Roger Federer stunned in quarters

Associated Press

WIMBLEDON, England

Roger Federer covered his face with both hands, no doubt wishing he were doing anything at that moment other than dissecting his latest earlier-than-expected Grand Slam exit.

This one came at Wimbledon, no less — the tournament that he loves more than any other, that he ruled for so long.

After all the victories, all the championships, all the records, Federer now must deal with a new streak: The owner of 16 major titles, the man widely considered the best player in tennis history, has lost two consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals in the span of a month, both against opponents who have yet to win a single such trophy.

Federer arrived at the All England Club aiming to reach the final for the eighth year in a row and win a record-tying seventh title. Instead, he’s leaving before the semifinals, beaten 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday by No. 12 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

On June 1, Federer lost in the French Open quarterfinals as the defending champion there, too, putting an end to his unprecedented 23 consecutive appearances in major semifinals.

“God, I can’t wait for Paris and Wimbledon to come around next year again, that’s for sure, because they’ve been frustrating tournaments for me, even though it wasn’t too bad. Quarters is a decent result,” Federer said, as if trying to convince himself along with everyone else.

“Obviously, people think quarters is shocking, but people would die to play in quarterfinal stages of Grand Slam play,” he added, fidgeting during his news conference. “It’s not something I’m used to doing — losing in quarterfinals — because it’s not something I’ve done in the last six years.”

Until Wednesday, Federer was 51-1 at Wimbledon since 2003.

Federer placed at least some of the blame for this loss on two previously undisclosed health issues: a bothersome back and right thigh.

“I couldn’t play the way I wanted to play,” said Federer, whose defeat guarantees he will drop to No. 3 in the rankings for the first time since November 2003, according to the ATP. “You just don’t feel as comfortable. You can’t concentrate on each and every point, because you do feel the pain sometimes.”

He said his leg and back have bothered him since the grass-court tournament in Halle, Germany, where Federer lost to Lleyton Hewitt in the final a week before Wimbledon started.

Against Berdych, Federer whiffed on a forehand in the fourth game, but otherwise gave no obvious indication he was troubled. Berdych didn’t notice anything wrong.

Berdych never had been past the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam until Paris. If he’s going to reach his first major final, he’ll need to eliminate No. 3 Novak Djokovic on Friday.

Djokovic advanced to his second Wimbledon semifinal with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 victory over 82nd-ranked Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan, who upset Andy Roddick in the fourth round.

Also Friday, Rafael Nadal — ranked No. 1, seeded No. 2 — will meet No. 4 Andy Murray, who is trying to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936.

Britain hasn’t even put a man in the final since 1938.

“A huge, huge wait for us,” Murray said after getting past No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-2 to reach the semifinals for the second straight year.

“I mean, I don’t know if he just [is] looking for some excuses after the match or something like that,” said Berdych, who also beat Federer at Key Biscayne, Fla., in March, after losing to him eight times in a row.