Roger Federer exits Wimbledon 2021, but is this goodbye? | Tennis News – Times of India

Hubert Hurkacz lived a dream on Centre Court. For Roger Federer, the owner of that most revered patch of grass at SW19, it was a perfect nightmare. An evening of colorful fireworks against a rapidly darkening sky.
Hurkacz, 24, the world No.18, did the unthinkable. He played fluent tennis to beat Federer, the eight-time Wimbledon champion, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-0 in 1 hour and 49 minutes to become only the second Polishman in history, after Jerzy Janowicz in 2013, to make the last four at the All England Club.
Federer, who exited the stage hurriedly, head down, waved quickly to the full-house, raising questions of whether it was the 39-year-old’s last time on the Wimbledon grass.

“I don’t know what to say. This is super special for me, I mean, playing on this special court against Roger,” Hurkacz said.
“Always a dream, when you are a kid. It’s a dream come true. I’m super proud and super happy to be here, especially having people in the stands and cheering.”
Federer, who trailed by an early break in the opening set, led 3-0 in the second essay. The sixth-seed, who is coming back from two knee surgeries, slipped at the net in the tie-break, after which it was all downhill for him.

DJOKOVIC THROUGH
Novak Djokovic is the man with all the answers. It seems. A puzzle without a solution, as Marton Fucsovics found out in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.
Over two hours and 17 minutes the Hungarian tried — different pieces, difficult fits, Centre Court cheered and Fucsovics fought and came up short.
The top-seed blitzed his way to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win to clinch his 100th Tour-level win on grass, which took the Serb to his 10th Wimbledon semifinal.
Up next for him is the Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who made his maiden Grand Slam semifinal on Wednesday.

Shapovalov, seeded 10, rallied from two-sets-to-one down against Russian Karen Khachanov to score a 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 win in 3 hours and 26 minutes. The 22-year-old, the sixth Canadian in history to make the semifinals of a major, had 17 aces and 59 winners, in the last-eight clash.
Shapovalov said, “I was in a similar position at the US Open last year in the quarterfinals (against Pablo Carreno Busta). I thought I started the fifth set a little slow then, so I told myself just play every single point as hard as you can.”

Shapovalov displayed the same mentality when he was told he was to face Djokovic in the semifinals on Friday.
“Djokovic is the best player in the world, but when you look at the scoreboard at the start, it is going to be zero-zero,” he said. “It’s a tennis match, anything can happen. I have full belief in me.”
Djokovic, who has dropped just one set in the tournament, has been broken four times, including once in the quarterfinals. The big take-away on the day for Fucsovics, one of the fittest players on Tour, was the stat of saving 10 of 14 break-points, against the best return in the game.