Wimbledon: Who is Hubert Hurkacz, the Pole who gatecrashed Roger Federer’s record-breaking ninth title bid?
- The 24-year-old had previously won only four matches on grass and never had back-to-back major wins
- ‘Playing against Roger in a grand slam quarter-final is very big for me,’ says Hurkacz, who faces Berrettini next
Hubert Hurkacz was just two when Roger Federer made his Wimbledon debut in 1999, and aged six when the Swiss won the first of his record 20 grand slam titles at the championships in 2003.
To top it all, the 24-year-old from Wroclaw, Poland is still a grass court novice having won only four matches on turf before rocking up at the All England Club last week.
With Hurkacz never having strung together more than two back-to-back wins at a major, thousands of Federer fans who had flocked to Centre Court on Wednesday for the men’s quarter-final thought the Pole would be a pushover.
After all, what kind of challenge would he pose for an eight-time men’s Wimbledon champion?
But the world number 18 was in no mood to play gentleman-in-waiting and gatecrashed Federer’s kingdom with a fearless brand of tennis that brutally ended the 39-year-old’s dream of hoisting the gilded Challenge Cup for a record ninth time.