There were no question marks hanging over Centre Court, no second guessing or a clutch moment that climactically swung the match away from Andy Murray. Over two hours play and three sets – 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2 – there was a sense that the 15,000 crowd were holding their collective breath and wondering why the twist in the narrative had kicked in so early and when Murray would get the plot back on course.
By the end of Grigor Dimitrov’s schooling, mild shock, a large sigh and a momentous, weary shrug signalled that the Wimbledon champion had fallen quickly and cheaply to a Bulgarian 23-year-old, who had really only made himself known nine days ago.
To compound local disappointment, the relatively brief quarter-final outing appeared to play out in agonising slow motion, Murray at least sticking with what had gone before over the last nine days, ending it in straight sets.
Picking over the pieces the beaten player, who had become Olympic champion and Wimbledon champion on the same court, generously conceded all. “He was the better player from start to finish,” said Murray.
Tense tiebreak
The beauty of Dimitrov’s win was that he never once allowed Murray believe he could win. There was a tense tiebreak in the second set but Murray couldn’t put his racquet on the Dimitrov serve. He won two break points and converted one, Dimitrov nine and converted five. Poor.
But the total errors killed Murray too with 37 to Dimitrov’s 18 and when you hit only 24 winners, you rely on your opponent to miss. That didn’t happen either, Dimitrov hitting 32 clean winners.
He fed off Murray’s low-tempo beginning, drew confidence from it and brought his naturally irreverent game of athleticism and shot making to almost shatter Murray’s poise and the tiebreak aside, a 6-1 first set and a 6-2 third are not numbers that he often has to talk about.
“My start to the match was poor,” said Murray. “And I think that gave him confidence. I should have done a better job at the beginning of the match of making it tougher for him, and I didn’t manage to do that.
“Also, when I got back into the second set, the end of the set, that was my opportunity there. He’d been up in the set a break and I’d come back. Momentum was starting to shift a little bit. Couldn’t quite do it.”
Fine line
Dimitrov walked a fine line between respect for Murray and his openly worn ambition. There is a likeable brazenness about him that is in part his breathing the thin air and also a cheerily positive sense of self worth.
“No. Why would I have to be surprised?” said Dimitrov of the win. “It’s a good feeling. I’m not going to hide that. It’s a great feeling. I’m proud of what I did.
“But it’s something that I’ve worked for, to get onto that stage, come out, and switch to another gear. It’s a quarter-final match, playing against the defending champion, against a gentleman like Andy.”
Where it takes Murray now is open to question. So soon after the match he had little answers but it was evident he was of the opinion that he had to improve. Dimitrov’s game has a quality that earned him the nickname ‘Baby Federer’, which now irks him. But the fluid way he plays and moves demands comparison. Murray seemed fearfully aware of another player with critical mass.
“Today was a bad day, you know, from my side,” he said. “I made many mistakes, unforced errors, and then started going for too much and taking chances that weren’t really there.
“I think I hit maybe one backhand winner the entire match, which isn’t normally what I do, especially on this surface. So it was a tough day all around.
“I need to have a think about things, what are the things I need to improve, get myself in better shape and work even harder. Because everyone’s starting to get better.
“he younger guys are now obviously becoming more mature and improving all the time. I need to make some improvements to my game.”
Dimitrov meets top seed Novak Djokovic in the semi-final. Serb Djokovic needed five sets against Croat Marin Cilic as he tumbled in the second and third sets having won the first 6-1.
Three hours
It took the 27-year-old over three hours to reach his 27th Grand Slam semi-final and his fifth consecutive semi-final at Wimbledon.
He is hoping to win Wimbledon for the second time having defeated Rafa Nadal in the 2011 final.
Roger Federer also advanced. The seven times winner here took four sets against his Swiss Davis Cup team-mate, Stan Wawrinka.
Afterwards Federer suggested that Wawrinka had physical problems in the 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4 win. Wawrinka stubbornly refused to say, perhaps too stubbornly not wanting to detract from his friend’s win.
The evening session on Court One brought an end to the remarkable run of Nick Kyrgios, the 19-year-old Australian who knocked out Rafa Nadal in the last round.
Kyrgios again spooked the status quo by taking the first set off Milos Raonic, a distinctively coiffed Canadian, who may just have the best serve in the world. His 39 aces helped him along nicely and Federer will have to deal with that.
“I’m really looking forward to a day off tomorrow,” said Federer. Just the four kids.
