Novak Djokovic defies shock first set to defeat Alex de Minaur and enter 16th Wimbledon quarter final

Novak Djokovic has defied a shocking start to his round of 16 clash with Alex de Minaur, progressing through to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

"After a slow start, it was a fabulous finish," Todd Woodbridge said on Nine.

Wind caused havoc for Djokovic in the opening set during a dream start for the Australian.

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Serving first, Djokovic started with a double fault then hit an unreturnable ace.

"You can tell by the shirt there it's going to take a bit of adjustment early on to get the ball toss in the right position," Todd Woodbridge said on Nine.

"Serve percentages are going to be important as they always are."

De Minaur then had break point at 40-30 after another Djokovic double fault.

"That wind is an issue," John McEnroe said.

The Aussie held his serve to make it 2-0. Djokovic won the next game before De Minaur held again at 3-1.

"Djokovic appears to be more effected by the conditions so far than his opponent, he hasn't been able to click in quite yet the 38-year-old," McEnroe said.

The trouble continued for Djokovic when he was broken again to gift De Minaur a 4-1 lead. The final point came off another double fault.

De Minaur eventually closed out the set in a shock 6-1 result.

"I can't remember when I've seen (Djokovic) play a worse set than this, it's literally been years," McEnroe said, adding "he's absolutely disgusted in himself", as Djokovic rushed through in the final game.

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Unfortunately for de Minaur, the Djokovic we all know came out to play after the break.

In the second set, Djokovic returned to form, winning 6-4 as he fired up towards the crowd and his box with his usual antics.

The Serbian's class continued as he sealed the third 6-4 as well.

In the fourth set, it looked like de Minaur would force it to five. He was leading 3-0 and 4-1 but then Djokovic came home strong to win five games in a row and seal his 16th Wimbledon quarter-final.

"It wasn't a great start from me ... very windy, very swirly conditions on the court, he was managing better," Djokovic said post-match.

"I didn't have many solutions but I reset myself in the second, it was a tough game to close out in the second but that was maybe a momentum shift where I felt like, OK I'm back in the game."

A number of big-name stars were spotted in the stands at Centre Court with Roger Federer shaking the hand of English cricketing legend James Anderson at one stage.

Joe Root was also spotted, fresh off England's loss to India at Edgbaston.