Raonic Upends Federer To Reach First Career Major Final
Becomes First Canadian Man To Reach A Grand Slam Final
Milos Raonic held his nerve and came back from two sets to one down to beat seven-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in a thrilling five-setter on Friday, reaching the first Grand Slam final of his career with a 6-3, 6-7(5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 semifinal victory.
Federer was previously 10-0 in Wimbledon semifinals.
“I was struggling there through the third and fourth set. But I saw a little opening and it was enough,” Raonic said afterwards. “I’m by no means done what I’m here to do.”
The end of the fourth set is when the match really swung. Federer had just won the second and third sets and with a 40-0 advantage on his serve down 5-6, the fourth set looked to be heading into a tiebreaker.
But Raonic hit a forehand winner, and back-to-back double faults from the Swiss brought the game to deuce. The Canadian converted on his third set point to force the match into a deciding fifth set.
At 2-1 in the fifth, Federer slipped and fell while coming to the net during a point and took a medical timeout. This allowed Raonic a break point chance, and although Federer saved one with a screaming cross court forehand, Raonic was able to secure the break he needed.
Raonic would win 80 percent of the points on his serve and never faced a break point in that final set as he stunned Federer, becoming the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final.
“What he told me was to go out and leave it all out there,” said Raonic of John McEnroe’s influence. “I showed a lot of emotion, always positive. Mentally I had one of my best matches of my career. He gave me plenty that helped today, so did Carlos Moya. I hope they have a lot more to give me.
I’ll focus on the task at hand. I’ve by no means done what I came here to do.”
Playing in his first major final, Raonic will meet the winner of Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych.
