Raonic is a bigger danger than Federer

I FIRMLY believe that Andy Murray will win his second Wimbledon title today.

As soon as Novak Djokovic (below) was beaten in the first week, Andy was the man to beat, and I don’t see Milos Raonic achieving that feat.

We haven’t got the Final everyone wanted since the departure of the top seed. A Murray-Federer clash would have seen an unbelievable atmosphere inside Centre Court.

However, from the neutral’s point of view, I believe this will be a better contest.

It was evident that Federer had run out of gas in his semi-final. Andy would have been a comfortable winner against the seven-time champion. He would just have run him around and worn him down.

Raonic throws up a different challenge. He’s young, he’s strong, and he brings awesome weapons.

However, Murray is so tough to beat over five sets. There is so much variety in his game. His incredible speed around the court, and his flexibility in defence make it hard to win points against him, and I fancy him to win in four.

True, Raonic has a fearsome serve that will earn him a lot of cheap points. But I believe that Andy will find a way to get enough balls back into court to force the Canadian to try too hard – and then make errors.

I’ve been very impressed with Andy this year. He is playing the best tennis of his life.

The Scot is taking care of the business on his side of the court, keeping his ‘antics’ down, and maintaining his focus.

This new intensity is the main benefit from the return of Ivan Lendl to Murray’s coaching team. Seeing Lendl’s inscrutable face in the Players’ Box reminds Andy to concentrate on the next point, rather than chunter on about the previous one.

If Andy wins, some might try to detract from the success, given his opponent isn’t Djokovic or Federer. Not Murray. He’d be very happy to be playing Mickey Mouse in the Wimbledon Final! It’s the title that matters, not the quality of the opponent.