No problem for Novak

On the other half of the draw, No 1 seed Novak Djokovic was due to face No 10 Denis Shapovalov of Canada on Friday.

After racing to a 5-0 lead at the outset on Wednesday, Djokovic dropped three consecutive games to 48th-ranked Marton Fucsovics. He wasted five set points in the process too. Soon enough, Djokovic righted himself, as he usually does, and beat Fucsovics 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to reach his 10th semifinal at the All England Club and 41st at a Slam.

That allowed the 34-year-old from Serbia to continue his pursuit of a sixth championship at Wimbledon－and third in a row－along with a 20th major trophy.

There's also this: Djokovic is 19-0 at majors this season as he pursues the first calendar-year Grand Slam by a man since Rod Laver in 1969. Djokovic won the Australian Open in February and the French Open in June.

"I'm not chasing anybody," said Djokovic. "I am making my own path and my own journey, my own history."

Shapovalov edged No 25 Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-4, 3-6, 5-7,6-1, 6-4, then looked ahead to facing Djokovic.

"I do believe that I have the game to beat him," said Shapovalov, a 22-year-old left-hander.

Hurkacz appeared quite comfortable on this unfamiliar stage. He played sublimely, with three times as many winners, 36, as unforced errors, 12.

"Obviously, I was a little bit nervous. I mean, playing against Roger in a Grand Slam quarterfinal, it's a very big thing for me," Hurkacz said. "But I was trying to stay as calm as I could."

Federer finally seemed to make some headway in the second set, ahead 3-0."Got to find a way to win it, somehow," Federer mused afterward. But Hurkacz stood firm.

Undaunted by the setting, the stakes, the foe or the overwhelming support for Federer in the stands, Hurkacz claimed four of the next five games to pull even at 4-4, breaking along the way with a stinging forehand return of a huge serve that drew a netted backhand.

In the tiebreaker－preceded by loud chants of "Let's go, Roger! Let's go!" and rhythmic clapping－it was more of the same: Hurkacz hitting his spots and Federer stumbling.

"Brutal," Federer said.

On one foray to the net, he lost his footing and missed what could have been a simple volley.

The third set went by in a blink. When Federer missed a forehand wide to close things, he packed his bags and hustled off toward the locker room with a wave and a thumbs-up.

"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?" said Federer, who will meet with his two coaches and other members of his team. "As you can see, it was a struggle for me."

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA