It’s a year of shocking upsets at the world’s most famous tennis tournament. It all started with Rafael Nadal withdrawing from Wimbledon even before it took off. Then came the stunning defeat of the ‘invincible’ Djokovic at the hands of Sam Querrey; and now, another great head has rolled… Roger Federer will not be making his usual appearance at centre court in the final. That leaves Andy Murray as the last icon standing.
The first-ever Canadian to reach a Wimbledon final, Milos Raonic defeated Roger Federer 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in an epic struggle spanning five sets.
The loss shattered Federer’s hopes of winning an 8th Wimbledon crown, and his 18th major title. If he had succeeded, he would have been, at age 34, the oldest player to reach the tournament’s final.
While Raonic, who was playing his second Wimbledon semi-final against Federer – he was beaten by him two years ago – was aggressive from the start of the match, the visibly fatigued Federer was struggling to keep up with his young adversary. The legendary star literally went down fighting though, stumbling to an awkward fall, jarring his knees and ankles, near the end of the game.
Raonic will now go on to face a much more fired-up opponent — Andy Murray, who has sailed through to his third Wimbledon final after defeating Tomas Berdych in straight sets.