On Wednesday, Hubert Hurkacz, a man who had won only four matches on grass before this fortnight, could well have made those fears a reality after he produced an inspired display to hand his childhood idol a 6-3 7-6 6-0 mauling in the quarter-finals.
"I don't know if we will ever see the great man again here," former champion Boris Becker said, voicing the fears of many millions."I don't know. I really don't know," admitted the 39-year-old Swiss, who had been bidding to become the oldest man in the Open Era to reach the last four at Wimbledon.
When things go wrong in the manner they did on Wednesday, the Swiss great will leave Wimbledon with more questions than answers about his future. But the dazzling Federer winners, which have flowed off his racket like liquid gold over the years, were in short supply against the Pole who was just two when the Swiss made his Wimbledon debut.