It’s a happy Canada Day for tennis fans across that country. Their morning began with Eugenie Bouchard becoming the second Canadian, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal. Bouchard is having a breakout Grand Slam year and, without question, will win several majors in her career. For young Genie, it’s a question of when, not if.

Possibly the bigger Canadian tennis story, though, came a few hours later when Milos Raonic became the third Canadian to reach a major quarterfinal with his four-set victory over Kei Nishikori. And while Raonic’s career probably has less long-term upside than Bouchard’s, he has more potential in the immediate future.

In his first few years after making a big splash on the world stage, Raonic looked just like another John Isner or Ivo Karlovic. He had a huge serve, could push you to tiebreaks, and that was enough to drive his ranking up into the top 20. His first Wimbledon was in 2011, with people expecting huge things from the big Canadian on grass.

Unfortunately for Raonic, his campaign that year was cut short by a nasty hip injury caused by slipping on wet grass in the second round. In fact, that cut short his entire 2011 season because surgery was needed, and people became concerned for the longevity of his career. Fortunately, there seem to be no long-term adverse effects, and he is playing better than ever now.

Raonic did not perform very well at Wimbledon over the past few years. He never advanced past the second round and never looked comfortable moving on the surface. He was reliant on his huge serve, but his baseline game was nonexistent. Even the tiniest lapse in serving meant a quick exit with the way Raonic played here in 2012 and 2013.

This year is different, though. Raonic has broken out of the mold of being another Isner-like server. There has been a marked improvement in Raonic’s movement and baseline game going back to the end of last year, and with it has come a rise in the rankings. But it has never been so evident as at this tournament.

Raonic finally looks comfortable moving on grass, and, frankly, his game was built to win here. He might not be a top-10 baseliner, but combine his newfound baseline skills with his massive serve and Raonic has looked nearly unbeatable on grass. We cannot guess how he will respond to late-round pressure situations, but with his serve anchoring him and giving him rhythm there is no reason to assume he won’t excel.

Today’s match against Kei Nishikori was a beautiful example of what modern-day grass court tennis has become. Raonic traded huge groundstrokes with the big-hitting Japanese star and came out of those rallies ahead just as often as he lost them. He got broken for the first time this tournament but responded strongly, coming up big in tiebreaks and never letting his serve waver later in the match. It was a combination of old-school big serving, strong net play, and the necessary modern baseline skills. It is a combination built to win on grass.

For Tennis Canada, Genie Bouchard is the brighter future. She is built to win anywhere against anyone at anytime. Raonic’s skill set is slightly more limited, but he is growing into a real monster on grass and will be no slouch on the American hard courts either. With the way he is playing and the way the women’s draw has opened up, it is not inconceivable to imagine two Canadians lifting trophies this weekend.