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Federer loses to Berdych in Wimbledon quarters

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-01 03:24

Switzerland's Roger Federer hits a return to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic at the 2010 Wimbledon tennis championships in London, June 30, 2010. [Agencies]

Nadal, who beat Federer in the 2008 final, lost the first five games of the match but rallied to defeat No. 6 Robin Soderling 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-1. It was a rematch of this year's French Open final, which the Spaniard also won.

Nadal will play Murray, who downed 10th-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-2 to make the semis for the second straight year. Murray rallied after losing his first set of the tournament and punctuated the victory with a vicious forehand winner on match point.

Murray is bidding to become the first British player to win the men's title at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. The last British man to reach the final was Bunny Austin in 1938.

With the loss, Federer will drop to No. 3 in the ATP rankings next week for the first time since November 10, 2003. Since winning the Australian Open in January, he has failed to win a tournament.

Federer said his leg and back have been bothering him since the grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, the week before Wimbledon. He hadn't previously mentioned any injury problems.

"When you're hurting, it's just a combination of many things," Federer said. "You just don't feel as comfortable. You can't concentrate on each and every point because you do feel the pain sometimes. You tend to play differently than the way you want to play.

"Under the circumstances, I think I played a decent match," he added. "But I've been feeling bad for the last two, three matches now. If there's anything good about this, it's that I'm going to get some rest."

Federer was playing in his 25th consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. He had won 23 straight, but now has lost two in a row. Federer fell to Soderling at the French Open earlier this month.

Federer had won 76 of 77 grass-court matches dating to 2003 coming into this month, but has now lost two of the past six, including to Lleyton Hewitt in Halle.

Federer was clearly outplayed Wednesday by a man who has always possessed enormous talent but often failed to live up to expectations.

The 6-foot-5 (1.96 m) Berdych was on the offensive for most of the match, smacking first serves consistently in the 130s mph (above 210 kph), winding up to rip forehand winners and not buckling under pressure. He hit 51 winners, compared to 44 for Federer.

"He played well when he had to," Federer said. "It was brutal for me. Every time he had a chance, he took it. On the break points, he played great on those. ... When I did have chances, I played poorly. It was just a frustrating match the way it all went."