Andy Murray of Britain reacts during his men's singles quarter-final tennis match against Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London July 2, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - The mayhem created by an Australian firecracker the previous evening was continued in brutal fashion by Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday as he annihilated defending Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.

With the dust still settling on 19-year-old Nick Kyrgios's fourth-round demolition of world No.1 Rafael Nadal, Dimitrov caused the second seismic shock on Centre Court in the space of 24 hours by outclassing Murray 6-1 7-6(4) 6-2.

The Briton's shattering defeat means that two of the so-called Big Four in men's tennis have departed in quick succession from the grasscourt grand slam, both walloped by members of a brash new generation of big hitters with no fear and scant regard for reputations.

"Everyone's starting to get better," a downbeat Murray said. "The younger guys are now obviously becoming more mature and improving all the time."

It's one thing surrendering your crown, but to suffer such a remorseless beating on your own turf in front of Prince William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, was especially galling.

Yet Murray said: "It's not the toughest loss of my career; that was losing in the final here in 2012 (against Roger Federer).

"I've had a good run here at Wimbledon over the past few years. Obviously it's disappointing for it to end like that."

Novak Djokovic, the man Murray beat a year ago to end Britain's 77-year wait for a men's Wimbledon champion, nearly went the same way before restoring order by digging himself out of a hole to beat dangerous Croatian Marin Cilic 6-1 3-6 6-7(4) 6-2 6-2 and set up a clash with Dimitrov.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia reacts after defeating Marin Cilic of Croatia in their men's singles quarter-final tennis match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in London July 2, 2014.  [Photo/Agencies]