A second Wimbledon title and third Grand Slam title is on offer for Andy Murray if he can overcome Canadian sixth seed Milos Raonic in tonight’s men’s final.
» Read today’s Wimbledon wrap!
After top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic got knocked out in the third round, the Scot assumed favouritism for the men’s title and certainly has not disappointed en route to a third final at the All England Club.
Only French 12th seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has been able to take a set off the 2013 Wimbledon champion, winning the third and fourth sets in their quarter-final match.
Other than that, the Dunblane native has been ruthless as he looks to add a second Wimbledon title to the drought-breaking success he enjoyed in 2013, in addition to winning the Olympic gold medal on these very grass courts in 2012.
He couldn’t possibly have played better tennis when he thrashed the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych for the loss of just nine games (three in each set) in the semi-finals.
The Scot was just as dominant against the only other seed he defeated in straight sets, Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, brutally exposing the gulf between the elite and the rising stars in men’s tennis in the process.
The 29-year-old will thus start as the favourite to win a third Grand Slam title on Sunday night, but if there’s anyone who can test him to the absolute limit, it’s sixth seed Milos Raonic.
The Canadian becomes the first man born in the 1990s to reach a Grand Slam men’s final and his breakthrough comes two years after Eugenie Bouchard broke through for the women, also at the All England Club.
He was rated as a serious contender to do well at Wimbledon by Nick Kyrgios after the Australian was defeated by the 25-year-old in the first round at Queen’s, where Raonic eventually reached the final before losing to Murray in three sets.
In that match, Raonic actually won the first set and went up a break in the second before the grass court expertise and experience of the Scot told in the end.
That defeat only spurred the Canadian to do well at Wimbledon, where he won his first three matches in straight sets before falling two sets to love down against Belgium’s David Goffin in the fourth round.
Raonic would erase the deficit, winning in five sets to reach the quarter-finals for the second time in three years. He then faced Sam Querrey, the third round conqueror of Novak Djokovic, and won in four sets to reach the final four.
As was the case in 2014, it was Roger Federer who awaited, and many expected the Swiss Maestro to advance to an eleventh Wimbledon final on the back of the period of success he has enjoyed at the All England Club throughout the years.
But the Canadian would produce the match of his life to knock the Fed Express out, winning a five-set thriller to become the first North American man since Andy Roddick in 2009 to reach a Wimbledon final, let alone a Grand Slam final.
Now, the 25-year-old will be out to ensure that his maiden major final does not turn into a nightmare, like it did for the men who have gone before him such as Kei Nishikori (2014 US Open), Robin Soderling (2009 French Open) and Andy Murray himself (2008 US Open).
In fact, he could look back on what the likes of Marin Cilic, Stan Wawrinka and Juan Martin del Potro were able to achieve in their maiden Grand Slam finals.
Cilic dominated Nishikori to win at Flushing Meadows in 2014, Wawrinka upset Nadal to win the Australian Open earlier that year and del Potro ended Roger Federer’s bid for a sixth consecutive US Open title in 2009.
Thus, while there is no reason to believe that Milos Raonic cannot win his maiden Grand Slam title at the expense of Andy Murray, the Scot’s history at Wimbledon and experience in Grand Slam finals should be what tells the story in the end.
Here is everything you need to know heading into the men’s final.
Milos Raonic (6) versus Andy Murray (2)
Sunday, July 10
Not before 11:00pm (AEST)
Centre Court
Head-to-head: Murray 6-3
At Grand Slams: Murray 2-0
In finals: Murray 1-0
Last meeting: Murray 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3, final, 2016 Queen’s Club Championships
Milos Raonic’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4
Round 2: defeated Andreas Seppi 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-2
Round 3: defeated Jack Sock (27) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 7-6 (7-1)
Round 4: defeated David Goffin (11) 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
Quarter-finals: defeated Sam Querrey (28) 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4
Semi-finals: defeated Roger Federer (3) 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3
Andy Murray’s road to the final
Round 1: defeated Liam Broady 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
Round 2: defeated Lu Yen-hsun 6-3, 6-2, 6-1
Round 3: defeated John Millman 6-3, 7-5, 6-2
Round 4: defeated Nick Kyrgios (15) 7-5, 6-1, 6-4
Quarter-finals: defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) 7-6 (12-10), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1
Semi-finals: defeated Tomas Berdych (10) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3
Stats that matter
* This will be Andy Murray’s third Wimbledon final and eleventh Grand Slam final overall, while for Milos Raonic this will be his first in both cases.
* This will be the pair’s ninth meeting, not including two walkovers (one each), their third at Grand Slam level, second in a final and first in a Grand Slam final.
* This will be Andy Murray’s first Grand Slam final against anyone other than Roger Federer (0-3) or Novak Djokovic (2-5).
* Having already became the first local male champion since Fred Perry in 1936 three years ago, Murray has the chance to become the first man since Perry eight decades ago to win multiple Wimbledon titles.
* Raonic is the first non-European man to reach the final at Wimbledon since Andy Roddick in 2009. He has the chance to become the first non-European male champion since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002, and the first North American champion since Pete Sampras in 2000.
* Raonic is also the first Canadian man to reach the final at Wimbledon and follows in the footsteps of Eugenie Bouchard, who reached the women’s final in 2014.
* If Murray wins in straight sets, not only will he emulate his 2013 effort in winning, but would also do so with his only sets lost coming in the quarter-finals.
* This will be the first Wimbledon final since 2002 not to feature any of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic.
Prediction
Andy Murray in four sets.
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