Both men had to try to recover from epic semi-finals but from the moment Anderson double-faulted to lose the opening game, he was firmly on the back foot.

Djokovic, looking to win a 13th grand slam title and fourth Wimbledon, broke again in the fifth game and wrapped up the set 6-2.

The crowd were desperately willing Anderson to make a match of it and celebrated wildly when the South African, having again been broken in the opening game of the second set, finally held for 1-2.

But every time he did find something extra, Djokovic was equal to it.

The South African created his first break point as Djokovic served for the set but placed a backhand just over the baseline after a long rally and the Serbian wrapped it up 6-2 after an hour and 12 minutes.

Anderson was right in the match now and slowly the momentum began to shift. He created just his second break point of the match at 4-3 but could not take it, sending a backhand several inches over the baseline.

Djokovic was increasingly on the back foot in rallies, though, and he double-faulted twice to cough up two set points in his next service game only to hold his nerve and save them both.

On the first of them, the crowd roared prematurely when they thought he had missed a forehand, prompting the Serbian to put his finger to his lips and then pump his fist in their direction when he finally held.

It was reminiscent of his third-round win over Kyle Edmund, but this time it was less about bias towards his opponent than in favour of a great contest.

Anderson was certainly doing his best to create that, but three more set points came and went in the next Djokovic service game and they headed into a tie-break, where the Serbian quickly stamped his foot down and did not yield to win 6-2 6-2 7-6 (7/3).