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Australian John Millman will look to build on a strong first-round effort at Wimbledon, but it won’t come easy when he takes on big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 8:30pm (AEST)
The Aussie displayed some solid form in the lead-up to the the third grand slam of the year, as well as during the third round, but taking on Millman poses a completely different challenge.
Millman is in what could well be described as career-best form. As it stands, he was ranked 56 coming into Wimbledon which is a career-high. After a win over Stefano Travaglia in the first round of Wimbledon, he has moved inside the top 50 in the live rankings.
Further victories and a semi-decent run here could well leave him in line for a possible seeded spot when we roll around to the US Open in September.
Millman had to work hard for his four-set first round victory over Travaglia. He dropped the first set in a tie breaker, but came back strongly winning 6-3, 7-5, 6-2 from there.
The way he was able to bounce back and not lose the plot goes to show Millman’s best quality – he will fight doggedly for every single point, even when he is being outplayed.
A skill like that one will come in handy against Raonic, because there will be times he will get beaten up by the Canadian’s serve.
Raonic has one of the biggest serves in world tennis and it serves him well on grass, with the Canadian a former finalist at the All England Club when he lost to Andy Murray in 2016.
His form isn’t quite at that level, but he still proved it to be solid with an appearance in the final at Stuttgart where he went down to Roger Federer.
He is vulnerable though. Raonic is susceptible to poor performances and struggles to break opposition serves. If his goes off the boil and Millman is patient, then there is no reason the Australian won’t be able to pounce and claim a break.
Raonic did run straight over the top of Liam Broady in the first round though, winning 7-5, 6-0, 6-1, improving his level the more the match went on.
Prediction
The Canadian should win and win well. You can always bet Millman will put up a fight, and each set will go a considerable distance, but it’s hard to see the Aussie taking one off him.
Raonic in straight, but hard-fought sets.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this second round match at the 2018 Wimbledon Championships from 8:30pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment below.