Andy Murray has become the 12th man in the Open Era to win multiple Wimbledon titles after defeating Canada’s Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(2).
In what was a significant occasion for both players, neither men showed any signs of nerves from the onset. Unlike his previous ten grand slam finals, Murray was the clear favourite to take the title in front of his home crowd. Meanwhile, Raonic was bidding to become the first Canadian in history to win a major title.
Murray had clearly learned his lesson from their previous meeting at the Aegon Championships last month, when he was forced to recover from a set and a break down against Raonic. Tackling his opponents big serve, the world No.2 launched his first offensive in the seventh game of the match. A double-handed backhand cross court winner elevated Murray to 30-15 up against Raonic’s serve before back-to-back errors from his opponent gifted him the break. The rare occurrence of a break in Raonic’s serve was critical to the outcome of the first set. Prior to the final, the 25-year-old had only dropped his serve five times in the entire tournament. Closing in on the first set lead, the 2013 champion sealed proceedings on his first try after a well constructed rally concluded with a winning Murray forehand at the net.
The dream start to the match by the world No.2 almost continued into the second set after a double fault from Raonic handed Murray a chance to break before the Canadian battled back to keep within touching distance. Murray continued his attack with a sublime backhand winner sneaking up the side of the court to move him to the verge of breaking for 4-3, but once again Raonic continued his world-class resistance. Even a winning Murray return of a 147 mph serve from his opponent, the fastest of the entire tournament, was still not enough to generate a break as a tiebreaker approached.
Unlike the closeness between the two throughout the second set, the tiebreaker was dominated by a sublime Murray. The disparity in stamina between the two was huge after two consecutive errors from the underdog granted the world No.2 the break for 2-0. From then on, there was no way back for the Canadian as Murray raced to a two-sets-lead after a deep serve was unsuccessfully returned.
Despite having a two-set lead, Murray still faced a tough battle. Earlier in the tournament Raonic recovered from two sets down to win a match for the first time in his career. Then, during the semifinals, he came from behind to defeat Federer. On the other hand, this encounter was very different to his previous matches at SW19. Entering the third set the 25-year-old had already faced seven break points compared to none for Murray.
Facing the prospect of being broken for the first time in the match, Murray battled back by winning four consecutive points to move ahead to 3-2 in the third set. Once again, both players matched each other game by game with the use of some blistering serving. An ace down the line move the Brit to a game away from the title as his opponent served to stay in the match, but still he couldn’t find a way to break Raonic as a second tiebreaker loomed.
Closing in on the title, Murray produced a flawless performance in the last tiebreaker. Three winners combined with a duo of Raonic errors elevated Murray to 5-0 and two points away from the trophy. The win was inevitable after an Raonic shot into the net rewarded the crown to Murray, sparking an almighty cheer from the British crowd.
Murray has become the eighth British man to win multiple Wimbledon titles in the tournament’s 130-year history and the first since Fred Perry in 1936.
“It is the most important tournament for me every year.” Murray said during the trophy ceremony.
“I have had some great moments here as well as some tough losses. This win feels extra special because of the tough losses I’ve had.”
“ I’m proud to have my hands on the trophy again.”
During his straight sets triumph, the world No.2 produced 39 winners and only 12 unforced errors in the 170-minute encounter. The win is also Murray’s six consecutive over Raonic. Despite his recent dominance against his opponent, he has praised the improvement in Raonic’s game.
“I played really good stuff today, but Milos has some really good weeks on the grass. He has had some unbelievable wins, especially against Roger (Federer) in the semis. He is one of the hardest workers out there.” He said of Raonic.
“He is always working and each time we play against each other he has made big improvements.”
Murray will exit the grass-court major with a cheque of £2 million. He will remain at world No.2, 4845 points behind Novak Djokovic.
