Wimbledon 2021: Will we see Roger Federer in SW19 again?

Roger Federer says he really does not know if he will play at Wimbledon again after losing to Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals.

Eight-time champion Federer, who turns 40 next month, looked out of sorts in a 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 loss.

"Of course I would like to play it again but at my age you never know what is around the corner," the Swiss said.

"I will talk with my team and go from there, see what I need to do to get in better shape and be more competitive."

Asked if this would be the last time he played on Centre Court, the 20-time Grand Slam champion replied: "I don't know, I really don't know. I have to regroup.

"My goal for the last year was to play another Wimbledon.

"I was able to make it this year, which I was really happy about. Everything that comes after Wimbledon we will sit down and talk about it.

"I'm actually very happy to get as far as I did, even though I am disappointed I lost."

Federer had never previously lost a set 6-0 at Wimbledon, while it was his first straight-set defeat at SW19 since losing to Croatian qualifier Mario Ancic in 2002.

'You can't climb the whole mountain at once'

Federer was playing only his fifth tournament in 17 months after needing two surgeries on a knee injury in 2020.

There had been doubts over his shape coming into his favourite Grand Slam, having suffered a chastening defeat at Halle earlier this month which left him uncharacteristically despondent.

Following his defeat by Hurkacz, Federer had a similar demeanour with the pain and exhaustion clearly evident.

Yet, the Swiss said he was still managing to retain "perspective".

"You know you need a goal when you're going through rehab with what I did," he said.

"You can't think of the entire mountain to climb as once. You've got to go in steps. Wimbledon was the initial first super step, if you like.

"For me, now that that's over, you've just got to reassess everything. You've got to sit down, talk about it, what went well, what didn't go so well, where is the body, where is the knee, where is the mind?

"As you can see, it was a struggle for me and putting in extra effort all the time, especially when things get difficult against Felix in Halle or today against Hurkacz."

'Time doesn't stand still for anyone - even Federer'

Federer avoided a huge upset in the first round when injury robbed France's Adrian Mannarino of the chance to earn a memorable win.

Looking ponderous and lacking timing, he trailed two sets to one before his opponent had to retire.

Federer improved match by match as he saw off Richard Gasquet, Cameron Norrie and Lorenzo Sonego, but lacked rhythm and timing against the unruffled Hurkacz.

"There were some awkward-looking points from Roger in the second-set tie-break - something we've never seen from him on Centre Court," Boris Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, said on BBC TV.

"He would never ever say if there was a niggle, but this was very unusual. I don't know if we will ever see the great man again here.

"It's normal for anybody to make mistakes, but when you're such a perfectionist as Roger Federer, some of these mistakes were way out of his league. Not just an inch or two, much more than that. He was completely off timing.

"That can happen in a game or set, but in this case it was the whole match. It was unusual.

"We can only wonder what happened and only he can answer that. As they say, time doesn't stand still for no man or woman."

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