If there was ever a time in which Milos Raonic would break through and become the first Canadian to win a major tennis championship, this was it.
And there it went.
The Thornhill, Ont., native was swept aside by Roger Federer in straight sets in their quarterfinal match at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion dominated Raonic 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (4) on Centre Court and improved to 10-3 lifetime against the hard-serving Canadian.
The 26-year-old Raonic had beaten Federer, 35, in last year’s Wimbledon semifinals before losing to Andy Murray in the final.
And given how the men’s bracket has fallen at the All England Club it appeared Raonic had a decent shot at a major.
Murray, the defending champion and top seed, was upset by 24th seeded American Sam Querrey, three-time champ Novak Djokovic was forced to retire from his quarterfinal because of a recurring elbow injury, and 15-time major winner Rafael Nadal failed to even reach the quarters.
But Raonic just happened to be on the wrong side of the bracket and was forced to face arguably the greatest tennis player in history.
Now it is the Swiss superstar who has a glorious opportunity to add to his record 18 major titles with only 11th-seeded Tomas Berdych and Querrey or #7 Marin Cilic standing in his way.
If there is one thing going for Raonic it’s that, at 26, he still has a lot of tennis left and more chances to win a grand slam event.
But his window to win the big one closes with each passing year.
Comments