Raonic battles back to advance to third round at Wimbledon
Milos Raonic came back after dropping the first set to Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny to win a grueling match and advance to the third round at Wimbledon.
The tournament’s sixth seed was able to come out on top with a 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 7-5 win after two hours and 40 minutes of play.
Canada’s Milos Raonic returns the ball to Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny during their Men’s Singles Match on day four at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Thursday, July 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Errors early in first set had Raonic trailing 2-0 when he was broken by Youzhny. The Canadian was able to work up three break point opportunities, but was unable to capitalize on any of his chances, allowing Youzhny to close the set in 32 minutes.
However, this rough start wasn’t going to dampen the spirit of last year’s Wimbledon runner-up.
The two men stayed on serve in an intense second set, pushing it to a tiebreak. A forehand error by Raonic gave Youzhny a set point, but Raonic wasn’t ready to quit just yet. Battling back, the set reached an even 7-7 until Raonic hit an unreturnable serve to close it out.
The third set was a breeze for Raonic, who opened with a break of Youzhny’s serve when the Russian double faulted and then cruised through his own service games to capture the set 6-4.
The fourth set was fairly even throughout as the pair battled back and forth much like the second. After Youzhny took a 5-4 lead, Raonic found himself serving to stay in the set and had to save a set point at 30-40 which he was able to do with a forehand shot. In the 11th game, Youzhny fell behind 0-40 before Raonic broke him, giving the Canadian the chance to serve for the win. On his 27th ace of the match, he closed it out.
Canada’s Milos Raonic returns the ball to Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny during their Men’s Singles Match on day four at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Thursday, July 6, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Raonic now holds a record of 3-1 against Youzhny.
Next up, Raonic will face 25th-seeded Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the third round on Saturday. The pair have met twice before, each with a win in hand.
This will be Raonic’s fourth consecutive year making it to the third round at Wimbledon.
