Raonic beats Kyrgios to book a spot in Wimbledon semis

Canada’s Milos Raonic defeated Australia’s Nick Kyrgios 67 (47), 62, 64, 76 (74) Wednesday in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Kyrgios, a 19yearold ranked 144th in the world, took out Spanish world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the round of 16 on Tuesday.

The teenager was the first player to reach the quarterfinals at the All England Club in their debut appearance since 2004, when Germany’s Florian Mayer achieved the feat at the age of 20.

The 23yearold Raonic ended the teenager’s dream run and will face Switzerland’s Roger Federer, who beat countryman Stanislas Wawrinka 36, 76 (75), 64, 64.

Federer, a seventime Wimbledon champion who has won a record 17 Grand Slam titles, looked shaky in the first set, but he started playing more aggressively and notched his fourth win over Wawrinka at a Grand Slam event.

“The crowd are very kind,” Federer said. “It’s always nice playing on Center Court or in England. I’ve been coming here since 1998 and I’ve always had amazing crowd support. We have got to know each other pretty well in that time.”

The 32yearold Federer won his first major title at Wimbledon in 2003, when he was 21.

The Swiss great, who has played in eight finals at the All England Club, won the men’s singles title in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2012.

His only loss in a final at the All England Club came at the hands of Nadal in 2008, a meeting that many consider the greatest tennis match ever played.

“Stan played great, especially for the first two sets. After that he started to struggle. He was hitting the ball too well and too cleanly for me to do anything on it. It’s difficult when you know someone that well,” Federer said of his sometime doubles partner.

Federer has now played a record 35 Grand Slam semifinal matches, moving well ahead of American Jimmy Connors, with 31, and Czech Ivan Lendl, who played in 28.

“I’m very pleased with the match. We played at a very high level and I wish him all the best for the rest of the season because he’s already had a beauty. I don’t want to get to too far ahead of myself. I’m really pleased I’m back in the semifinals after last year when I didn’t even come close and was very deflated leaving here on that note. It’s great to be back in the semis and the possibility of a step further is exciting,” Federer said.

In other men’s action, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov coasted to a 61, 76 (74), 62 win over Britain’s Andy Murray, the defending champion, in the quarterfinals.

“I have two more matches to play, hopefully,” Dimitrov, the No. 11 seed, said. “I’ll just try to stay on course.”

The 27yearold Murray, who last year became the first British man to win a singles title at the All England Club since Fred Perry in 1936, was trying to make his sixth consecutive semifinal at the event.

Murray was unable to find a weakness in the 23yearold Dimitrov’s game, stuggling much as Spanish world No. 1 Rafael Nadal did on Tuesday in his loss to Australia’s Nick Kyrgios.

“He was the better player from start to finish,” Murray said. “He played better tennis than me for the entire match. Right at the beginning of the match I had break points in the first game. But my start to the match was poor. I started the match badly. And I think that gave him confidence.”

Dimitrov methodically took apart Murray before a crowd that included Prince William and his wife, Kate, who cheered the Scotsman man on in defense of his title.

“I should have done a better job at the beginning of the match of making it tougher for him, and I didn’t manage to do that. Also, when I got back into the second set, the end of the set, you know, that was my opportunity there. He’d been up in the set a break and I’d come back. Momentum was starting to shift a little bit. Couldn’t quite do it,” Murray said.

The Scotsman, who had not lost in the quarterfinals in London since 2008, looked flat throughout the match.

Dimitrov ended Murray’s 17match winning streak and became the first player to take a set from the defending champion at Wimbledon this year.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, the top seed, defeated Croatia’s Marin Cilic 61, 36, 67 (47), 62, 62 in a marathon match that lasted three hours and 18 minutes.

Djokovic has not lost in the quarterfinals at the All England Club since 2009.

On the women’s side, Romania’s Simona Halep rolled over Germany’s Sabine Lisicki 64, 60, while Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard beat Germany’s Angelique Kerber 63, 64.