London: Roger Federer suffered a stunning Wimbledon exit as the defending champion blew a two-set lead and wasted a match point in a 2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 quarter-final defeat against South Africa’s Kevin Anderson on Wednesday.
Federer’s bid to win a ninth Wimbledon title came to an astonishing end as the Swiss star collapsed in a nail-biting four hour and 13 minute classic that ranks as one of the tournament’s greatest upsets.
It was Federer’s earliest departure from Wimbledon since his shock second round defeat against Sergiy Stakhovsky in 2013.
Eighth seed Anderson will play 2016 runner-up Milos Raonic or American ninth seed John Isner on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final.
“Down two sets to love I tried my best to keep fighting. Beating Roger Federer here at Wimbledon will be one I remember, especially in such a close match,” Anderson said.
For the only the second time at Wimbledon, Federer was beaten after holding a two-set lead, with his previous loss from that position coming against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2011 quarter-finals.
Anderson had failed to take a single set off Federer in their previous four meetings. Anderson is the first South African man to make the last four at Wimbledon since Kevin Curren in 1983.
The 32-year-old made his maiden Grand Slam final appearance as last year’s US Open, losing to Rafael Nadal.
