Roger Federer and Djokovic reach semis, Murray ousted

The defending champions got the taste of all round show from Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov at the All England Lawn Tennis Club before getting ousted prematurely from the tournament. Dimitrov, more popular as Maria Sharapova’s fiancée, finally hit the headlines for right reasons. In a battle which lasted for a minute more than two hours, Dimitrov just toyed with the last year’s champion to emerge on top with a scoreline reading 6-1, 7-6, 6-2 in his favour. Murray has been suffering from a back injury which has prevented him to play in his natural flow. Yet it can never minimize the effort of Dimitrov. It was such a dominating win for the Bulgarian.

In another quarter final going on at the same time in Court no. 1 Djokovic had to fight his skins out against Marian Cilic who took the fight to Djokovic. The top-seeded Serbian finally got the better of Cilic in the encounter lasting for 3 hours and 19 minutes as he beat him in five sets 6-1, 3-7, 6(4)-7, 6-2, 6-2. Cilic was looking dangerous and was looking good for the second upset in the day after Murray being shown the door by Dimitrov. But Djokovic hung tough and finally did it in a marathon game. He will now face Grigor Dimitrov in the semis.

In another match which followed Andy Murray’s defeat, Roger Federer stayed on course for his 8^th Wimbledon title as he beat Stanislas Wawrinka 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-4 and set up a semifinal clash with Milos Raonic, who beat Nick Kyrgios-the Nadal slayer, 6(4)-7, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(4) at Court No. 1. Federer had it easy enough against his fellow compatriot Wawrinka, although he dropped a set for the first time in this edition of the championship. The battle lasted for just few minutes more than two and a half hours as Federer finally wrapping up the winning point after five consecutive attempts. Except in the first set, where Federer had no answer to Wawrinka’s outrageous back-hands, he looked comfortable enough for his 18^th Grand Slam title.

The semis scheduled to be played tomorrow we have a great battle in hand as the young guns are slowly coming up with an answer to the challenges put forward by the top 4 in the world. Nadal and Murray are already out of the tournament. Whether we will get a new champion or will it be the same face, only time can tell. We have to wait for that till Friday. And really it’s worth a wait.

• About the Author

About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.