LAWN TENNIS: Dimitrov humbled Murray
beaten 6-1 7-6 6-2 by Bulgarian 11th seed
Grigor Dimitrov in the Wimbledon quarter-
finals.
After the high of last year, when he ended Fred
Perry's 77-year reign as the last British man
to win the singles title, this was a sad way for
the third seed to bow out.
Murray never managed to find anything like
his best form while Dimitrov played an
inspired match to reach his first grand slam
semi-final.
The defeat ended Murray's 17-match winning
streak at the All England Club and was his
first slam loss to a player ranked outside the
top 10 in four years.
This was the match-up that created
excitement when the draw was made -
defending champion against tennis' pin-up
boy.
Touted as Baby Federer and one half of the
sport's glamour couple with Maria Sharapova,
Dimitrov has been making headlines on the
court over the past year.
Tough Australian coach Roger Rasheed has
helped the 23-year-old develop the physical
side of his game to go with his exceptional
racquet skills.
He made a tentative start to his first
Wimbledon quarter-final but Murray was
unable to take advantage of a break point and
he was made to pay in remarkable fashion.
From 1-1, Dimitrov won the final five games of
the set, barely missing a ball while a nervy
Murray could not find the form that had carried
him to the last eight for the loss of only 32
games.
Being behind at Wimbledon was not an
unfamiliar position for the Scot, who at the
same stage last year trailed Fernando
Verdasco by two sets before fighting back to
win.
Perhaps the scoreline was not too surprising
given their respective seasons - Dimitrov
having won three titles, including his triumph
at Queen's two weeks ago, while Murray has
not made a final since having back surgery
last September.
He has also not beaten a top-10 player since
last year's Wimbledon final victory over Novak
Djokovic.
Dimitrov looked so much more confident and
he broke for the first time in the second set for
4-3.
Murray played his best point of the match to
save one break point but on the second he
served a 93mph first serve and then erred with
a horrible backhand slice.
He looked towards his support camp with
arms held wide as if looking for answers, and
he found them in the next game, with some
help from his opponent.
Rock solid
Having been rock solid, Dimitrov's backhand
let him down, allowing Murray to level straight
away at 4-4.
Centre Court held its collective breath at
30-30 in the next game as the pair pulled each
other all over the court in a 31-stroke rally.
Murray won it, and then served an ace to hold,
but the pressure was relentless and he needed
two big serves to save break points at 5-5.
A tie-break would settle it, and it was Dimitrov
who made the first meaningful move with a
backhand pass to lead 5-4.
A delightful drop volley gave the Bulgarian two
set points, and he took the first as a desperate
attempt at a pass from Murray found the net.
Murray has come back from two sets to love
to win matches seven times but against a
player playing at Dimitrov's level, it was a
seriously tall order to do it again.
The 23-year-old's defence had been
exceptional, more evidence of the
improvements made under Rasheed, who
Murray came close to hiring in 2011 before
opting for Ivan Lendl.
Things went from bad to worse for Murray
when, from 40-15, he lost four points in a row
to drop serve at 3-2 behind, ending on a
double fault.
He looked a beaten man, and another double
fault gave Dimitrov a first match point after
exactly two hours.
Murray saved that with one of his best
forehands of the match but then netted a
forehand to hand Dimitrov an unexpected but
thoroughly deserved victory.
Murray sat disconsolately in his chair before
trudging off alongside Dimitrov, pausing to
bow to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in
the Royal Box and wave to the crowd, who
cheered their fallen hero.
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