Novak Djokovic stretches to hit a return to Marin Cilic during his Wimbledon quarter-final victory. Photograph: Al Bello/Getty Images
The top seed Novak Djokovic kept his hopes of a second Wimbledon title alive on Wednesday with a five-set victory over the big-serving Marin Cilic of Croatia. The 2011 champion rallied from two sets to one down to win 6-1, 3-6, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2 and claim his place in the semi-finals for the fifth successive year.
After defeat for the defending champion Andy Murray, Djokovic briefly looked like he might be going the same way when the No26 seed Cilic won the third-set tiebreak 7-4. But a break in the first game of the fourth set restored Djokovic's composure and after levelling the match, he broke twice in the decider to extend his record over Cilic to 10-0 and set up a semi-final with Murray's conqueror, Grigor Dimitrov.
'It was a tough five-setter,' Djokovic said. 'I knew Marin was going to be aggressive. It was a pretty even match in the first two sets - I played very well the first set but then he raised his game and I was frustrated because I allowed him to come back into the match. In the last two I felt like I regained control.'
Under the guidance of his new coach, the former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, the 6ft 6in Cilic has added more weight to his serve and generally become more aggressive. In the first set Djokovic's returns were at their scintillating best, putting the Croat off balance and pushing him back behind the baseline.
Cilic continued to go for his shots, though, and one break was enough to win the second set, setting up a humdinger of a third. Djokovic had chances to break Cilic in two of his first four service games but Cilic held on and broke Djokovic to lead 6-5. Typically, the world No2 broke straight back but when Cilic won the tiebreak 7-4 another shock looked a genuine possibility.
But in adversity, as he so often does, Djokovic found strength and he roared through the final two sets, finishing off victory with a fine serve and then a neat volley that his coach, Boris Becker, no doubt enjoyed.
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