Just hours before he was due to play seven-times champion Djokovic on Centre Court in his first quarter-final at the All England Club on Wednesday, Australia's No.1 had to admit defeat to the painful injury which he's been told could sideline him for between three to six weeks.
It means his dream of playing at the Olympics for the first time, following his misery at missing Tokyo through COVID-19, looks set to be dashed too.
The No.9 seed suffered the injury cruelly in the dying moments of his fourth-round match against Arthur Fils on Monday, a result that set him up for his maiden last-eight appearance at SW19 and a dream date in the sport's greatest arena against Djokovic.
Now his withdrawal on Wednesday morning has given Djokovic a free pass into the semi-final, where he'll face Taylor Fritz or Lorenzo Musetti on Friday.
Alex de Minaur's muted reaction after the victory over Arthur Fils was that of a resigned figure. (AP PHOTO)
"I'm devastated but I had to pull out due to a hip injury, a little tear of the fibre cartilage that kind of is at the end or connects to the adductor," the crestfallen de Minaur explained at a hastily called news conference.
"I felt a loud crack during the last three points of my match against Fils, and a scan yesterday confirmed the injury and that I was at high risk of making it worse if I was to step on court.
"They haven't been able to give me a definite recovery time because it's such a unique injury. Right now, it could be anywhere from three-to-six weeks out, it just depends how quickly my body heals.
"The problem with me going out and playing was that one stretch, one slide or one anything, could make this injury go from three to six weeks out to four months, so it was too much to risk."
De Minaur had one last hit-out with his Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt on the Aorangi Park practice courts on Wednesday morning but it was obvious he couldn't move properly without pain.
Asked what he had been through physically and emotionally, de Minaur said: "It's devastating. No way to beat around the bush, I haven't really been able to enjoy what I've achieved this week because I knew as soon as I felt that pop, something bad had happened.
"It's been two days of worrying, and waiting to see what the results showed. In the grand scheme of things, it could have been worse.
"I have been struggling to sleep the last couple of days. I feel it walking, just hoping I would wake up and feel it a little bit less, or that I could at least go on court.
"But I think it's almost disrespectful for me not to go on the court close to 100 per cent against someone like Novak.
"This is a completely unique injury they've got very little research on. There's four years worth of research, so that's why they couldn't give me an approximate recovery time.
"It's more just hope, wait and see. I'm hoping the pain goes down with a bit of rest."
De Minaur is due to play both singles and doubles, alongside Alexei Popyrin, Djokovic's third-round victim here.
Novak Djokovic is into a record-equalling 13th Wimbledon semi-final with his walkover. (AP PHOTO)
He had seemed to be having an armchair ride towards the meeting with Djokovic - until the fateful final moments against Frenchman Fils.
Stretching to make the winning volley in a fine win over Fils, his muted immediate post-match celebration made it obvious how bad it was.
"What hurts so much more is knowing I'm so close, closer than ever before," said the 25-year-old, who could still move into the world's top-six for the first time next week.
But the walkover offers Djokovic yet another slice of tennis history, meaning he's in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the 13th time, equalling Roger Federer for the most by any man in the tournament's history.
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