A sense of stunned disbelief descended over south west London at 3.46pm on Wednesday when the unthinkable happened -- Roger Federer's remarkable reign as Wimbledon champion was finally over.
When Tomas Berdych punched away a forehand winner to leave the Swiss maestro two matches short of reaching his eighth successive Wimbledon final, a chorus of 45,000 gasps could be heard around the All England Club and echoed by millions more around the sporting world.
Berdych's 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win thrust a dagger into Federer's heart, leaving the six-times champion to contemplate going on holiday as he suffered his earliest defeat at the All England Club since 2002.
"It was brutal for me. Every time he had a chance, he took it. If there's anything good about this it's I'm gonna get some rest," summed up Federer, who added he had been troubled by a stiff back and right leg injury.
Before this fortnight, however, it seemed as if even a one-legged Federer could not be beaten before the final of the championships.
But after some crisp hitting from Berdych finally brought the man who had won 51 of his last 52 Wimbledon matches to his knees, Britain started to dream that this may be the summer when Andy Murray can finally end the 74-year long wait for a homegrown men's champion.
SODERLING OVERCOME
The world number four will be urged on not to fluff his lines when he takes on Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga later on Wednesday.
Rafael Nadal, the only man to beat Federer at the citadel of grasscourt tennis since 2002, will also be eager to make his presence felt after overcoming familiar foe, Robin Soderling, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-1.
With Wimbledon still buzzing over Federer's demise, barely anyone noticed that Novak Djokovic had already tip-toed into Friday's semi-final. He ended the run of Taiwanese chicken farmer's son Lu Yen-hsun 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to set up the unlikeliest of semis with Czech 12th seed Berdych.
A Wimbledon men's final without the sight of Federer walking out on that second Sunday of the championships was inconceivable only 10 days ago but after a week in which he has struggled to stamp his authority over opponents ranked 152 and 60, Berdych was ready to move in for the kill.
It took him 23 minutes to rattle the top seed as he broke for a 4-3 lead in the first set after Federer looped a backhand long.
At that moment, Federer must have realised that this was not going to be a "one-shirt-change kind of match".
The Swiss usually has no need to work his way through the 10 shirts and nine rackets he carries on court for his matches but on Wednesday the pile of laundry and discarded rackets by his chair told their own story.
DESPERATE SHOTS
Although he captured the second set, the desperate shots flying off his racket became increasingly wayward.
A ballooned forehand drew groans, a missed dropshot was greeted with even louder moans and a missed volley simply drew gasps.
A female fan who had been bouncing up and down during the changeovers sporting a red T-shirt bearing the message "I'm Federised!" soon wore a look that said "I'm demoralised!"
Berdych galloped to a 4-1 lead and then left Federer gaping in astonishment after he broke again with a service return that flashed past the Swiss.
An ace sealed a two-sets-to-one lead for Berdych but Federer would have been comforted by the belief he had seen all this before -- and had an 8-2 lead in their head-to-heads.
But the 2010 version of Federer barely resembled the man who claimed Centre Court as his second home.
He kept the fans on the edge of their seats as he earned -- and lost -- four break points in the sixth game of the fourth set.
Berdych made him pay in the next game as he broke for a 4-3 lead with a breathtaking forehand which ricocheted wide off a shell-shocked Federer's racket.
Three games later it was all over, leaving a jubilant Berdych to lap up the applause from the hollering fans with his outstretched arms while Federer packed away his bags after two hours and 35 minutes of torture.
Serena-Venus beaten
Serena and Venus Williams' stranglehold of women's doubles also ended. The American sisters were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Vera Zvonareva and Elena Vesnina.
The Williams' title at the French Open earlier this month was their 12th together in Grand Slams and meant they held all four majors at the same time.
The top seeds and champions here for the past two years had not dropped a set on their way to the quarters but Venus sent a return into the net to seal their fate and end an awful couple of days for the 30-year-old.
Zvonareva is also in the singles semi-final against Pironkova after beating former world number one Kim Clijsters on Tuesday.
Serena is left to fly the flag for the Williams family in the other women's semi-final against Petra Kvitova.