That came right after Djokovic got broken for the first time in the match and was part of a stretch of three games in a row for Edmund.

Djokovic also had his right arm worked on during his first-round victory on day one of the tournament, but he got a chance to let that arm sit idle for a bit, benefiting from a walkover in the second round, then a retirement after only six games in the third.

Until the issues resurfaced in the third set against Edmund, Djokovic appeared rather rested and ready.

After about 75 minutes on Sunday, Djokovic was ahead by two sets and a break. He produced various bits of magic along the way: a jumping, head-fake drop shot at an impossible angle; a stretching angled cross-court backhand pass that drew an errant volley from Edmund; a body-contorting defence-to-attack forehand that drew a roar from spectators.

“I made Kyle work for each point,” said Djokovic, whose quarter-final opponent is No 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the man he beat in the 2008 Australian Open final for the first of his 12 major championships. “I wanted to move him around the court.”

Djokovic even cracked a smile after one effortless exchange in which he ran Edmund this way and that before dropping a backhand winner right near the baseline early in the third set.

And yet it was in that same game that Edmund began his mini-run. At the ensuing changeover, Djokovic was visited by the trainer, who pressed a thumb just above the back of the player’s right elbow, while manipulating that joint in various ways. Edmund broke for a second consecutive time to suddenly lead 3-2 as Djokovic’s coach, Boris Becker, looked on from the stands, grim-faced.

That, though, was that. Djokovic broke back to 3-all, and after a trade of service holds, he took the last two games. He has reached at least the quarter-finals at 29 of the past 30 grand slam tournaments – the exception was his loss in the third round of Wimbledon in June against Sam Querrey.