Wimbledon reaches the quarterfinal stage Tuesday, featuring 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic against third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Naomi Osaka, fresh off her win over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, facing Karolina Muchova.
Djokovic's scrappy win over Roman Safiullin in the round of 16 got him the record for the most Wimbledon wins with 106 victories at the All England Club. But the 39-year-old still has major hurdles to cross before he can achieve his dream of a record 25th Grand Slam.
The 39-year-old has been dragged into four-set battles in the last two matches and his 3 1/2 hour contest with qualifier Safiullin left Djokovic knowing he had won ugly.
"I enjoy the battle. I enjoy the suffering in a sense, to some extent, even though I don't want it, I don't invite it," Djokovic said after his win over Safiullin.
"If it happens, you just have to grind and look for a way to win."
Djokovic faced third seed Auger-Aliassime twice in 2022, with each player winning once.
"I hope that I can show that I've improved as a player," the 25-year-old Canadian said about his clash with Djokovic.
"It's a big honor for me ... as a kid I didn't appreciate it as much, but now that I'm a player, the load of work he's done over the years, I mean, I'm not even near any of that. Just to think about it, it's crazy. You get dizzy just to think about it."
There were glimpses of the old Osaka in her dominant win over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the round of 16. The Japanese 14th seed, who is making headlines with her fashion at Wimbledon, is now being regarded as one of the top picks for the title.
The 28-year-old, who last won a Grand Slam in 2021, dominated the serve and her blistering forehands defused the attack of Sabalenka, who had beaten Osaka in three earlier meetings this year.
"I thought about it as a practice match. I was just telling myself, like, there's a really big crowd for this practice match, but we're going to get through it," said Osaka after reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon for the first time.
Osaka is up against a player who has now reached the quarter-finals three times, but never gone beyond that at the All England Club.
Muchova and Osaka have each won three of their six past matches, with the Czech 10th seed winning their only grass-court meeting at the Bad Homburg Open last month.
"I think we did a great decision that I played two tournaments before Wimbledon so I get few more matches to feel better on the grass," Muchova said after knocking out former Wimbledon champion and compatriot Barbora Krejcikova in the round of 16.
Defending champion and world number one Jannik Sinner faces a familiar foe in German first-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist Jan-Lennard Struff, whom the Italian has beaten in all three of their past meetings.
"Whatever happened in the past, it's gone already. Now we see if we found a solution. If not, we keep working for the next one," the four-time major winner said of his progress so far.
"Quarter-final of a Grand Slam, the feelings are different. There is definitely more tension. In the same time, I'm very happy where I am at the moment. Then we see how it goes."
Struff, 36, became the oldest man in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam last eight for the first time, when Hubert Hurkacz retired due to a hip injury during their round of 16 clash, while Struff was leading the fifth set 4-2.
"I'm very happy because it's a huge achievement for me. I'm 36, my first quarters, it's amazing ... trying to recover for the next one," Struff said.
