Novak Djokovic closed the office door, turned up the volume on the computer and lost himself in Don Giovanni, an opera famed for its “pounding demonic energy”. Out he went and defeated Lleyton Hewitt, the former champion, in four sets full of requisite pounding demonic energy to reach his first Wimbledon quarter-final, where he will need more of the same today to quell Marcos Baghdatis, the cavalier Cypriot.

Just because you are a bit of a party animal, like to live on the edge, behave like a 20-year-old is supposed to behave – his rendition of Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive on French television during the tournament at Roland Garros was a peach of a performance and he could challenge Rory Bremner for mimickry expertise – does not equate with a dislike of the classical genre. As Djokovic closed his eyes and tilted his head back to relish Mozart’s finest, one saw this dynamic Serb in a new light.

Djokovic is the find of the year in men’s tennis. He has played 55 matches, losing ten, winning titles on three different surfaces – Rebound Ace, hard court and clay, reaching the final in the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, the semi-finals of the French Open and entering Wimbledon at No 5 in the world. He has also beaten Andy Murray in two semi-finals for the loss of six games in total, although it could be argued that the British No 1 was not fit enough to challenge in either.

By the by, Murray is almost certain to miss the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles the week after next, scheduled as his comeback tournament from the wrist injury he suffered when mistiming a forehand on heavy clay in May.

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Federer reminded me of the young girls in Bali who perform intricate movement in an altered state of consciousness

Simon Barnes

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BACKGROUND

• Federer equals Borg's famous five

• Swiss maestro survives Nadal barrage

• Murray’s mixed blessing ensures domestic bliss

• Fans starting to feel short-changed

• Results from SW19

Related Internet Links

• Rafael Nadal blog

• The Wimbledon blog

• Wimbledon Timeline

Multimedia

• Wimbledon match tracker

• Flushing Meadows Image Highlights

• 2007 Wimbledon draw

Related Links

• Djokovic the joker in pack full of tricks

• Woods sends cheeky message to Federer

• Baghdatis causes steady rise in interest rates

This suggests that Murray’s recovery was always going to be as long as the initial reports of the severity of the tendon tear had indicated. Rather than fly to the United States this week as had been planned, Murray has another consultant’s appointment to keep.

Djokovic, paradoxically, is playing without let or hindrance. It had to be that way on No 1 Court yesterday if the youngest player left was to see off Hewitt, the Australian being touted as the man most likely to come through and challenge Roger Federer – confidently assuming he reaches his fifth final – from the carnage that the bottom half of the men’s draw had become.

The tennis was pulsating, 90 per cent of it engaged from the back of the court, where constant scuffing has left brown, skiddy patches. Most of the rallies were so long and required such mental fortitude that for Djokovic to win the majority of them and, indeed, be the one to lure Hewitt into the greater proportion of errors, spoke to the heart of his combative nature.

He said that he regarded it as his most valuable grass-court win. “It was one of the best matches at this year’s Wimbledon,” he said (dead right). “I still don’t imagine myself as a grand-slam champion” (he should). The score was 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 and Djokovic added: “Considering the fact I am only 20 years old, it is always good to see that in the most important moments, especially against a player like Hewitt, I can win the important points [his career tie-break record is 45-16, which is quite something].

There are unlikely to be quite the number of 40-plus-stroke rallies against Baghdatis. Djokovic has added to his coaching coterie Mark Woodforde, the Australian who earned his corn from a remarkable doubles career, although there remains a reluctance to trust himself at the net. The thought kept occurring that such is the pride of the young man, Djokovic preferred to beat Hewitt from the back of the court. It was the macho thing to do.

Speaking of which, Rafael Nadal did not take too kindly to being two sets down on No 2 Court yesterday to Mikhail Youzhny, a Russian who was having a blinder, barely missing a first serve, punctuating the first two sets with glorious winners, so much so that Nadal was being metaphorically measured for his plot on the graveyard court.

But Youzhny felt something amiss in his back, requiring three sessions of manipulation, tried desperately to urge himself on, but Nadal was having none of it. The Spanish No 2 seed won 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 – including in it a 130mph serve, his fastest on grass – the second year in succession at Wimbledon and the third time in his career that he has come from two sets down to win. Today, he plays Tomas Berdych, of the Czech Republic, who has never lost a five-set match on the nine occasions that he has been asked to go the distance. If he has to play a tenth today, what a set that will be.

Quarter-finals

(1) R Federer (Switz) v (20) J C Ferrero (Sp) to finish, 5-5 (3) A Roddick (US) v (12) R Gasquet (Fr) (10) M Baghdatis (Cyp) v (4) N Djokovic (Serbia) (7) T Berdych (Cz) v (2) R Nadal (Sp)