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How Grigor Dimitrov ended Andy Murray's Wimbledon reign

There’s a new British drought at Wimbledon, albeit one that’s slightly shorter than the 77-year one that preceded it. Andy Murray’s title defense abruptly ended on Wednesday, as the reigning Wimbledon champion was ousted in straight sets by up-and-comer Grigor Dimitrov. Here are the biggest takeaways from the match.

1. Andy Murray was struggling long before his loss to Dimitrov.

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

Everyone in London should have seen this coming from miles kilometers away. Murray hasn’t won a tournament since Wimbledon last year. He hasn’t even made a final. Improbably, his best Grand Slam result since then was making the semifinals at the French Open, an event played on his worst surface. He took off the last half of 2013 with an injury, then parted ways with Ivan Lendl. Whatever momentum Murray had after winning the Olympics, U.S. Open and Wimbledon in an 11-month stretch was halted almost immediately. There was always going to be a hangover after reaching the tennis summit, but no one expected it to last this long.

Expect it to end soon. Murray had years to play with the pressure of now winning Wimbledon. This was his first taste of playing to win Wimbledon again. His new partnership with Amelie Mauresmo — which shouldn’t bear any responsibility for this disappointment — won’t pay dividends until the American hard court season begins later this month. Look for Murray to get back on the Grand Slam track in New York.

2. Though Murray was awful, Dimitrov was great.

(Getty Images)

(Getty Images)

Murray was out of sorts from the beginning.”My start to the match was poor,” he told reporters. “He was the better player from start to finish.”

But capitalizing isn’t as easy as it seems. It can be difficult for players without a ton of big-match experience to take advantage of an opponent’s struggles. That wasn’t an issue for Dimitrov, who showed why he’s been pegged as a future Grand Slam winner for years. He has a deft touch on volleys (Brad Gilbert says he’s the best in the game), moves with a rare fluidity on the grass and isn’t afraid to play aggressive tennis. Though this is his first Grand Slam semifinal, he wasn’t speaking like a player happy to be there. Dimitrov fully expects to win two more.

3. Murray will fall behind Dimitrov in the ATP rankings.

(Reuters)

(Reuters)

At best, Murray will be No. 10 when the rankings come out next Monday. (He entered Wimbledon at No. 5) At worst, Dimitrov will move from No. 13 to No. 9, his first entry into the top 10.

4. There’s a tennis changing of the guard.

(Getty Images)

Eugenie Bouchard. (Getty Images)

As noted by the WTA’s Kevin Fischer, five of the eight semifinalists at Wimbledon were born in 1990: Eugenie Bouchard, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova, Grigor Dimitrov and the winner of Milos Raonic/Nick Kyrgios (being played later Wednesday). It should be noted that Dimitrov isn’t that young. At 23, he’s just four years younger than Murray and five years younger than Nadal.

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