Raonic held serve at 5-6 to stay in the match and again send it to a tiebreak.
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Seventeen-year-old Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the boys semifinal on Friday.
Sunday, they’ll meet in the finals.
In the girls doubles final, Usue Maitane Arconada and Claire Liu of the United States defeated Mariam Bolkvadze of Georgia and Caty McNally of the United States 6-2, 6-3.
When Murray eventually held, he punched the air and roared in such aggressive joy that you’d think he had won the title.
London mayor Sadiq Khan will also be in the Royal Box, as will actor Hugh Grant. He served well. He returned Raonic’s 140-mile-an-hour serves with uncanny consistency.
Andy Murray has grown as a player and a person since winning Wimbledon in 2013, according to his coach Ivan Lendl.
After the Olympics, the US Open presents itself as the final major of the year and Murray has won there before.
Andy Murray finds himself in the unusual position of favourite to lift a second Wimbledon title today, with fate seemingly doing its best to make sure the British tennis player captures a third Grand Slam title.
And with good reason: effectively he had, with Murray never again looking in danger, and even when the set proceeded to a tie-break there was little drama.
If Murray was feeling the pressure of being the favorite for the first time in his three Wimbledon final appearances, he didn’t let it show. “Every time you play him you know he’s going to get more returns back than anybody else”.
“It’s a Slam final”.
The sixth-seeded Raonic heads into the first Grand Slam title match of his career – and the first for a man representing Canada – having won 116 of his 121 service games across six matches.
Murray took the opening set after a break of serve in the seventh game but was taken to a tiebreak in the second – winning it comfortably as he raised his game.
Murray gritted his teeth as the first break of the match gave him a 4-3 lead, carrying him to the first set.
Murray, 29, will compete in his 11th major final when he plays Milos Raonic in the men’s Wimbledon final on Sunday.
A straightforward volley allowed Murray to claim the opener 6-4 with Raonic having hit just nine winners. Raonic avenged a Wimbledon semifinal loss to Federer in straight sets two years ago.
– Became first Briton since Greg Rusedski, in 1997, to reach major final in 2008 US Open summit clash, losing to Roger Federer.
The expectation levels on Murray will be higher than ever before but Lendl does not expect that to make a difference.
Andy Murray is a two-time Wimbledon champion.
The Scot, under threat for the first time, produced a string of near-unplayable serves that Raonic simply couldn’t come to terms with. But on a breezy afternoon, at a Centre Court filled with almost 15,000 partisan fans, Murray basically shut down that integral part of Raonic’s game.
Ten grand slam finals, each of them against Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic; this time he was up against a rookie experiencing these lofty heights for the very first time.
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Raonic is the first non-European in the tournament’s men’s singles final since Andy Roddick in 2009. It’s 3-2 in favour of the Canadian in the first set.
