Bulgaria’s Gregor Dimitrov produced an exceptional performance to end Andy Murray’s bid for back-to-back Wimbledon titles in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Murray’s 37 unforced errors against the 11th seed’s 18 and just five aces to his opponents’ 10 allowed the latter claim a 1-6 6-7 (4-7) 2-6 win on Centre Court in two hours and one minute.
The 23-year-old’s victory ends Murray’s 17-match winning streak at the All England Club and also prevented the Scot from reaching his sixth consecutive semi-final.
“Today was one of those days when I was pretty steady for the whole match and came out the winner,” Dimitrov told the BBC Sport after his win over the 3rd seed.
British number one, Murray, made a strong start on his first serve but soon as he missed, he began faltering; claiming just three out of 10 on the second.
Dimitrov was able to dictate in the longer exchanges, even though he had trouble returning the Murray serve.
Murray was yet far from his best in the second set but managed to win a pulsating 31-stroke rally to level at 4-4, 30-30, and then fending off two break points at 5-5 to reach a tie-break.
Dimitrov’s big serve and athletic defence helped him dominate the key moments of the tie-break, coming up from 4-4 to closing it out.
The Briton then double-fault to drop serve in game six of the third set, and another double fault brought up two match points for his opponents two games later.
Murray saw off the first but could not repeat such feat again, as Dimitrov end his six-year long Wimbledon last-4 presence.
Dimitrov added: “I am excited and just happy I got through that match in straight sets. It’s never easy coming to play Andy in front of a home crowd and I am just fortunate and happy.
“As soon as we started warming up I sensed his game was not at the highest level and I was feeling good. I held my ground through and the tie break was crucial. I went into the third set very positive.
“It’s tough when you know the person well outside the court and you have to face them. I have hopefully two more matches left and I am just focussing on that and trying not to get carried away.”
“He played a very solid match, making few mistakes and a lot of returns. All the percentages were in his favour. I just wish I’d made it tougher for him,” said Murray.
