Sam’s the man
> Querrey knocks hobbling Murray out, Cilic ends long wait for first semis
SAM QUERREY sent hobbling defending champion Andy Murray crashing out of Wimbledon yesterday, reaching his first Grand Slam semifinal at the 42nd attempt.
One year after knocking out 2015 champion Novak Djokovic in the third round, 29-year-old Querrey, the world number 28, won 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-1.
World No. 1 Murray’s challenge petered out when he began limping off his right leg, his movement severely compromised by a recent hip problem.
Awaiting Querrey in the semifinals is world No. 6 former US Open champion Marin Cilic, in his first major semifinal since the 2015 US Open.
“I’m still in a state of shock. I’m glad I hit that last serve in,” said Querrey who finished with 27 aces and 70 winners.
“I didn’t start the best but I just kept swinging away and found my groove in the last two sets.”
Querrey is the first American man in the semifinals of a Grand Slam since Andy Roddick finished runner-up at Wimbledon in 2009.
“It feels great. It’s a dream come true to be in the semi-final at Wimbledon, it’s very special,” Querrey added.
There was no sign of the drama to come at the start of yesterday’s match.
Murray, 30, was supreme in the first set, carving out the key break for 2-0 and taking the opener on the back of just two unforced errors.
The Scot was a break to the good at 4-3 in the second before Querrey unexpectedly reeled off three straight games to level the quarter-final, firing 16 winners, twice as many as the top seed.
Murray restored his lead after Querrey played a sloppy tiebreak in the third set.
However, the champion’s afternoon on Centre Court began to unravel as his movement became increasingly limited.
Limping badly off his right leg, Murray was being run ragged and was broken three times in a 22-minute fourth set.
The fifth set followed a similar plot line, lasting 27 minutes as Murray won just one point off the American’s serve
Gilles Muller’s unlikely Wimbledon run came to an end when he was beaten in five sets by Croatian Cilic in their quarterfinal match yesterday.
The 34-year-old Muller was an unexpected presence in the last eight after he pulled off a surprise, five-set win over Rafa Nadal in the fourth round.
Muller took that form into the contest with Cilic but when his run of 31 service games without a break ended in the third set, the tide turned towards the Croat, who produced some magnificent return play in the final set.
“It means a lot. It’s an amazing achievement, three times I got stuck in the quarters,” Cilic said.
“It was a real hard fought battle, Gilles was serving unbelievable.
“It was just a couple of points deciding the match. I kept my cool. It was a relief to finally do it.”
Cilic is the third Croatian man to reach the Wimbledon semifinals after Goran Ivanisevic and Mario Ancic.
Cilic, hoping to reach his second major final, has won all four of his meetings with 24th seed Querrey, including three at Wimbledon in 2009, 2012 and 2015.
The second of those encounters was the second longest match in Wimbledon history at five hours and 31 minutes, something Cilic doesn’t want to experience when he faces Querrey again tomorrow.
“Hopefully it’s not the longest one ever,” he said. – AFP/ Reuters