Federer's Hopes Of 9th Wimbledon Killed As He Crashes Out With Straight Sets Loss

Roger Federer's hopes of winning a ninth Wimbledon title were ended by a quarter-final loss to Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.

The 39-year-old had played himself into form through the first week at the All England Club to raise hopes of an improbable trophy run after two knee operations and a month short of his 40th birthday.

But Hurkacz is a top-20 player and 15 years Federer's junior, and was simply too good on the day for his opponent, who suffered a straight-sets loss at Wimbledon for the first time in 19 years.

After a poor first set in breezy conditions, Federer led 4-1 in the second but he could not find his timing and Hurkacz kept his wonderfully to win 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-0, handing the Swiss his first ever bagel at Wimbledon. 

Speaking after his shock exit, Federer conceded he may have played his last match at SW19, saying: 'I really don't know. I've got to regroup... With everything that comes after Wimbledon, we were always going to sit down and talk about it because clearly now Wimbledon is over. Obviously we're going to speak a little bit tonight, depending on how I feel, then the next couple of days as well.'

He added: 'Of course I would like to play it again, but at my age you're just never sure what's around the corner.'

Hurkacz - who was just six years old when Federer won his first title at SW19 - created his own history against his idol, having become the first player to win a set to love against the Swiss since Rafael Nadal in the 2008 French Open final. 

He also made Federer suffer his first straight sets defeat at Wimbledon since a first-round loss to Mario Ancic in back in 2002.  

However, Federer's position in the 2021 ATP 'race' of 40th tells more of the story, and once he had lost the tiebreak 7-4 he unravelled against the No 14 seed, whose serve has been phenomenally strong this fortnight. 

Like a lot of players the Polish No 1 grew up idolising Federer but showed him little respect in putting him away in an hour and 49 minutes.

'It's super special for me on this special court against Roger, it's a dream come true,' said Hurkacz, through to his first Grand Slam semi-final. 

The question remains as to whether this will be the last time we see Federer on the court at the All England Club. 

German former world No 1 and three-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker said: 'I noticed the mis-hits, awkward looking points from Roger and obviously the last set of course, 6-0.

'He would never ever say if there was a niggle, but I don't know if we will ever see the great man again here.'