Federer dethroned at Wimbledon

For the first time since 2002, Roger Federer will not be playing in the finals of a grass court tournament.   Federer lost in the quarterfinal round at Wimbledon to Tomas Berdych.  Berdych kept Federer on the defense for 3 of 4 sets, his serve and powerful strokes down the line more than Federer could handle.  Federer looked nothing like the 6-time Wimbledon champion and king of grass courts.  Instead, he appeared aged and slow, hitting shots that lacked pace and merely set-up Berdych for a winner.  After the match, Federer said he had been hampered in recent weeks by leg and back injuries.  This could explain some of the weak returns and softer serves.  Federer averaged only 118 mph on 1st serve, compared to 129 for Berdych.  The lack of power was also evident in Federer’s failure to convert on break point, winning only 1 of 8 chances.  As a result, for the first time since 2003, Federer will drop to a world ranking of 3. 

No. 2 seed, and world No. 1, Rafael Nadal played less than stellar, yet still managed to win against Robin Soderling (6).  Soderling took the first set as Nadal appeared to be sleepwalking.  The first set loss seemed to wake up Nadal, as he grew stronger each game for the rest of the match.

Novak Djokovic (3) was easily the class of the day, handily beating Yen-Hsun Lu who was fresh off the match of his life against Andy Roddick.

British hopeful Andy Murray (4) lost the opening set to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (10) before ousting the frenchman.