Federer’s dream of ninth title in tatters after Hurkacz mauling

Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz (left) seems to be consoling his idol Roger Federer whom he sent packing from Wimbledon yesterday 

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 on Wednesday.

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 Wednesday.

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.

Never before had Federer been wiped out in a set at Wimbledon.