Andy Murray celebrates beating Tomas Berdych in Friday’s semi-final.
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“I was very anxious coming here”, the third-seeded Federer acknowledged after saving three match points and coming back from a two-set deficit to beat Marin Cilic 6-7 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3 in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
Raonic, the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final, teamed up with McEnroe just for the grass court season.
This will be the first time Murray faces someone other than Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer in a slam final, but Raonic showed in his semi-final victory over Federer the threat he possesses.
During the on-court trophy presentation Sunday, Murray clutched his golden reward and joked: “Playing in a Wimbledon final’s tough, but I certainly wouldn’t like to be a prime minister. What happened today happened and I think the only thing I could ever regret was if I didn’t do everything I can to make myself return to this position again”.
“Andy has been playing great and he deserved to win, congratulations to him”, he said. “There was so much stress and pressure that I didn’t get to enjoy it as much, so I’ll make sure I’ll enjoy this one tonight”.
Sports Illustrated described Murray’s play at the tournament as “extraordinary”: It was “a two-week clinic in tactical, composed, efficient, offense-defense tennis”.
Ultimately, he held strong and will go into Sunday’s final trying to become the first Canadian man to win a singles Grand Slam.
The first chink in Raonic’s armour came in the seventh game when Murray went 15-40 ahead. “I played some really good stuff today”, Murray said. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Andy Murray will hope to be repeating the pose this afternoon Guests in the Royal Box including Hugh Grant (centre) on day thirteen of the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon.
Canada’s Milos Raonic returns a shot during the final.
A year after his loss to Federer, Murray won Wimbledon for the first time to finally end Britain’s 77-year wait for a home champion.
The tennis star admitted that he would love for his daughter to come and watch him play when she’s older, explaining that it would give him “extra motivation” during his matches.
Likewise, Raonic began working with McEnroe last month, and the player-turned-commentator has encouraged him to be more demonstrative on the court, to let some of that energy out.
In the second set, having staved off challenges in three service games, the tiebreak started horribly with a short backhand dumped low in the net.
“Obviously”, said Murray, the 2013 Wimbledon champion, “Milos has got a fantastic serve”. We were deep into the third before Murray faced so much as a break point.
Murray broke into tears after his loss to Federer in his first Wimbledon final, in 2012. “We seem to have allegiance to Murray when we feel like it, usually when he is in a final”, she said.
Denis Shapovalov, a 17-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., won the boys’ singles title earlier in the day on Court No. 1 with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 win on the No. 1 Court.
Back in a Grand Slam final for the 11th time, Andy Murray for once won’t be facing either Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic for the title. For Murray, it was a blast from the successful past, a time when he won an Olympic gold medal at London 2012, followed by wins at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon.
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At 6-1 down, there was no way back for Raonic – and when Murray clinched his third set point even the implacable Lendl was moved to applaud.
