Google News 'Roger Federer will not end his Wimbledon journey with a bagel,' says former legend
by JOVICA ILIC | VIEW 3593
Roger Federer experienced a severe knee injury at the beginning of 2020, undergoing two surgeries in February and May and staying away from the court for 13 months. The Swiss legend returned in March and played five tournaments in the current season, reaching the Wimbledon quarter-final before undergoing the third surgery and ending his season.
Saving his knee for the grass season and withdrawing from Roland Garros, Roger entered his 22nd Wimbledon and defeated four rivals to become the oldest quarter-finalist at the All England Club in the Open era. Hoping to reach the last four and remain on the title course, Federer suffered a heavy 6-3, 7-6, 6-0 loss to Hubert Hurkacz in an hour and 48 minutes.
The Pole became the second player who bageled Roger at Majors since Rafael Nadal in the 2008 Roland Garros final, as the Swiss left with nothing in the tank after the second set's tie break. Boris Becker would love to see Federer at Wimbledon at least one more time, saying it would be terrible if such a grand champion finishes his career at his favorite tournament with a bagel.
Making too many errors and struggling with the positioning, Roger did not look good on the court in the first and third sets, especially in the last when he could not follow the rival's pace. Hurkacz closed the encounter with 36 winners and only 12 unforced errors, securing five breaks from 15 opportunities and leaving his idol behind for a place in the semis.
Hubert grabbed a break in the sixth game with a volley winner and held at 15 with a service winner at 5-3 to seal the opener in 28 minutes. Roger scored an early break in the second set and survived a couple of break chances in the next one to establish the lead.
Roger Federer experienced a massive loss at Wimbledon to Hubert Hurkacz.
In game seven, Hubert pulled the break back and clinched the tie break 7-4 with a service winner to move two sets to love in front. Roger had a couple of terrible calls in the tie break, which took all the momentum away from him.
The Swiss experienced the first bagel at Wimbledon in set number three, losing ground completely and propelling Hurkacz into the last four. "It's something we have never seen from Roger on Centre Court. I do not know if we will ever see the great man again here.
It's normal for everybody to make mistakes, but he's a perfectionist. Some of these mistakes were huge; 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 to see him lose his last set at Wimbledon 6-0. On the other hand, he was not good enough today," Boris Becker said.