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Raonic advances to 3rd round at Wimbledon

Milos Raonic in action during second round match against Jack Sock of the United States on day four of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at Wimbledon on June 26, 2014 in London, England. Steve Bardens/Getty Images

LONDON – Canadian Milos Raonic has reached the third round at Wimbledon for the first time in his career.

The No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., defeated American Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 with 13 aces, 39 winners and three breaks of serve.

Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., played through hip pain but lost 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 to Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.

Raonic turned in a routine win in less than 90 minutes.

“It came down to putting up a solid level of concentration to win in three sets,” said Raonic. “If you slip up on grass concentration it can hurt a lot.

“I’ve improved a lot on grass since I first played here and my confidence on the surface is higher. I don’t think about my movement, I can concentrate on how I want to play.

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“At all of these majors, I want to play better than I have in the past, to fight, compete and try to play better each day.”

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Dancevic, who got into the main draw as a lucky loser, said that a good result from a scan on his lower pelvis Wednesday gave him the confidence to take to the court Thursday.

“This is not a major issue so I decided to push through and play in some pain,” he said. “I was struggling yesterday, it was a rough day.”

Dancevic, who was sporting a new mohawk haircut, has struggled with back issues before and didn’t want to take any chances this time.

“I didn’t want to risk a lot an end up being out for the summer,” he said. “I’m on a pretty decent streak, I feel I can have a good summer and rest of the year.”

“I would have had to serve extremely well to win this match, I was struggling on ground stroke and I didn’t feel 100 per cent,” he added. “I think the issue is treated to bending on grass, this stiffness in lower pelvic region.”

Dancevic never gained a foothold against Kukushkin, failing to convert on any of his five break points. The Canadian managed seven aces and ended with 23 winners and 27 unforced errors.

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In the women’s draw, Canadian 13th seed Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., plays playing Silvia Soler-Espinosa of Spain.

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