Manic Monday in the men's singles at Wimbledon 2017 ended up with a twinge of disappointment as one of the crowd favourites Rafael Nadal bowed out. But then came the "injury Wednesday," when a hobbling Andy Murray and an in-pain Novak Djokovic crashed out of the tournament.
There is only going to be one winner now at this Wimbledon, and it is a man that has already lifted the coveted cup seven previous times.
Roger Federer, as the rest of the "Big Four" tumbled around him, put on another majestic performance, swatting Milos Raonic aside and gaining a measure of revenge after the Canadian had beaten the Swiss in the semifinals last year.
Federer was at his imperious best, moving to a record 12th semifinal with a brilliant 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) win over last year's finalist. That win put Federer into the he-will-definitely-win-Wimbledon zone, as Murray and Djokovic had days to forget.
Murray, the defending champion, was the first to bow out, losing to Sam Querrey in five sets, and that too after starting the match so well.
While a hip injury has been bothering the Brit through the entire tournament, it looked like he will be able to manage it one more time when Murray took the first set, without much of a fuss, 6-3.
However, when Querrey fought back in the second, you felt this wasn't going to be quite as straightforward, even after Murray restored his one-set lead by taking the third in a tie-break.
By then, the home favourite was clearly struggling with his hip, unable to make any quick movements, while his serve was rendered pointless. Querrey's serve, however, just kept getting better and better and easy as pie the big man clinched the match by winning the final two sets 6-1, 6-1, with it becoming the first American since 2009, when Andy Roddick did it, to make it to the men's singles semifinals at Wimbledon.
"Sam served great," Murray said. "The end of the fourth set and fifth set, he hardly missed any first serves. He was acing me pretty much every time.
"I wasn't getting enough power on my serve to put him in any bother. He was dictating all of the points."
If the manner in which Murray struggled in the final two sets was a bit of an anti-climax, it had nothing on what went on at the No.1 Court a little while later, as Djokovic, after losing the first set and going down a break in the second to Tomas Berdych, retired hurt with an elbow injury.
This was another chapter in the "What's going on with Djokovic this year," drama, with this one a little harder to digest, purely because of the tame manner in which it ended. You do wonder if Djokovic from two years back, pain or no pain, would have found a way to carry on and somehow make it to the semifinals.
However, it was not to be, and while Marin Cilic, who found a way past Gilles Muller, the man who beat Nadal, Berdych and Querrey will fancy their chances at a first Wimbledon title, we all know it is only going to one place – a trophy room in Basel.
