Roger Federer out in five to Grigor Dimitrov in US Open quarterfinals

In the fourth set of his US Open quarterfinal against Grigor Dimitrov, Roger Federer held serve in an eight-deuce, 12-minute game in which he saved seven break points.

The problem for Federer was, he was still down a break of serve, at 3-4, and Dimitrov would hold his serve in about two minutes in the very next game. All of that work, negated so quickly.

As it turned out, it would be Federer's last stand.

Dimitrov would go on to serve out the set to force a theoretically dramatic decider in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Federer won the first and third sets by 6-3 scores; Dimitrov won the second and fourth sets by 6-4 scores. Federer went 0 for 6 on break points in the fourth set.

In the end, the fifth set was an anticlimactic finish to a match where momentum wasn't sustained until Dimitrov seized his opportunity. He converted both break points in the decider, and watched Federer pile up 13 unforced errors.

The Bulgarian came into the clash determined to show his quarterfinal run wasn’t a fluke after seeing his ranking drop to No. 78 prior to the tournament. He showed flashes of the shot-making that propelled him to No. 3 in the world and the 2017 ATP Finals crown.

Down two sets to one, Dimitrov—who came into this match 0-7 against Federer—made a push to test the No. 3 seed infinitely more so than the Swiss' previous two opponents, both of whom lost in under 80 minutes or less.

Before the fifth set began, Federer took an off-court medical timeout with trainer Severin Luthi. A look of concern permeated through the Federer player box.

In the first game of the fifth set, Federer was broken. Dimitrov followed with a love hold. One game later, Dimitrov earned an insurance break for a 3-0 lead.

After three hours of play, it was 4-0 in the fifth. About 10 minutes later, it was over: 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, to Dimitrov.

"This is Grigor's moment and not my body's moment," Federer said after the match, in response to a question about his health.

But Federer did confirm that an upper-back issue affected him earlier in the day.

Dimitrov, elated during his post-match, on-court interview, will face Daniil Medvedev in Friday's semifinal.

A full report on this match to come from Joel Drucker.

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