Raonic hangs head after ‘pathetic’ exit

LONdON • Milos Raonic didn’t mince words when describing his latest early exit from Wimbledon on Thursday.

Raonic was eliminated in the second round at the All England Club with a 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (4) loss to Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands.

Sijsling needed just over two hours to complete the straightsets victory over Raonic.

“At one stage I lost 12 points in a row — pathetic,” Raonic said. “When I did have chances, he played well and I couldn’t do what I wanted to do.

“Wimbledon’s still my favourite tournament. It’s me that’s the problem, not the court.”

Raonic had opportunities to break Sijsling in the second set and get back into the match, but the hard-serving world No. 64 had an answer every time.

“At the end of the second set I had those three break point and he hit huge serves to save them, I didn’t do enough with second serve and he put a lot of pressure on me,” Raonic said.

“He played much better than I expected. I was trying to force myself in the second set. He found the answers when I did get something going.”

Raonic, the No. 17 seed from Thornhill, Ont., has now lost in the second round here in all three career appearances at the Grand Slam event. After winning just a single match over the short grass-court season, Raonic will look ahead to the summer hardcourt campaign most suited to his big-hitting game.

He said he’s looking forward to a short break before getting in his first long-term training with new coach Ivan Ljubicic.

“It will be three weeks of hard work, I’m looking forward to it, he said. ”I know I can gain confidence from working on my game. I want to get things right.“

Earlier in the day, Ottawa’s Jesse Levine dropped a 6-2, 7-6 (7), 6-3 decision to eighthseeded Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina.

Del Potro, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, overcame a three-point deficit in the second-set tiebreaker before taking the third set in 31 minutes.

“In the first set I was grasping at everything, it took me a set to settle in,” said Levine. “In the second I started to play well, I served for the set and saved a couple of set points.

“But guys in the top 10 can come up with the big shots at the right moment and that’s what he did. I’m happy with how I played and the showing I had.”

The losses leave Montreal’s Eugenie Bouchard as the last remaining Canadian player in singles competition. She beat Ana Ivanovic on Wednesday to advance to the third round. She is scheduled to meet No. 19 seed Carla Suarez Navarro on Friday.