Injured stars fall short of semis

American Querrey knocks out defending champ

LONDON » Limping between points and fading down the stretch, defending champion Andy Murray was stunned by 24th-seeded Sam Querrey of the U.S. 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1 in the Wimbledon quarterfinals Wednesday.

The No. 1-seeded Murray came into the tournament dealing with a sore left hip and it clearly impeded himat Centre Court. He grimaced as he stumbled or landed awkwardly while attempting shots.

Querrey took full advantage to reach the first Grand Slam semifinal of his career — and the first for any American man anywhere since Andy Roddick was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2009.

“I am still in a little bit of shock myself,” Querrey said.

Therewas another quarterfinal surprise later Wednesday, when three-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic stopped playing because of a right arm injury while trailing 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 7-6 (2), 2-0. After dropping the opening set, Djokovic took a medical timeout while a trainer massaged his arm. A day earlier, during his fourth-round-match, Djokovic had his right shoulder worked on by a trainer.

Seven-time champion Roger Federer moved into his 12th semifinal at the All England Club with a straightforward 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic. That left Federer as the only member of the sport’s socalled Big 4 still standing: In addition to the exits for Murray and Djokovic, Rafael Nadal lost in the

fourth round. That quartet has combined towin each of thepast 14Wimbledontitles.

In Friday’s semifinals, Querrey will face 2014 U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic of Croatia, who also won a five-setter Wednesday, getting past 16th-seeded Gilles Muller 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 with the help of 33 aces. On the other half of the draw, Federer will face Berdych.

Murray is normally a terrific returner, but Querrey hit 27 aces. He was impeccable for portions of thematch, finishing with 70 winners and only 30 unforced errors.

“He was dictating all of the points,” Murray said.

TIM IRELAND — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SamQuerrey of the United States returns to Britain’s Andy Murray during their quarterfinal match on day nine at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Wednesday.