Novak Djokovic has roared back from two sets to love down against Italian youngster Jannik Sinner to book his place in the Wimbledon men's singles semi-finals.
In a match that was high on drama, defending champion Djokovic had to dig deep in his arsenal to overcome the Italian world number 13, who after the opening two sets and with a 7-5, 6-2 lead, appeared to have the match on his racket.
But after a brief bathroom break following the second set, the Serbian star returned a different player and used his experience to establish control over the free-swinging Sinner, before taking out the match 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory.
Djokovic would go on to laud Sinner's early performance before claiming his well-timed bathroom break and facing some hard truths in the mirror proved the difference.
"I think we had probably two different matches," Djokovic said.
"He was the better player for the first two sets.
"I went out for a toilet break and a little pep talk in the mirror.
"Sometimes in these type of circumstances where not much positive is happening for you these things are necessary … a little break and a pep talk and try to recuperate and regather the thoughts and reassemble.
"I broke his serve early in the set and that gave me a confidence boost and I saw a little bit of doubt in his game.
Even by Djokovic's own lofty standards, the comeback has been one of his best as he chases a seventh Wimbledon crown and a 21st overall grand slam singles title.
But while the win was impressive, the Serbian great's overall performance was at times out of sorts.
After racing out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, he could do nought but watch as Sinner ran rampant and reeled off five of the next six games to take the set 7-5, leaving Djokovic stunned and the Wimbledon crowd rocking as they threw the majority of their support behind the 20-year-old.
Djokovic could not do much to contain Sinner either.
The second set was a show of force by the Italian as he overpowered and outplayed his vastly more experienced rival and made him pay for a series of forehand errors and ill-advised drop shots, which resulted in little but Djokovic being broken repeatedly.
But then came the toilet break and Djokovic returning to the court with renewed vigour.
He started to up the intensity on his groundstrokes and look to match the power coming from Sinner.
And when he broke Sinner to live for a 3-1 lead looked every bit the warrior as he honed his own strength and used his vaunted defence to make Sinner play every possible shot.
He even played to the crowd when he broke and predictably got a mixture of cheers and jeers from the Centre Court crowd.
The intensity level remained high and Djokovic, after willing himself back into the match by taking the third, marched into the fourth by breaking Sinner in his first service game.
Sinner, though seemingly sensing the inevitable was coming, never gave up and even nearly injured himself when he rolled his ankle chasing a Djokovic drop volley, as he looked for one more miraculous winner to add to a a slew of them throughout the match.
As he clutched his ankle, Djokovic crossed the net to check on Sinner in a show of sportsmanship.
And while Djokovic gave him that, he gave Sinner zero mercy as he continued to pummel him in the final set, even hitting a miraculous sliding backhand pass late in the match that brought the crowd to its feet even as Djokovic lay on the grass.
Without a loss in four straight trips to The All England Club, Djokovic will next take on Brit Cameron Norrie in the semi-finals.
Norrie defeated Belgian veteran David Goffin in five sets 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 to become the first Brit to make the semi-finals since Andy Murray in 2016, when the Scot claimed his second Wimbledon title.
"I'm speechless. So happy to get through," Norrie said.
"It wasn't going my way at the beginning, I couldn't find my game. Thanks to you guys [the crowd] I managed to stay as patient as I could.
"It was all just adrenaline, use my legs and try and put the ball in court. It was great to get over the line."
"I had flashbacks of all the hard work, all the pre-seasons, all the sacrifices I have had to make. It pays off and it feels pretty good."
