at the All England Club last year, which the Aussie duo won in three tight sets.

Thompson, who is enjoying a career-best run in a Grand Slam doubles draw, admitted he “didn’t watch a point” of their opponents’ third-round victory.

“We’ll just take the court and do our thing,” he said, confident they can build on their exceptional team record of 24 wins from their 28 matches this season.

> READ: Thompson hitting extraordinary new heights in doubles

Heath Davidson begins his campaign in the quad wheelchair singles competition, facing second seed and defending champion Niels Vink in a rematch of last year’s final, while top seeds Matt Ebden and Ellen Perez resume their rain-delayed first-round match in the mixed doubles competition, which has now extended across three days.

Aussie favourites Mark Woodforde, Ash Barty and Casey Dellacqua are also back on court in the invitational doubles events.

> READ: Nine Australian legends returning at Wimbledon 2024

Wimbledon is broadcast live in Australia on Stan Sport (from 8pm AEST) and the Nine Network (from 9.30pm AEST).

Aussies in action on day 10:

Men’s singles, quarterfinals
[9] Alex de Minaur (AUS) v [2] Novak Djokovic (SRB), Centre Court, second match

Men’s doubles, quarterfinals
[15] Max Purcell (AUS)/Jordan Thompson (AUS) v [11] Maximo Gonzalez (ARG)/Andres Molteni (ARG), Court 18, first match (from 8pm AEST)

Mixed doubles, first round
[1] Matt Ebden (AUS)/Ellen Perez (AUS) v Andres Molteni (ARG)/Asia Muhammad (USA), Court 18, fourth match, 3-6 3-2 to finish

Quad wheelchair singles, quarterfinals
Heath Davidson (AUS) v Niels Vink (NED), Court 9, fifth match

Boys’ singles, second round
[7] Hayden Jones (AUS) v Mees Rottgering (NED), Court 6, second match

Girls’ singles, second round
[3] Emerson Jones (AUS) v Eliska Tichackova (CZE), Court 11, fourth match, 1-0 to finish

Boys’ doubles, first round
Hayden Jones (AUS)/Pavle Marinkov (AUS) v [5] Marko Maksimovic (SRB)/Theo Papamalamis (FRA), Court 11, fifth match, 2-6 3-5 to finish

Girls’ doubles, first round 
[6] Emerson Jones (AUS)/Vittoria Paganetti (ITA) v Eliska Tichackova (CZE)/Lucie Urbanova (CZE), Court 6, seventh match

> VIEW: Full Wimbledon 2024 day 10 schedule

Find your way to play: Visit play.tennis.com.au to get out on court and have some fun!

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