LONDON (Reuters) – 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 quarter-finals on Wednesday.
The third seed had confidently marched into the last eight without dropping a set but his meek abdication on Wednesday 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, threatened to fightback in the second and was simply outclassed in the third.
A forehand into the net handed Dimitrov the biggest win of his career and he became the first Bulgarian man to reach the semi-finals of a grand slam tournament.
The 11th seed will play either top seed Novak Djokovic or Croatian 26th seed Marin Cilic for a place in the final.
