Raonic, Federer out, Dabrowski heads to semis at Wimbledon

LONDON Milos Raonic’s serve was good, but John Isner’s was better.

As a result, the Canadian’s run at Wimbledon ended in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row.

In a battle of two of the sport’s top servers, No. 13 seed Raonic lost 6-7 (5), 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-3 against No. 9 seed Isner of the U.S.

Isner is the only player at Wimbledon this year not to have had his serve broken — and Raonic had just one break-point opportunity against the six-foot-10 American. Isner responded with an ace on that occasion and went on to take the fourth set.

Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., fell two wins short of matching his best showing at Wimbledon: a runnerup finish in 2016. After the match, Raonic said he felt like he tore a muscle in his right leg in the first set. He called for a trainer to tape it up while up 6-5 in the first.

“I don’t know to what extent,” Raonic said. “That’s sort of the sensation I had.”

Raonic said the injury bothered him while serving and any time he got low at the net.

Isner will face No. 8 seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa in the semifinals. Anderson upset top seed Roger Federer of Switzerland, who blew a third-set match point and, eventually, all of his big lead in a 2-6, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-4, 13-11 loss.

Three-time Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic reached his first Grand Slam semifinal since 2016 by beating No. 24 seed Kei Nishikori 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Djokovic will face No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal, who beat Juan Martin del Porto of Argentina, 7-5, 6-7 (7), 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Meanwhile, Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski is heading to the semifinals in women’s doubles.

The Ottawa native and partner Yifan Xu of China, the sixth seeds, will face No. 12 seeds Nicole Melichar of the U.S. and Kveta Peschke of the Czech Republic.