{"id":2032076,"date":"2026-07-07T23:23:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2032076"},"modified":"2026-07-07T23:23:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:23:32","slug":"novak-djokovic-asked-about-lionel-messi-after-an-epic-wimbledon-quarter-final-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2032076","title":{"rendered":"Novak Djokovic asked about Lionel Messi after an epic Wimbledon quarter-final win"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Novak Djokovic asked about Lionel Messi after an epic Wimbledon quarter-final win<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/kevin-palmer\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Kevin Palmer                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"08 Jul 2026 12:23 AM\" data-ps-date=\"08 Jul 2026 12:23 AM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1783466612\"><br \/>\n                            08 Jul 2026 12:23 AM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img 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border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Novak Djokovic asked about Lionel Messi after an epic Wimbledon quarter-final win\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Novak-Messi-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Novak Djokovic and Lionel Messi\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Novak Djokovic and Lionel Messi                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>We have rarely seen 39-year-old athletes rewriting the record books, but Novak Djokovic and Lionel Messi have never been normal sporting icons.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, they may just be two of the most abnormal athletes the world has ever seen.<\/p>\n<p>In a social media age of quick-fire judgements, genius is a word bestowed with a little too much haste in a modern world that tends to rush to judgement after an individual moment or two of brilliance.<\/p>\n<p>Yet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\">Djokovic<\/a> and Messi have been producing sporting miracles for two decades and on July 7 2026, they served up more.<\/p>\n<p>While Messi was digging Argentina out of a hole and guiding them to victory at the World Cup against Egypt, Djokovic spent five hours and 15 minutes winning the longest quarter-final in Wimbledon history as he beat Canada\u2019s Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(4) in a truly astonishing performance.<\/p>\n<h2>More Tennis News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/not-happy-novak-djokovic-issues-furious-complaint-wimbledon-quarter-final\">\u2018I am not happy\u2019 \u2013 Novak Djokovic issues furious complaint during Wimbledon quarter-final<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-suffers-injury-scare-wimbledon-match-felix-auger-aliassime\">Novak Djokovic suffers injury scare during Wimbledon match with Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Players half their age cannot maintain the level of energy and passion Djokovic and Messi continue to show, despite everything they have achieved and that makes their brilliance all the more admirable.<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic was asked about Messi in his post match press conference at Wimbledon and he said: \u201cIt would be nice to play 90 minutes like him!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He had a point and when Djokovic was asked how he beat an opponent who is 14 years his junior in such a gruelling match, he offered up some brutally honest confessions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI won that match with a racquet and a lot of heart. I had to do a lot of nerve management and I had to deal with the extreme tension that you feel in these kind of matches. Towards the end, it was really anybody\u2019s game. I think the scoreline was pretty much even all the way through, that\u2019s a realistic representation of this match today. It was really anybody\u2019s game in that super tie-break.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat can I say? These are the kind of moments I still play tennis for, that\u2019s for sure. I wish it was the final so I don\u2019t need to worry about how the body will feel tomorrow, but yes I\u2019m happy that I won. It certainly does carry more significance [when I win like that].<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was telling my kids to go to sleep after the fourth set, but they didn\u2019t want to listen. I\u2019m glad they stayed because it was honestly one of the best matches I\u2019ve been a part of on this court in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Djokovic will now play in a 15th Wimbledon semi-final and a simply ridiculous 55th Grand Slam semi-final overall, but it was clear that reflections of his achievements could ait as he was keen to get off court and start his recovery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s great, but it\u2019s just another semi-final for me,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m going to look at all the numbers and everything when I finish my career. Right now, it is all business. I still have to recover, I\u2019m still in the tournament and I still have to face the best player in the world in a few days time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The worry for Djokovic must be that even though his win against Auger-Aliassime was a moment to savour, it will have taken too much out of his battle-scarred body to give him a real shot at beating world No 1 Jannik Sinner in Friday\u2019s semi-final.<\/p>\n<p>Yet having defied the odds once again, Djokovic and Messi have confirmed you can never write off two of the greatest sporting champions of all-time.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/novak-djokovic-joao-fonseca-among-wimbledon-stars-hit-hefty-fines\">Novak Djokovic and Joao Fonseca among Wimbledon stars to be hit with hefty fines<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Novak Djokovic asked about Lionel Messi after an epic Wimbledon quarter-final win Kevin Palmer 08 Jul 2026 12:23 AM Novak Djokovic and Lionel Messi We have rarely seen 39-year-old athletes rewriting the record books, but Novak Djokovic and Lionel Messi have never been normal sporting icons. In fact, they may just be two of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-2032076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2032076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2032076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2032076\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2032076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2032076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2032076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}