Federer: Out of Surprises

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Roger Federer sees a simple reason for his stunning five-set Wimbledon quarterfinal loss to Kevin Anderson.

The eight-time champion ran out of surprises against a fierce Anderson in the final set suffering his earliest Wimbledon exit since bowing to Sergiy Stakhovsky in the 2013 second round.

More: Anderson Saves Match Point, Shocks Federer

"When I was on, I was making him play," Federer told the media afterward. "From the baseline I felt like I could mix it up, play aggressive.

"As the match went on, I couldn't surprise him any more. That's a bad feeling to have. It's not like it hasn't happened before. I've been in many, many matches like this. These are the moments where you try to hold your serve, create opportunities. Maybe he's got to miss a few more than make a few more. That's going to maybe make the difference. I couldn't come up with enough good stuff for him to miss more. I think that was the key at the end."

The top-seeded Swiss carried an imposing 266-2 Grand Slam record when holding a two-set lead into the decider today.

The eighth-seeded Anderson unleashed 11 of his 28 aces in the final set rallying from two sets down to win for just the third time in his career.

"There are moments that you rise to the occasion, and I didn’t. It just happened that today wasn’t the day."

After 11 #Wimbledon match wins in a row, we bid farewell to our eight-time champion - until next year, @rogerfederer. pic.twitter.com/gullVyRGeh
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 11, 2018

Federer said his inability to lift his level of play in the fifth set cost him the match.

"I wouldn't necessarily say I've been playing like incredible. I've been playing well," Federer said. "Just today, when I needed it, I couldn't get it up. That's why it's an average performance and not a good one. So if I would have won in straight sets, then it could have been all right, you know, because I would have had a great first set, and second set was whatever it was.

"So, no, I didn't see it coming. From that standpoint, I felt great in practice, good in the warmup. I'm feeling the ball well. Even now losing, I still felt like the feeling is there. It just happened to be that today wasn't the day."

Photo credit: Rob Newell/CameraSport

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