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A mood of patriotic fervour and a few days of endless Wimbledon sunshine can only take a player so far. Reality kicked in for Andy Murray on Wednesday and his physical disintegration made for excruciating viewing as he crashed out at the hands of American Sam Querrey.
Murray looked like a physical wreck long before the end, deprived of much lateral movement on the baseline, swinging his racket from the hip like some second-rate club player. He lacked any kind of base to hit from with apparently no strength in his lower body.
The collapse came very suddenly. The fourth set was over inside 20 minutes, part of a 10-game sequence from the end of the third set in which Murray won only one game.
An injury-hit Andy Murray exited Wimbledon at the quarter-final stage against Sam Querrey on Wednesday afternoon
Querrey celebrates after earning a place in the last-four by beating the world No 1 and reigning champion
Murray surprisingly lost the second set, which ended up being a sign of the difficulties he'd have for the rest of the match
The hip complaint that had been troubling Murray for months was clearly an issue throughout the contest
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But though the outcome was consistent with the hip condition he brought into this tournament, he will be haunted by the way he threw away an apparently match-winning position in the second set. For all the talk up ahead of Murray’s 2017 schedule and playing through the pain, he was easing away at a set and a break up when he executed a complacently loose drop-shot from the baseline at 15-30.
It was a pivotal moment. The No 24 seed seized the break point opportunity and the course of the game changed irrevocably.
It had started out so differently. There were clouds in the sky as combat began on a Centre Court in which most of the corporate seats were empty, though Murray’s mind was clear. While he began with two unreturnable serves, to win his opening game to love, a tight, tense Querrey opened up with a double fault. The American’s 100th ace of the tournament arrived in his own first service game but the vital advantage had been conceded by then.
It took Querrey six games to find any kind of groove, with a 130mph ace, and the six unforced errors from him in the first five games of the match told their own story. He was the one who seemed ponderous and immobile, perhaps feeling the wear of nearly ten hours on court to reach this stage. The first set was out of the way in 28 minutes and Querrey looked to the skies as he trudged away.
Murray fires a backhand back at the giant American as he looked to reach the last-four and retain his crown
The Scot lost the second set and struggled to overcome Querrey in the third, which eventually went to a tiebreak
His wife Kim Murray watches on as her husband struggled during the quarter-final contest on Wednesday afternoon
Querrey did begin to find his first service in the second set, landing 74 per cent in the set - but his struggles continued. He allowed Murray four break points for a 4-3 lead, which the No 1 seed finally took. The No 24 seed seemed feckless - not even angry – and it was in this vapid environment that the Briton critically threw away that break advantage in a blizzard of errors.
After Querrey had held his own serve to lead 5-4 in the second set, Murray was then broken again. Having been granted a set point reprieve when the American netting an elementary backhand, Murray overhit one of his own to offer another opportunity. Querrey’s backhand – the weaker of his sides – sealed the set to equal things out.
Querrey was still displaying the signs of a man with a scrambled mind when he dumped serve again in the first game of the third set, handing the advantage back to Murray once more.
But after the set progressed with serve, Murray sacrificed the advantage once again, netting a backhand low into the net for 15-40 and allowing Querrey a backhand cross court winner to square things at 5-5.
Querrey troubled Murray throughout with his excellent service game on Centre Court and it eventually paid off
Aston Villa defender John Terry (left) and former midfielder Jermaine Jenas also attended the match
Querrey returns a service to Murray during the third set on Wednesday afternoon as he looked to upset the odds
Murray shows his frustration as he struggled to overcome his unfancied opponent, needing a tiebreak to win the third
The two-time Wimbledon winner fell apart and lost to Querrey in the fourth set and did not recover from there
It was shocking to see Murray struggle to manage just a few feet of lateral movement on the first point of the tiebreaker.
His hip seemed to jar as he attempted a ball a racket’s distance away. But Querrey was unable immediately to seize this advantage. He delivered a regulation smash into the net to hand Murray the mini-break.
Three set points came and went but the top seed did not look back. He won the breaker to four and took the set.
This breakthrough disguised a chronic underlying problem. Querrey was acutely aware of Murray’s physical difficulties, which saw the strength of the Briton’s first serve dip to 90mph and even 80mph at times in the fourth set. The American – for whom this is a huge, breakthrough win - grew in confidence.
Fans on Murray Mound are left in disbelief as the Scot is unable to overcome Querrey and reach the semi-finals
Murray shows his dejection as his defence of his Wimbledon crown came to a painful end in SW19 on Wednesday
He maintained his big-shot game but began moving more freely himself and moved Murray around. Querrey became more mobile as the match wore on.
The fourth set went to the American 6-1, confronting Murray with a fifth set, having lost three of those in succession since he beat Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga here last year. It slipped away, 6-1.
Murray will now begin the job of trying to discover the nature of this injury. In a sense, it was a mercy when the final knockings of his Wimbledon were done.
The 30-year-old offers his congratulations and shows his respect to American Querrey after being toppled by him
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