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Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer says he “did not see defeat coming” before a shock quarter-final exit against Kevin Anderson.
Top seed Federer, 36, had not dropped a set on his way to the last eight.
He missed a match point when two sets up before eighth seed Anderson fought back to win a remarkable contest.
“I felt great in practice, good in the warm-up. I’m feeling the ball well,” the Swiss said. “It just happened to be that today wasn’t the day.” Federer had been the favourite to win a record-extending ninth men’s singles title, but was beaten in a contest that lasted more than four hours.
He equalled his own record of winning 34 consecutive sets at SW19 by taking the first two against Anderson.
The defending champion had not dropped a service game at this year’s championships either – part of a run spanning 85 games – until Anderson broke him in the second set.
Anderson’s comeback victory is only the second time Federer has lost at Wimbledon after leading by two sets, following a quarter-final defeat by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2011.
“It’s disappointing losing the next two sets after winning the first two and having match points,” said Federer.
“I’ve been there before. I know what kind of energy I need to bring to the fifth. I was able to bring that.
“I didn’t feel mental fatigue. Now I feel horribly fatigued and just awful. It’s just terrible.”
Federer suffered his earliest exit at Wimbledon since a shock second-round defeat against Sergiy Stakhovsky in 2013.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, who turns 37 next month, says he plans to return to SW19 next year.
“The losses hurt more, you don’t want to be on the loser’s side,” he said.
“It motivates me to do extremely well here because I don’t want to sit here and explain my loss. That’s the worst feeling you can have as a tennis player.”
S Africa hails Anderson’s shock defeat of Federer
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday led South Africa in congratulating Kevin Anderson after he sensationally knocked Roger Federer out of Wimbledon to become the first South African to reach the semi-finals in 35 years.
The 32-year old Anderson defeated defending champion Federer in a five-set thriller that lasted slightly more than four hours. “Congratulations to Kevin Anderson for reaching the men’s singles semi-finals,” Ramaphosa tweeted on Thursday.
Anderson became the first South African in the Wimbledon semi-finals since Kevin Curren in 1983 and just the sixth in history. “We have always considered him an ambassador and he continues to wave the flag.
We are very excited,” Mickey Modisane, the sports ministry spokesman, told media. “From a social cohesion and nation-building perspective, it’s a great achievement for South Africa.” “Over 3 hours these two men gave their all to stay alive.
Fight, determination, hunger… you name it they showed it all,” tweeted South African cricketer Morne Morkel, who was in the crowd of spectators at Wimbledon. Eighth seed Anderson will play American ninth seed John Isner on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final. DNA
