Poland's Hubert Hurkacz continued his impressive run at Wimbledon on Wednesday, outplaying Roger Federer to advance to his first Grand Slam semifinal.
The 14th seed, who a round earlier eliminated No.2 seed Daniil Medvedev, beat Federer 6-3 7-6(4) 6-0 and will take on Italy’s Matteo Berrettini for a place in the final.
Seventh seed Berrettini extended his winning streak to 10 matches with a four-set win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, making his second appearance in a major semifinal after reaching the same stage at the 2019 US Open.
In the top half of the draw, Denis Shapovalov trailed two sets to one before beating a resurgent Karen Khachanov 6-4 3-6 5-7 6-1 6-4 in a match lasting almost three-and-a-half hours.
Shapovalov, the youngest player remaining in the men’s singles draw, next faces dominant top seed Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic maintains imperious progress
The world No.1 progressed to his 10th Wimbledon semifinal with his win over world No.48 Marton Fucsovics; he raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set and broke early in the third to complete a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win.
Djokovic dropped the first set of his Wimbledon campaign to teenaged British wildcard Jack Draper, but has since won 15 in a row.
The two-time defending champion is now undefeated in his past 19 matches on grass, a run dating back to his loss to Marin Cilic in the 2018 Queen’s final.
Djokovic takes a 6-0 winning head-to-head record into his semifinal against Shapovalov as he seeks to win a third Grand Slam title of 2021, and sixth Wimbledon title.
He has moved to within two match victories of a 20th major singles title, a men’s record currently held by Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic also remains on course to achieve an extraordinary calendar-year Golden Grand Slam.
Stat of the day
Federer’s quarterfinal defeat to Hurkacz marked the first time in 13 years the Swiss champion has lost a set 6-0.
It last occurred in the 2008 Roland Garros final against Nadal – and it is the first time it has ever happened at Wimbledon.
Hurkacz was brilliant on Centre Court against his idol, with 36 winners tripling his unforced error count of 12.
He continues his country’s impressive record of success at the All England, becoming the third Polish player – after Agnieszka Radwanska and Jerzy Janowicz – in the past eight years to appear in a Wimbledon singles semifinal.
Tweet of the day
Who wins from here?#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/2ODqPF91iM
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2021
Quotes of the day
“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 to do. Nowadays they don't happen naturally anymore. I got to always put in the extra effort mentally to remind myself: Remember to do this or do that. I have a lot of ideas on the court, but sometimes I can't do what I want to do.”
- Roger Federer
“Obviously walking off the court realising that I won against Roger, I mean, just kind of dream come true, especially here on grass in Wimbledon. Felt so special with the crowd around as well.”
- Hubert Hurkacz
“I'm making my own path and my own journey, my own history. I'm privileged to be part of history of this sport that I love. As I said on the court, I know about a lot of stats. I don't know about all of them. But they do motivate me even more to play my best tennis at the events that count the most in our sport.”
- Novak Djokovic, who improves his 2021 win-loss record to 32-3.
“I just told myself in the fifth set that I got to play every single point as hard as I can and fight for every single point, doesn't matter what the point is, what the score is. Just super happy. I think it was a real tough battle out there. It took a lot out of me, but super, super proud of myself.”
- Denis Shapovalov, after reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal.
“Stepping in this tournament, I knew that I could do it. I know that also the run is not over. I just felt that I'm a better player now. I have more experience. I had more matches on my shoulders. Everything that I am achieving, it's great, but it's not something that I didn't expect.”
- Matteo Berrettini, comparing his semifinal runs at US Open 2019 and Wimbledon 2021.
Day 10: Ones to watch
A stellar women’s semifinal line-up will grace Centre Court, featuring current world No.1 Ash Barty, former world No.1s Angelique Kerber and Karolina Pliskova, and No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka.
Play begins with the battle between Grand Slam champions Barty and Kerber, the first match between the pair since Wuhan almost three years ago in a rivalry poised at two wins apiece.
ORDER OF PLAY: Wimbledon Day 10
Next comes the clash between Sabalenka and Pliskova, two players with a significant opportunity to break through for their first major title. Sabalenka has never lost to Pliskova, although their previous two matches were tight three-set affairs.
Pliskova is the only semifinalist in either the women’s or men’s singles draws yet to drop a set at Wimbledon this year.
Wheelchair action also commences at the All England Club; world No.1 Dylan Alcott is among the players in action and begins his campaign for a second straight Wimbledon quad singles title against David Wagner.