Federer numbed by sensational Tsonga

ROGER FEDERER was waiting for the pain he normally associates with defeat to kick in last night as he left Wimbledon but it didn’t come.

Beaten by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals, and with one of his most remarkable runs brought to a crushing end, Federer was numbed by defeat but the distress which has accompanied previous losses on Centre Court was strangely absent.

Federer put it down to the performance of Tsonga, who became the first man Federer had lost to in a grand slam from a two-set start.

After winning 178 matches from two ahead in best-of-five contests, Federer seemed certain to reach number 179 when he breezed through the opener against Tsonga in 27 minutes and added the next on a tie-break.

But Tsonga’s improvement in that second set had been marked, and rather than fold in the next he grew in strength, and his serve became increasingly unplayable.

Federer’s standards hardly slipped, but his opponent was playing the kind of destructive tennis he has always been capable of but fleetingly produced.

It resulted in Federer losing 3-6 6-7 (3/7) 6-4 6-4 6-4, a year since Tomas Berdych beat him in four sets at the same stage.

“I think this one for some reason is going to be easier to digest than last year’s defeat,” Federer said.

“Even though this one was in five sets and I was up two sets to love, I don’t really feel like I lost from two sets to love up.

“It’s a strange feeling because I played well. I can’t blame my poor returning or poor serving or my poor movement or anything like that and that makes it a bit easier to digest.”

Tsonga celebrated with a dance across the court, and said: “It was amazing. I played unbelievable.

“To come from two sets down — that’s crazy.

“He is the biggest champion in my sport. He’s achieved lots of things and he’s the best player in the world. I’m just so happy to win against him.”

Number two seed Novak Djokovic awaits Tsonga in the semi-finals. The Serbian was not at his best against teenage Australian Bernard Tomic but did enough to win 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5.

Djokovic, with just one defeat in 2011, was error-prone against his Australian practice partner, had his serve broken three times and needed a run of seven straight games in the third and fourth sets to gain control.

Looking ahead to the match against Tsonga, Djokovic said: “I need to work on my game. I hope I can perform better than I did today.”

Andy Murray reached the semi-finals for a third successive year with a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over unseeded Spaniard Feliciano Lopez. Defending champion Rafael Nadal awaits the home hope in the semi-finals, just as the Spaniard blocked his passage at the same stage last year.

Murray said: “I’m playing well. I’m sure in the next round I’ll have to raise my game even more.”

Top seed Nadal recovered from a mid-match dip to stroll to a four-set win over American Mardy Fish on Court One 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-4.

Meanwhile Maria Sharapova has shrugged off her tag as the old woman of the Wimbledon semi-finals today as she looks to make it back into the grand slam champions’ club.

The 24-year-old is the clear favourite to do so but the best of the new generation are in her way. In the last four today, the Russian faces 21-year-old Sabine Lisicki, while the other clash pits Victoria Azarenka against Petra Kvitova — both also 21.

Sharapova said: “A few years don’t really make much of a difference. I think maybe if I achieved big things when I was a little bit older, not 17, maybe I wouldn’t be seen as more of a veteran. I’d still be considered young.

“I feel like I got to learn so much more than players at my age.”