Raonic finally finds his fight
JOhn McenrOe was commentating on andy Murray’s match on the BBC yesterday but there is every chance he was distracted by a second monitor showing his protege Milos raonic mounting a stunning comeback elsewhere at SW19.
the american legend has been part of the Canadian’s team since May, joining him as a coach for the grass- court season. his influence seems to be reaping rewards already as raonic battled back from two sets down for the first time in his career.
raonic had previously lost all 10 of his matches after dropping the first two sets but he discovered new powers of resilience to overcome Belgian David Goffin 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in a shade over three hours.
Mcenroe was on Court two until a rain break interrupted when raonic was two sets down but a break up in the third. he then disappeared to fulfil commentary duties on Centre Court.
‘after the little rain delay we went in the rooms that they have under the court and he spoke with me,’ raonic said. ‘I didn’t look up for a while, but then he was gone after. I believe he has an extra monitor. I’m sure he asked them to turn it to my match.’
after powering back to force a one- set shootout, raonic (right) earned two break points in the fifth game, releasing a massive roar when converting the first, his huge forehand forcing Goffin to push the ball wide. a 22nd ace of the day set up match point and then a pinpoint forehand sent Goffin crashing out. the sixth seed credited Mcenroe with giving him an improved sense of self-belief. ‘he’s probably talking to me more about my attitude on court in a different way,’ said raonic, ‘telling me to go out there and impose myself more.’ up next is novak Djokovic’s conqueror Sam Querrey, who is determined to prove he is no onehit wonder. ‘If I didn’t win there would have been a lot of, “Wow, it was kind of a fluky match against novak because you didn’t back it up”,’ said Querrey after beating Frenchman nicolas Mahut 6-4, 7-6, 6-4. no 10 seed tomas Berdych will come back today after letting slip five match points against Jiri Vesely. the Czechs were locked at 6-4, 3-6, 6-7, 7-6 in near- darkness when play was suspended.