LONDON, (Reuters) – Roger Federer’s dream of winning a record-equalling ninth Wimbledon title ended with a heart-breaking 6-3 7-6(4) 6-0 quarter-final defeat by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz yesterday.
Before this fortnight, 14th seed Hurkacz had won only four matches on turf but no one would have guessed his lack of grasscourt pedigree after witnessing the stupendous display he put in against his own childhood idol.
Producing a dazzling array of winners as Federer struggled to handle his firepower, Hurkacz broke for a 4-2 lead with a vicious volley and that was enough for the Pole to take the first set.
It was inevitable that a man who had never before reached the second week of a major would suffer some jitters and when he surrendered his serve with a double fault to go 2-0 down in the second, it looked like the Federer comeback was starting to gather pace.
When the Swiss survived three break points to steam ahead 3-0 and then 4-1, the fans stopped biting their nails and settled back into their seats confident it would only be a matter of time before Federer levelled at one-set-all.
But the elegant Federer winners, which have dripped off his racket like liquid gold over the years, just dried up yesterday.
Instead there was a steady flow of misfiring backhands, netted volleys and shanked forehands. In all 31 unforced errors from Federer summed up a day he is unlikely to forget – but for all the wrong reasons.
All the cheers and standing ovations in the world could not save Federer from the Centre Court mauling as it seemed his 39-year-old body finally said enough is enough.
A Federer forehand into the tramlines handed Hurkacz the biggest win of his career, while fans were left wondering that should this turn out to be the Swiss’s final Wimbledon appearance, there could not have been a more cruel way to bow out than losing 6-0 in the final set of his 22nd appearance.
Never before had Federer been wiped out in a set at Wimbledon.
After celebrating his triumph with a flying leap, Hurkacz joined the near 15,000 fans who had packed into Centre Court to give Wimbledon’s favourite son a standing ovation as he made a swift exit from the arena.
“I don’t know if we will ever see the great man again here,” former champion Boris Becker said, voicing the fears of thousands of fans who had flocked to the All England Club to see him and millions more watching on TV.
Hurkacz was just two when Federer made his Wimbledon debut in 1999 and aged six when the Swiss won the first of his record 20 Grand Slam titles at the championships in 2003.
He will be hoping he can keep up his remarkable and unexpected winning run in a tournament where he has not only beaten Federer but also knocked out world number two Daniil Medvedev just a day earlier.
“It’s super special for me playing on this special court against Roger, it’s a dream come true,” said the 24-year-old, who will play Italian seventh seed Matteo Berrettini for a place in Sunday’s final.
“I’m super-proud and super-happy to be here. I cannot wait for the next one.”
Asked if he believed he could win, he replied: “Probably not!”
Federer, the winner of 20 Grand Slam titles, had been chasing Martina Navratilova’s All England Club record haul of nine singles titles.
