LONDON (AFP) – Roger Federer faced serious questions over his future on Wednesday after crashing out of Wimbledon in the quarterfinals, just five weeks shy of his 40th birthday.
Eight-time Wimbledon champion and 20-time Grand Slam title winner Federer lost 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 to a Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, a player 15 years his junior.
There were no such problems for world number one and five-time champion Novak Djokovic who reached his 10th Wimbledon semi-final and 41st at the Grand Slams.
Djokovic, looking to equal Federer and Rafael Nadal on 20 majors, defeated Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
He will face Canada’s 10th seed Denis Shapovalov, who beat Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, for a place in Sunday’s final.
Hurkacz will tackle Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in the other semi-final.
Defeat was only Federer’s 14th at Wimbledon in 119 matches and his first straight-sets loss since an opening round exit against Mario Ancic in 2002.
It was also the first time he had lost a set 6-0 at Wimbledon.
“I really don’t know. I’ve got to regroup,” said Federer when asked if his Wimbledon career was over.
“With everything that comes after Wimbledon, we were always going to sit down and talk about it. I got to take a few days.
“Just see, Okay, what do I need to do to get in better shape so I can be more competitive.”
Those discussions will also centre on his participation in the Olympic Games in Tokyo which start in just over two weeks’ time.
“Clearly there’s still a lot of things missing in my game that maybe 10, 15, 20 years ago were very simple and very normal for me,” Federer added ruefully.