London: Roger Federer admitted he was shell-shocked as the Swiss star struggled to come to terms with his “terrible” Wimbledon quarter-final exit against Kevin Anderson.

Federer suffered one of the most stunning defeats of his career on Wednesday, blowing a two-set lead and wasting a match point in a 2-6, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 loss.

Federer’s bid to win a ninth Wimbledon title came to an astonishing end as the defending champion collapsed in a nail-biting four hour and 13 minute classic that ranks among the tournament’s greatest upsets.

The 36-year-old had needed only 26 minutes to take the first set, leaving him horrified as a fifth successive Wimbledon semi-final slipped through his fingers from such a commanding position.

“To be honest, I didn’t feel mental fatigue (during the match). Now I feel horribly fatigued and just awful,” Federer said.

“As the match went on, I couldn’t surprise him any more. That’s a bad feeling to have. I couldn’t come up with enough good stuff for him to miss more. I think that was the key at the end.

“It’s just terrible. But that’s how it goes, you know. I didn’t see it coming.”

It was Federer’s earliest departure from Wimbledon since his shock second round defeat against Sergiy Stakhovsky in 2013.

For the only the second time at Wimbledon, Federer was beaten after holding a two-set lead, with his previous loss from that position coming against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the 2011 quarter-finals.

Anderson’s huge serve kept Federer on the back foot and the towering eighth seed also fared much better than expected in the baseline rallies.

“I was very happy that I got off to the right start of the match, was able to take control somewhat of the game. I just don’t know exactly how I couldn’t create more opportunities once the third set came around,” Federer said.

“I wasn’t feeling particularly well off the baseline. I couldn’t really get the rallies going the way I wanted to, especially 1-2 punch wasn’t working at all “It’s disappointing.”

Agence France-Presse