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LONDON. — Roger Federer’s bid for a ninth Wimbledon title lay in tatters yesterday after he was stunned in straight sets by Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.
The Swiss lost 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 to the 14th seeded Pole, who reached his first Grand Slam semi-final.
It is the first time 20-time major champion Federer has lost a set to love at the All England Club.
Hurkacz will play Matteo Berrettini or Felix Auger-Aliassime for a place in Sunday’s final.
“It’s super special for me,” said Hurkacz, only the second Polish man to reach the semi-finals at a Grand Slam.
“Playing here and the special things [Federer] has done here, it’s a dream come true.”
Hurkacz, who was six when Federer won his first title at SW19, is the first player to win a set to love against the Swiss since Rafael Nadal in the 2008 French Open final.
Federer, at 39 years and 337 days, had been bidding to become the oldest man to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals in the Open era. But, defeat marked his first straight-set loss at Wimbledon in 19 years. Ashleigh Barty on Tuesday moved a step closer to achieving her goal of winning the Wimbledon crown on the 50th anniversary of fellow indigenous Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley’s first title victory.
Barty outplayed fellow Australian Ajla Tomljanovic – appearing in her first Grand Slam quarter-final at the age of 28 – winning 6-1, 6-3 to progress to the semi-finals.
World No. 1 Barty, though, will need her top game if she is to reach the final as she plays in-form 2018 champion Angelique Kerber in today’s semi-finals.
Kerber, who beat Karolina Muchova 6-2, 6-3, is the only remaining player to have already been in the last four at the tournament.
Former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova will play Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the other semi-final today. — BBC/AFP.
Online Reporter