Roger Federer’s run at Wimbledon 2021 came to an unceremonious end with a thumping 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-0 defeat by Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
The loss is just Federer’s third straight-sets defeat at the Championships (2000 & 2002), and the first time he was served a bagel at his most successful Slam.
Federer started poorly and only got worse as the match progressed. By the end, the 20-time Major champion could barely reach the balls that were sent his way.
Without further ado, let’s look at the three talking points from Federer’s loss:
1) Roger Federer fired blanks all day against Hurkacz
Federer would have been quietly confident of his chances coming into this match. The Swiss had not played at an extremely high level over the course of the tournament, but he had still shown glimpses of his best form.
But against Hurkacz, who got everything back in play, Federer’s game began to unravel in spectacular fashion. His serve lacked bite, his forehand lacked penetration and accuracy, and his feet seemed glued to the grass.
The sixth seed racked up 31 unforced errors in three sets and managed to win just 67% of the points on his first serve and 33% behind second serve.
2) Roger Federer lost in straight sets at Wimbledon for the first time since 2002
The last time Roger Federer lost in straight sets at SW19 was in 2002 when he was sent packing by Mario Ancic 6-3, 7-6(2), 6-3 in the first round.
His only other defeat by such a margin came in 2000, when he lost 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (6) to Yevgeny Kafelnikov in the first round.
Interestingly, this was Federer’s first Grand Slam defeat since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the 2020 Australian Open. There, too, the 39-year-old fell in straight sets.
3) Roger Federer was bageled for only the second time in the 21st century
Regardless of the problems Roger Federer has faced throughout his career, he has almost never been bageled. The Swiss has only been bageled five times in his career, with three of those coming before the turn of the century, by Vincent Spadea, Pat Rafter, and Byron Black (all in 1999).
Rafael Nadal was the first player to defeat Roger Federer 6-0 in a set in the 21st century, doing so in the final of Roland Garros in 2008. With his win on Wednesday, Hubert Hurkacz became only the second player in the 21st century to dish out a bagel to the 20-time Major champion.