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Raonic, Murray Earn Wimbledon Final Berths

Jul 8th 2016

Andy Murray will square off against Milos Raonic in the Wimbledon Final on Sunday after both won semifinal matches on Friday.

In the first semifinal, Raonic defeated Roger Federer 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3. It was a match that featured a number of momentum shifts.

The Canadian showed no nerves in the first set as he relied on his big serve and found some success from the baseline. He would capitalize on some untimely errors during a Federer service game and gain the one break he would need to take the set.

The three-seed bounced back in the second set and showed some outward emotion as he forced Raonic to serve to stay in the set. He would fight off 4 set points and extended the set to a tiebreak but Federer seized control and evened the match.

Milos Raonic

With the tide turning in his favor, the Swiss continued to ride the momentum into the third set. And despite being challenged in his service games, it was Federer who found an opening in the seventh game to earn the one break he would need.

With a 2-1 set lead, the veteran would have some opportunities to seize control of the match in the fourth set. Tied at 2-2, he would earn two break points but it was the Canadian who would step up his game and hold serve. Later, serving at 5-6, it appeared that the set was destined for another tiebreak as Federer served at 40-0. However, Raonic fought back and broke serve to even the match after a game of ebbs and flows.

He reflected on the set afterward, “There was a little opening and I took it,” he said. “I showed a lot of mental emotion, I think that's what got me through.”

Raonic carried this success into the deciding set, pressuring from the beginning. He broke to take a 3-1 advantage, consolidated it and nearly gained a second one. And, as Federer appeared to lose some steam, the 25-year old served out the match in decisive fashion as the 7-time Wimbledon champion never had a look at a break opportunity.

Federer expressed his disappointment after the match, “He hit the lines with the serve and forehand,” he said. “He did a great job. It's something I want to forget about. It hurts. I was so, so close.”

The Swiss took a fall during the fifth set and tweaked the knee that kept him out of Roland Garros. He later indicated that he felt all was fine but would know more tomorrow.

In the second semifinal, Murray defeated Tomas Berdych in routine fashion, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

Murray played steady tennis from the outset and the Czech did little to change the course during the match.

In the first set, Murray quickly recovered from an early break of serve with two of his own and benefitted from a number of unforced errors. And, after an even second set, the two-seed rattled off 4 games in a row, breaking Berdych twice to gain the big advantage.

Andy Murray

It was more of the same in the third set as Murray consistently executed his game plan, while the ten-seed found no answers.

“I'm obviously very happy. It was a good match today, “said Murray. “The middle part of the second set was really key. Obviously to make a Wimbledon final is a good achievement and I've got one more to go on Sunday. The older you get you never know how many chances you're going to get to play in Grand Slam finals. I'm glad I managed to get through today.”

It was a subdued Centre Court atmosphere as there was never a strong vibe that the Brit was in danger during the match.

The win sets up an encounter with Raonic for the Wimbledon Gentleman’s title. Murray holds a 6-3 career head-to-head advantage. It will be a rematch of the Australian Open semifinal, where the two top-10 players battled for five sets before Murray finally won the match.