London
CNN
–
If Novak Djokovic had time to shake off his troubles and share a dance with his son and daughter, that was after being tested to his limits against Alex de Minaurus in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday.
Serbia fought through four sets of battles against Australia’s 11th seed at Centre Court, eventually finding a way to secure a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, 3 hours of play.
However, although he appears to be physically and mentally exhausted after the match point, Djokovic still had the energy to perform a new festive dance with the children watching from the stands. His son Stephen saw him join the movement after surpassing De Minauru.
Inspired by Danzel’s 2004 song, the dance saw a new popularity at Wimbledon this year, performing with the kids after the 24-time Grand Slam champions won the match.
Moves involve Djokovic raising his fist, then to the left, then to the right, and finally pumping towards the sky.
His daughter Tara stole the show after her father’s third round victory on Saturday, pushing herself into the front of the stands to perform the dance moves of “Pump It Up” while Djokovic was interviewed.
“It is called “pumpa” in our language and “pump it up” in English. There’s a song with my kids,” Djokovic explained on Saturday.
“And my daughter is doing it now,” continued Djokovic. “You want to show it, darling? You want to show it what it will turn out?”
Tara smiled and shrugged, sparking joy from the crowd and held the demonstration.
“She’s the master,” Djokovic said. “We have a bit of a tradition we have right now, so we hope we can continue to keep pumping more at Wimbledon.”
The artist behind the song, Danzel posted a video of Djokovic explaining the dance on Instagram, saying it was “honor” that inspired the new celebration.
There were a lot of times during Monday’s match when Djokovic seemed unable to do his new dance craze.
Djokovic looked out past his best in the opening exchange and initially struggled to succumb to the court’s gust of wind conditions.
The first set was particularly inexplicable. DeMinaur Breaking Jjokovic’s service took a one-set lead in the match in three times.
The second start was equally unstable, with both players quickly and continuously breaking each other’s serves. The set also included an energy depletion game that lasts for only 24 minutes.
Djokovic, 38, began to get frustrated at the end of the second set after the net seemed to have helped De Minaurus several times, but all that anxiety and tension leapt out into his team with an almighty cry after he concluded the second set.
It then appeared that seven Wimbledon champions found his form and won the third set, taking a big step towards the next round. However, De Minaur began the race at the start of the fourth and broke Jjokovic’s serve early.
With many hopes that the match would be in the decisive set, Djokovic fell twice to level him up and advance to the quarterfinals.
“(de Minaur) is very good,” Djokovic said in a post-game interview in court. “He’s one of the fastest players with the ball bouncing very low, if not the fastest player on the tour or on the grass. If you’re not feeling the ball, it’s very difficult to play someone like him.
“I was so happy to be able to hang tough at the right moment and win this.”
Djokovic also added the pressure to perform in front of tennis legend Roger Federer, who was a special guest on the Royal Box.
The 43-year-old smiled when Djokovic let out a special cry at him during the interview. Serbia has equally bid for the men’s records for eight Wimbledon titles at this year’s tournament.
“This is probably the first time he’s seen me and I won the match,” joked Djokovic.
“I’m the last couple I’ve lost, and it’s great to have Roger here. The huge champion and the person I admire and admire.”
Djokovic is about to recover from Monday’s tough encounter before facing Flavio Koboli in the next round.
