The Danish sixth seed missed out on converting any of the six break points he earned in the opening set, and then found himself a set and 4-2 down after surrendering his own serve with two successive double faults.

Through all that mental turmoil, he never lost belief and the 20-year-old came storming back with some phenomenal shot making as he became the first Dane in 65 years to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

It was little wonder he was left screaming into the skies and thumping his chest after the near 3-1/2 hour battle ended when Dimitrov’s backhand floated into the tramlines on Rune’s first match point.

He will next meet either fellow 20-year-old and world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz or big-hitting Italian Matteo Berrettini for a place in the semifinals.