Wimbledon 2021 tennis - Inspired Hubert Hurkacz downs Roger Federer in huge shock at Wimbledon
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Updated 08/07/2021 at 07:30 GMT
Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer suffered a huge shock in the quarter-finals as 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz produced the performance of his life on Centre Court. Federer, who has a staggering 20 Grand Slam singles titles to his name, was bagelled in astonishing fashion in the third and final set as Hurkacz completed a quite stunning performance in clinical fashion.
Wimbledon day 9 highlights: Djokovic through, Federer out
An inspired Hubert Hurkacz downed Roger Federer in a monumental shock in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon on Wednesday evening.
The 14th seed produced the performance of his life on Centre Court as he won through to the semi-finals, 6-3 7-6 6-0, at the expense of the Swiss superstar.
It took just one hour and 49 minutes for Hurkacz to produce what was, in truth, a total demolition of the eight-time champion at SW19 on his favourite court.
Hurkacz, who also stunned second seed Daniil Medvedev in the previous round, fired down 10 aces and produced 36 winners in a performance which was utterly brilliant and incredibly ruthless.
Hurkacz has become only the second Polish man to reach the semi-finals at a Grand Slam, while it is the first time Federer has been bagelled at Wimbledon.
"I can't believe it's just happened, but he is human," remarked tennis legend John McEnroe on the BBC.
Boris Becker added on the BBC: "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.
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Roger Federer of Switzerland waves to the crowd after losing his men's Singles Quarter Final match against Hubert Hurkacz of Poland on Day Nine of The Championships - Wimbledon 2021
Image credit: Getty Images
"The other side of the coin - yeah your opponent didn't have the best of days (to put it mildly) but you still have your job to do and put it out of your head that you are playing Federer the legend.
"All credit to him for that. There are certain rules even Roger Federer has to obey - and it's matches. You don't get that in practice. You only find out how good you are when you put yourself in that position, and today he wasn't good enough."
Federer was comprehensively outplayed, and even rousing from a packed Centre Court couldn't help in a third set in which he got bagelled in astonishing fashion.
Hurkacz respectfully stood aside and applauded as Federer received a huge ovation from the fans on his way back to the locker room.
"It's super special for me," said Hurkacz in his on-court interview.
"Playing here and the special things [Federer] has done here, it's a dream come true."
Eurosport's Mats Wilander gave his reaction: "He [Hurkacz] was just too good today. Federer is obviously not at his best at the moment. But Hurkacz just made him look ordinary for once; he is a really, really good tennis player.
"When you have a lack of matches, you can have a bit of a lack of confidence. When your forehand is not working, it's not easy to fall back on the rest of your game when your number one strength is not working perfectly.
"The intimidation factor is starting to fade away with Federer, as it does for everyone - but more than anything, Hurkacz played an unbelievably solid game and he deserved to win. He handled the nerves extremely well."
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Roger Federer of Switzerland reacts after losing his men's Singles Quarter Final match against Hubert Hurkacz of Poland on Day Nine of The Championships - Wimbledon 2021
Image credit: Getty Images
Next up for the 24-year-old will be a semi-final clash with Italy's seventh seed Matteo Berrettini, who overcame Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime in their quarter-final on Court One.
The 39-year-old Federer had been aiming to become the oldest man to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals in the Open era, but his tilt for a ninth title is now over.
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Watch daily evening highlights of all the best action from Wimbledon on Eurosport 1, plus the men's and women's finals live on Eurosport 2. All coverage is also available to stream via eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.
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