Struggling with a knee injury, Roger Federer skipped the entire 2020 season after the Australian Open. Undergoing two surgeries, the Swiss was eager to make a strong return in 2021 and get back at 100% ahead of Halle and Wimbledon.
Despite some good matches since March, Roger was still far from his best in the target tournaments, a typical scene after a long break from tennis. An eight-time Wimbledon champion scored four wins at the All England Club to advance into the 18th quarter-final at his beloved Major and become the oldest player in the last eight in the Open era.
Federer experienced one of his most brutal Wimbledon losses when Hubert Hurkacz toppled him 6-3, 7-6, 6-0 in an hour and 48 minutes. Unable to defend the break in the second set, Roger lost it in the tie break and left his engine without any steam!
Hubert was the only player on the court in the third set, and he delivered Roger’s first bagel at Majors since the 2008 Roland Garros. Speaking about the match, Boris Becker stated that Federer made too many errors after failing to find the range and timing.
Roger had more winners than unforced errors, but it was not enough to challenge a much younger rival, especially in the third set. Federer grabbed only one break and struggled on the first and second serve to experience five breaks from 15 chances offered to his opponent.
Roger Federer lost to Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets at Wimbledon.
The Pole forged the advantage in the opener with a break at 3-2 and fired a service winner in game nine to wrap it up in 28 minutes. Battling hard, Federer earned an early break in set number two before Hurkacz broke back at 2-4 with a deep return.
Roger did not play well in the tie break, struggling with his footwork and losing it when Hubert fired two winners at 5-4. In one of his worst sets at Wimbledon ever, Federer grabbed only 15 points in the third set to experience a bagel and hit the exit door in the worst possible way.
It’s Roger’s last match so far. He underwent the third surgery a couple of weeks later and still waiting to return in the closing stages of 2022. “It’s something we have never seen from Roger on Centre Court.
He would never say if there was a niggle, but I do not know if we will ever see the great man again here. It’s normal for everybody to make mistakes, but he is a perfectionist. Some of these mistakes were big ones; he was completely off with his timing.
That can happen in a game or two, but it was throughout the entire match in his case. We can only wonder what happened, but we know that time does not stand still for any man or woman. I hope we can see Roger at Wimbledon again. I do not want him to lose his last set at Wimbledon 6-0, but he was not good enough today,” Boris Becker said.
