Tennis: Roger Federer suffers surprising defeat at U.S. Open

Five-time U.S. Open champion Roger Federer suffered an unexpected defeat in the quarter-finals, at the end of a five-set match against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov. The Swiss 38-year-old had won all the seven previous matches against Dimitrov, but this time the Bulgarian dug deep and secured a 3-6 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-2 win. This is the first time that Grigor Dimitrov reaches the semi-finals at the U.S. Open and only his second presence in the last four at a Grand Slam after Wimbledon in 2014. 

Roger Federer needed treatment for back pain during the latter stages of the match. The Swiss was knocked out at the U.S. Open by a player outside the ATP rankings top 50 for the second consecutive year, last season he lost to Australian John Millman and now to Dimitrov, who is currently ranked 78th. "I feel low. I'm disappointed it is over because I feel as I though I was playing well," Federer said. "It is a missed opportunity. I thought if I could get through I'd have two days off after." 

For Dimitrov, this is a chance to get back towards the rankings that he once had, he went as high as number 3 in the world in November 2017. "I think the past six, seven months have been pretty rough for me. But I had somebody to lean on, my friends, my family. I kept on believing again in the work, the rehab I had to put behind my shoulder, the exercise, the practice, fixing up the racquet a little bit. There were so many things I had to adjust in such a small but big period of time," the Bulgarian said. "Next thing you know, you're almost at the end of the year, you have a result like that. It's pretty special to me." 

Dimitrov will take on Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final, he defeated Stan Wawrinka in four sets. Grigor Dimitrov is 11/8 at William Hill to win that match and reach the final, while Daniil Medvedev is 4/7 to win it.