Dimitrov ends Murray’s short Wimbledon reign
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GRIGOR Dimitrov broke British hearts, ending Andy Murray’s reign as Wimbledon champion with a sublime and serene 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory in the quarterfinals yesterday.
The third seed had confidently marched into the last eight without dropping a set but his meek abdication left the Centre Court crowd, which included Prince William and his wife the Duchess of Cambridge, stunned into silence.
The man who had sparked wild celebrations around the country a year ago when he became the first homegrown men’s champion in 77 years, appeared to sleepwalk through a one-sided first set in London, threatened to fightback in the second and was simply outclassed in the third.
A forehand into the net handed Dimitrov, 23, the biggest win of his career and he became the first Bulgarian man to reach the semifinals of a grand slam tournament.
The 27-year-old Murray’s unexpected exit snapped his 17-match winning streak at the All England Club, a magical sequence which had brought him Olympic gold apart from the first Wimbledon title, and also ended his hopes of reaching a sixth consecutive semifinal at the grasscourt grand slam.
Dimitrov, the 11th seed, will next play top seed Novak Djokovic, who outlasted Croatian 26th seed Marin Cilic 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-2; the Serb reaching his 23rd grand slam semifinal and fifth in a row at Wimbledon. The six-time major winner went level with Pete Sampras and Rafael Nadal by making the last four at a major for the 23rd time.
Simona Halep of Romania and Eugenie Bouchard of Canada will meet for a place in the final after winning their quarterfinals in straight sets.
The third-seeded Halep, down 1-4 in the first set, won 11 games in a row to beat 2013 finalist Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-4, 6-0 in 57 minutes.
The 13th-seeded Bouchard defeated No. 9 Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semifinals at a third consecutive grand slam.
“I’m just excited to be in the semis again and I want to go one step further for sure,” Bouchard, 20, said.
Halep, 22, runner-up at the French Open, is the first Romanian woman to get this far at the All England Club since the Open era began in 1968. Bouchard, who hasn’t dropped a set in five matches, is the first Canadian woman to reach the Wimbledon semifinals.
The other semifinal is an all-Czech matchup between 2011 champion Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova.
(Agencies)
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