Roger Federer’s Wimbledon meltdown turns the when question to how soon

On Wednesday evening, London’s—or for that matter the rest of the sporting world’s—mind was elsewhere. On a different game a few kilometers away. That made it even more disbelieving that the man whose sporting immortality is wedded to timing and aesthetics walked off wimbledon centre court the way he did.

Roger Federer, leaving with two bags slung over either shoulder, raised his hands as usual, but that closing and opening of the left palm, a see-you-all-soon, was not there. Understandable. He had just been routed 3-6, 6-7, 0-6 by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.

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Age first. Federer had done his everything to ensure he played in the grass court Major which he has virtually owned. His 22nd consecutive Wimbledon going back to 1999 is an astonishing number. A record eight Wimbledon titles in his all-time 20—he is likely to have company before the weekend is over—settles argument over any entitlement he feels in the tournament.

He is on the verge of turning 40—his birthday is on August 8—and had missed months of tennis, after undergoing double knee surgery, coming into 2021. Players half his age would be happy to play at half his pace after such setbacks. That was why it was pleasantly surprising that the Federer stamp in his game was mostly intact.

For the first four rounds, it was a prolonged master class, hailed by increasingly larger crowds. Federer’s game management, an ability to flip an overdrive switch now and then, wasn’t vintage, but too still too much, even for seasoned hand like Richard Gasquet, his second round opponent.

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But Hurkacz wasn’t there to play a supporting role. His ranking—he is world No. 16—attested to his level, and the Miami Open win in March to his early season form. His upstaging of Russian second seed Daniil Medvedev in a last 16 match that spilled into the second day due to rain and was decided in five sets pointed to temperament as well as talent.

But Hurkacz, coming from a sporting family, had much more. Even with a first serve not firing for most of the first two sets, his height and uncanny varying of pace on a gusty Wimbledon centre court seemed to unsettle an unusually erratic Federer. If the champion’s ego was hurt as he struggled to get a grip, his 24-year-old rival reminded him of his age by returning shot after shot, with perfect placements—shots Federer was convinced he had put away.

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The absence of nerves in the young Pole who was about to reach his first Grand Slam semi-final meant there would be no comebacks. Federer’s first straight sets loss at Wimbledon in 19 years, since defeat to Mario Ancic in 2002, was no shock in the end. His third straight sets loss in a Slam—the others were at his least favoured French Open in 1999 (Pat Rafter) and 2008 (Rafael Nadal)—simply showed the consistency across two decades.

Not regrouping to win at least a game—Federer lost a set to love at Wimbledon for the first time—though seemed more like a final act. His match face revealed nothing, but the loss of focus—there was a brief protest to the chair umpire—and a slip on the front court to miss a crucial shot, completed his miserable match.

The commentators didn’t say “the end of an era” but a “most aesthetic player there has been in the game” came close to a farewell.

Federer himself left the question hanging. “I don’t know, I really don’t know,” he told a press conference soon after the match. “I’ve got to regroup. My goal was always to try and play another Wimbledon. I was able to make it this year, which I’m really happy about. Everything that comes after that, we’ll have to sit down and talk about it.”

Another grand slam win for Federer will be too much to ask, and the hard court season ahead may be too much for him to take. It was only his 14th defeat in 119 matches at Wimbledon, but will the Swiss return next year?

The Tokyo Olympics, though it will also be played on hard court, could provide the answer.

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