Andy Murray Upset, Marin Cilic Win Sets Up Men's Semi-Final at Wimbledon 2017

Defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray was eliminated from the tournament at the quarter-final stage on Wednesday, as Sam Querrey set up a semi-final showdown with Marin Cilic.

Querrey battled from behind twice in an epic contest with Murray, eventually prevailing 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1. The American capitalised late in the match, as fitness issues besieged the top seed on Centre Court.

Next up for the American will be Cilic, as he overcame Gilles Muller in another attritional battle. Cilic recovered from a set down to go ahead, before the man from Luxembourg levelled.

However, perhaps with the epic match with Rafael Nadal still in his legs, Muller yielded in the decider, eventually losing 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1.

Later in the day there was a major surprise, as second seed Novak Djokovic retired from his match with Tomas Berdych due to a shoulder problem. Roger Federer, meanwhile, continued his sensational form, breezing past Milos Raonic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4).

Wednesday Recap

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The early stages of Murray's clash with Querrey looked set to go to as expected. The former was authoritative and at ease on Centre Court, while the latter was nervy in one of the biggest matches of his life.

After taking the opener, the first signs that Murray wasn't at full throttle came at the end of the second stanza. Having been a break up at 4-3, Querrey rattled through three games in succession to level things up.

And while Murray battled hard to win the third set, he deteriorated badly from that point on. As noted by tennis journalist David Law, it was clear he had an injury issue:

Querrey, as a result, dropped just two games in the final two sets, with Murray providing almost no resistance across court. Afterwards, the top seed opened up about his hip knock.

"Throughout the tournament I've been a little bit sore but I tried my best, right to the end I gave everything I had, and I'm proud about that but it's obviously disappointing to lose," he told BBC Sport. "There was an opportunity there so I'm sad that it's over. Before the tournament it was very short-term solutions because you want to play Wimbledon."

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Only Cilic now stands between Querrey and the Wimbledon final. As noted by Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times, it's likely to be another marathon semi:

In his quarter-final, Cilic eventually ground down Muller, who seemed to feel the effects of his win over Nadal in the decider.

Still, the Croatian has been in excellent form as of late and definitely has the game to win on grass. It's going to be intriguing to see which of these two huge servers manages to negotiate their way into Sunday's showpiece.

Following Cilic and Muller on Court 1 was Djokovic and Berdych. And the pair appeared to set up a potential thriller, with neither man giving an inch in the first set; eventually, Berdych won a tiebreak to edge in front.

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But between the sets Djokovic called for the trainer and at the start of the second stanza, he looked far from comfortable. After falling 2-0 down, the Serb begrudgingly made it clear he was in no state to continue.

As noted by Christopher Clarey of the New York Times, the second seed was in massive bother:

His withdrawal means there is a very unfamiliar look to the semi-final schedule, per James Gheerbrandt of the Times:

Federer is a name that’s graced the last four of the competition on many an occasion, though, and he is undoubtedly the man to beat in 2017 after another masterful performance against Raonic.

The seven-time champion was flawless in the first two stanzas, with the Canadian unable to cope with his pinpoint serving and stunning groundstrokes. Raonic did find a little more in the third set, although when the tiebreak did come, Federer raised his levels yet again to ensure safe progression.