Cometh the hour, cometh the man – Andy Murray proved himself the bastion of British tennis once again as he outclassed Canadian powerhouse Milos Raonic to claim a second Wimbledon title in masterful fashion on Sunday.
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Tennis Canada, the organization that operates the annual Rogers Cup in Toronto and Montreal, organized the party for fans to watch the 25-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., play in his first career Grand Slam final.
Welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of the Wimbledon men’s final as Andy Murray and Milos Raonic go head-to-head for SW19 glory.
Grand slam finals favouritism was new territory for Andy Murray, but no barrier to the Scot winning his second Wimbledon championship on his most familiar court.
But he didn’t need to face either of those rivals this fortnight: The sixth-seeded Raonic eliminated Federer in five sets in the semifinals Friday, and also defeated the player who stunned Djokovic in the third round, Sam Querrey.
The athlete that he is, Murray will always try to improve and make up ground in majors on fellow “Big Four” members Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal.
Murray dominated in the tiebreak in both the second and third sets, closing out 7-2 in the third set for the victory.
Murray broke Raonic’s serve only once in the match, while the Canadian had some chances in the third set but failed to convert.
Raonic, who is the world No 7, earned his place in the final with a 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Federer, who lost in the semi-finals here for the first time.
“This one is going to sting so I’m going to make sure that as long as these courts are green I’ll do everything I can to be back here for another chance”.
Murray jumped on the fastball, made the return and won the point.
“I’ve had some great moments here and some tough losses”, said the victor. The 17-year-old Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., bounced back from a 6-4 loss in the first set to take the next two, 6-1, 6-3 respectively. His superior service return was evident from that fact that he got three break opportunities, with 30% of first serve returns fetching points.
Raonic served first and leads 2-1.
Andy Murray is a two-time Wimbledon champion.
When he saved two break points to hold his serve in the third, he roared with passion at his player’s box, mother Judy and wife Kim leaning over the edge to scream their encouragement.
Murray’s date with destiny came on July 7, 2013 when he vanquished Djokovic and the ghost of Fred Perry with a 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 victory on a gorgeous sunlit afternoon. He perhaps had one blip by losing a set against Tsonga.
Murray is fantastic as a returner, but Raonic’s serve was dominant throughout the tournament.
Game 8: Murray lets a 40-15 lead slip but pulls out two huge serves to consolidate the break.
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Down two sets to love in the fourth round against Belgium’s David Goffin, Raonic found a way to pull through and advance to the quarter-finals, where he beat Sam Querrey in four sets.
