LONDON -- Novak Djokovic was pushed to five sets by No. 3 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime before the seven-time Wimbledon champion prevailed 7-6 (10), 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4) after more than five hours on Tuesday to set up a semifinal against defending champion Jannik Sinner.
When a forehand from Auger-Aliassime sailed wide after a long rally to give Djokovic a 9-4 lead in the final-set tiebreaker, both players leaned on their rackets in exhaustion. Djokovic, while he was leaning over, still found energy to encourage the crowd to cheer louder, waving his racket for more noise.
Then on his first match point, a big forehand from Djokovic led to another error from his 25-year-old Canadian opponent to end it after 5 hours, 15 minutes -- and just before the All England Club's 11 p.m. curfew took effect.
To celebrate, Djokovic raised his arms high and wide and took in the applause as he walked to the net to shake hands with Auger-Aliassime. Then Djokovic performed a little elbows-to-knees dance. He often mentions that his daughter tries to teach him moves.
It equaled the longest Wimbledon match of Djokovic's career, the 2018 semifinal against Rafael Nadal, which was his second longest at a major (2012 Australian Open final, also against Nadal, that went 5:53).
"With racket and a lot of heart," Djokovic said on-court of how he won, "and management of the nerves."
"These," he said, "are the kind of moments that I still play tennis for."
Djokovic continues to break records as he chases a 25th Grand Slam title. He's reached a record-setting eighth consecutive Wimbledon final four -- moving him one ahead of Roger Federer for most consecutive men's singles semifinal appearances at the grass-court tournament.
It was the 50th five-setter Djokovic has played at a major, breaking a tie with Stan Wawrinka for most in the Open era. His 38 wins in major matches to go the distance are the most by any man in tennis history.
In the first set, Djokovic dealt with what appeared to be a lower-leg issue. He grimaced during the ninth game, which he held to love for a 5-4 lead. Then he was treated by a trainer on the ensuing changeover and took a medical time out. The trainer tested the stability of his left ankle and calf before massaging Djokovic's calf muscle.
Djokovic had earlier leaned over to stretch his leg by pulling back the tip of his sneaker. He also stretched while standing at the back wall. There was more stretching the rest of the way, too -- especially late in the fifth set.
"It was really anybody's game in the super tiebreak in the fifth," Djokovic said.
There was an element of controversy after Auger-Aliassime won the second set to even the match at a set apiece, when the decision was made to close the Centre Court roof at 7:40 p.m.
Djokovic objected to the closure, telling Wimbledon tournament referee Denise Parnell that they could squeeze in another set before the natural light fades.
"We can play a whole another set outdoors. We're an outdoor tournament," Djokovic said. "You remember the first round? You didn't close it until like 8:20, 8:30 and now you want to close it at 7:40. Where's the consistency?
"You're so proud of your rules and you're not sticking to any kind of rules," Djokovic added.
He moved past it, however, becoming at age 39 the oldest semifinalist at a major since Ken Rosewall at the 1977 Australian Open (Rosewall was 42).
Since 2003, there has been at least one member of the "Big Three" -- Djokovic, Nadal or Federer -- in every Wimbledon semifinal. The last final four to not include them, in 2002, featured Lleyton Hewitt, David Nalbandian, Xavier Malisse and Tim Henman.
Djokovic's match against the top-ranked Sinner on Friday will mark the No. 7 seed's 55th career major semifinal appearance, the most by any man all-time. It will be their third semifinal meeting at Wimbledon in the past four years.
Sinner beat Djokovic in straight sets in last year's Wimbledon semifinals; and Djokovic outlasted the Italian over five sets in the last four of this year's Australian Open.
"I wish it was finals, so I don't need to worry about how the body will feel tomorrow," said Djokovic.
"I was telling the kids to go to sleep after the fourth (set) but they didn't want to listen. I'm glad they stayed because it was honestly one of the best matches I was part of on this court in my career."
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.