Roger Federer calls the defeat to Hubert Hurkacz in the Wimbledon quarter-finals as ‘worst hours’ of his career
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Hubert Hurkacz and Roger Federer
Roger Federer is about to draw the curtain on his successful career of 24 years. The Swiss maestro who won 20 Grand Slam titles during his career will be playing his final event at the 2022 Laver Cup. As he looks back on his career, Federer opened up on his defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2021 Wimbledon.
Going for his 9th Wimbledon title and 21st major, Federer lost in straight-sets to Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals with the last set being 0-6. “The last set vs Hurkacz was one of the worst hours of my career. I realized that nothing works anymore. It’s over. The disappointment felt like fireworks in my head. I didn’t know how to proceed with this knee,” said Federer speaking with SRF.
Roger Federer’s defeat to Hubert Hurkacz was the only 6th time in his career he was bagelled
Hurkacz won the match 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-0 to hand Federer his second bagel in the 21st century with the earlier one being against Rafael Nadal in the finals of the 2008 French Open. The win by Hurkacz made him the 6th player to serve a bagel to Federer and the first player to beat Federer in straight-sets at Wimbledon in 19 years.
While Federer remained in control of his emotions despite the defeat, his admission in the interview with SRF was the first time he talked about the defeat as he had withheld his true emotions even during the press conference at Wimbledon last year.
The one thing that will pinch him and his millions of fans will be the fact that the defeat to Hurkacz will remain his last singles match ever as he confirmed that he will be playing only in Doubles in the Laver Cup. The surgery post-Wimbledon has made it impossible for him to play singles.
Despite the defeat, Federer’s record at Wimbledon will remain as one of the best ever as he retires as the man with most Wimbledon titles in the Open Era and just one short of matching Martina Navratilova‘s all-time record of 9 singles titles.
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Sarthak Shitole
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