Andy Murray’s hopes of a Wimbledon repeat dashed
Dimitrov becomes 1st man from Bulgaria to reach Slam semi
7/3/2014LONDON — The silence at Centre Court made abundantly clear that Andy Murray's time as Wimbledon champion was coming to a close.
Out of sorts from the start of his quarterfinal against up-and-coming Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday, Murray — who in 2013 ended Britain's 77-year wait for one of its own to win the men's title at the All England Club — sailed an awkward backhand slice long to fall behind by a set and a break.
The crowd of nearly 15,000, usually so vociferous in support of Murray, sat quietly, perhaps not prepared to believe what was happening.
All along, Murray's body language during the match was as negative as his play: He gnawed on his knuckle after seeing an ace zip past; slapped his forehead with his palm after one forehand found the net; bowed his head and slumped his shoulders after another did the same.
When one last forehand fell short, the magical ride ended for Murray and his fans with a 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2 loss to the 11th-seeded Dimitrov, who became the first man from Bulgaria to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.
"I have very good memories from that court out there. It's a special court for me," said Murray, who lost the 2012 Wimbledon final there, won that year's London Olympics gold medal there, then won his historic title 12 months ago there. "I mean, you can have bad days as an athlete. You don't win all of the time. Sometimes you just have to take it on the chin and move on."
He hadn't lost a set in his first four matches, but made 37 unforced errors Wednesday, more than twice as many as Dimitrov.
"Even when I wanted to get into longer rallies, I was missing shots," the third-seeded Murray said. "I was unable to make him work as hard as I needed to."
Dimitrov was composed throughout, getting broken only once and showing off the all-court game and smooth, one-handed backhand that long ago earned him the nickname "Baby Fed" — as in seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer.
On Friday, Dimitrov takes on another past champ, top-seeded Novak Djokovic, who returned to the semifinals for the fifth consecutive year by coming back to beat No. 26 Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-2.
Djokovic was troubled by Cilic, to be sure, but also by repeated slips that prompted the Serb to change his shoes midway through the match. Playing on No. 1 Court, Djokovic also was rattled by intermittent cheering from outside the arena for Murray, whose match was played simultaneously across the way.
"I said to the chair umpire: 'Let's just stop [our] match, put [theirs] live on the big screen, and let's watch it 'til they're done,'" recounted Djokovic, last year's runner-up to Murray.
On the other half of the draw, Federer will face No. 8 Milos Raonic, the first Canadian man in a Grand Slam semifinal since 1923.