Tennis: Murray to face Raonic in final

Britain's Andy Murray is hot favourite to win Wimbledon. Photo: Reuters
Britain's Andy Murray is hot favourite to win Wimbledon. Photo: Reuters
Canadian Milos Raonic celebrates beating Roger Federer. Photo: Reuters
Canadian Milos Raonic celebrates beating Roger Federer. Photo: Reuters

Canadian Milos Raonic won't be the only man experiencing something new on Wimbledon's Centre Court on Sunday - for the first time Britain's Andy Murray will start a grand slam final as favourite after crushing Tomas Berdych in the semis.

Murray was seeded to meet world No 1 Novak Djokovic in another major showdown, but the Serb's shock early exit opened the door for sixth seed Raonic to reach his maiden grand slam final after making the semis two years ago.

In tormenting Czech 10th seed Berdych 6-3 6-3 6-3 on Friday Murray booked an 11th grand slam final appearance, a new British record ahead of Fred Perry.

All 10 of Murray's previous grand slam finals were against either Djokovic or Roger Federer, which explains why the 29-year-old Scot has endured more than his fair share of pain and still only has two majors to his name.

One of those defeats came against a sublime Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon final and a repeat of that duel was expected until the Swiss maestro lost to Raonic 6-3 6-7(3) 4-6 7-5 6-3 on Friday.

With a 6-3 head-to-head career lead over the 25-year-old Raonic, Murray will be expected to get his grand slam collection rolling again, three years after beating Djokovic to become Britain's first Wimbledon men's singles champion for 77 years.

Leading bookmakers were quoting Murray as 2-7 on favourite hours after he beat Berdych.

"It's the first time I'll play a slam final against someone that isn't Roger or Novak. So, yeah, that's different," Murray, who won the 2012 US Open against Djokovic, told reporters.

"But you never know how anyone's going to deal with the pressures of a slam final. I'll just concentrate on my side, do what I can to prepare well for it and see what happens."

TOUGH OPPONENT

Murray's most recent encounter with the big-serving Raonic came in the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event at Queen's Club when he beat him in a fiercely-contested final having trailed.

"It's obviously an opportunity. I put myself in a position to try and win the (Wimbledon) event again. It's against someone new that I'm playing against in the final," Murray said.

"But Milos is a very tough opponent. He's played very well on the grass this year and has earned his right to (be in) the final by beating one of the best, if not the best, player ever at this event. So he deserves to be there."

Raonic has played two tough five-setters to reach the final, against David Goffin in round four and Friday's thriller with Federer, whereas Murray's path has been relatively smooth.

A two-hour semi-final against Berdych, in which he made only nine unforced errors, was about as stress-free as it gets at the business end of a grand slam tournament.

"I feel pretty calm just now, maybe because of the way the match went," Murray said. "There weren't many complications."

Persistence pays off for  Raonic

Persistence, positivity, and a Zen-like focus carried Raonic past Federer. That, and a thunderous weapons-grade serve which smashed the seven-times champion off Centre Court and denied him a record 85th singles victory in London.

"I did a lot of things well," the burly Canadian powerhouse said smiling after the clash. "The attitude kept me in the match. I think that's what made the biggest difference. I was quite vocal, but I was always positive. I was always looking for a solution."

Two years ago, Raonic could find no solutions as he was dismantled by Federer at the same stage here, but this was Raonic 2.0 - tougher and stronger.

With former world No 1s Carlos Moya and John McEnroe in his support camp, Raonic has no shortage of role models or advice, he just needs to convert that into grand slam success.

Raonic lost a tight three-setter to Sunday's opponent Murray in the final of the Queen's Club tournament last month, but has no doubt he is better equipped now.

"I have a great opportunity on Sunday. I'm definitely going to be looking forward to it."

 

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