Roberto Bautista Agut is never one to command the spotlight. So it seemed fitting the 31-year-old would break new ground in reaching his first Grand Slam semi-final on a day when all talk centred on how the Big Three would fare.
The self-effacing Spaniard wouldn’t have it any other way. In his 27th Grand Slam appearance, he earned his berth on Wimbledon’s No.1 Court via a 7-5, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Argentine Guido Pella.
It was the first gentlemen’s singles quarter-final at The Championships to feature no top 20 player since No.24 seed Jerzy Janowicz downed his unseeded countryman Lukasz Kubot in 2013.
But Bautista Agut had been as high as No.13 before and was one of the rare anomalies in Spanish ranks as a man who thrived on grass. Only weeks ago, he had pushed Roger Federer the distance in the Halle quarter-finals.
A mere test for the Swiss in his Wimbledon warm-up, but enough to convince the doughty Spaniard he was closing in on a return to his best.
“It sounds amazing, no?” he said of hearing his name as a Grand Slam semi-finalist. “I cannot be more happy than now. I had a really difficult match, had to manage lot of emotions on court. [It was] important for me to play the semi-final of a Grand Slam and I think I did very well.
“He’s a really good fighter, he’s a really good player. He … gives everything on court and today was a big challenge for me.”
As swiftly as the Big Three had cut a swathe through their respective draws at the All England Club, only one of the last eight had progressed as far without the loss of a set. Again, Bautista Agut was content to hold that mantle without all the fuss.
On Wednesday, the No.23 seed set about continuing that low-key progression when he met the left-handed Pella for the third time.
Twice before he had claimed the honours and this was a second-week Grand Slam showdown, which – for once – he was favoured to clinch. While only three seedings separated the pair, Pella’s 12 hours and 47 minutes on court was nearly double the time the Spaniard had spent on court this Fortnight.
Pella, as a result, knew the first set was pivotal if he was to conserve energy in what shaped as another drawn-out affair. After conceding the early break of serve it was the 29-year-old who landed the break back on his sixth chance when the Spaniard fired a forehand wide.
The pair traded forehand winners in a draining eight-minute-plus six-deuce game before Pella edged his nose in front for the first time, 5-4. But Bautista Agut made the most of a sudden burst of errors flowing from the Argentine as he broke for the chance to serve out a tense opener.
Pella’s heavy sigh said it all. His expression had switched from hope to despondence as his opponent served out the set with a love hold at the 60-minute mark.
The Argentine was coming off a giant-killing run, which included a resounding straight-sets dismissal of last year’s finalist, No.4 seed Kevin Anderson.
Perhaps his greatest showing of this year’s Championships, however, came in the fourth round, where he fought back from two sets down – even breaking the mighty serve of 2016 finalist Milos Raonic as the No.15 seed had served for the match – to prevail 8-6 in the fifth.
It had taken a toll. After the trainer was called to tape Pella’s left middle finger, he was promptly broken in the opening game of the second set.
And his anguish was palpable when he conceded a two-set lead. Just when he looked to be eyeing the exit door on No.1 Court, a momentary dip.
Three straight errors from Bautista Agut coughed up an early break and Pella carried it to force a fourth set when the Spaniard’s backhand pass attempt found the net.
It was the first set of The Championships Bautista Agut had conceded. But that’s where any chance of a Pella comeback was quashed.
The Spaniard raised his head and blew a kiss to the heavens, a tribute to his late mother Ester, as he booked his passage. The reward is a showdown with top seed Novak Djokovic.
And after two hard court triumphs over the Serb this year already, there was every reason to believe he could ruffle a few feathers again.
“Well I’m enjoying really much playing on this court,” Bautista Agut said. “Against Novak, he’s the No.1 in the world and playing very good on grass. I’ll have to play very good tennis to beat him.”
