Raonic rallies to keep his Wimbledon run alive
LONDON — Canada’s Milos Raonic advanced to the third round of Wimbledon with a 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 7-5 win over Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny on Thursday.
Raonic, the sixth seed from Thornhill, Ont., picked up a key break to take a 6-5 lead in the third set. He later secured the victory with his 27th ace of the match.
“I think I’m getting better and better with each match. That’s easy to say with two matches though,” said Raonic. “I think today I was better than the first round but I think even in those matches I’m making good steps forward.”
The match on the No. 2 court at the All England Club took two hours 40 minutes to complete. Raonic, a finalist last year at Wimbledon, will next face 25th-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain.
“The one thing that was very important for me [today] was not to rush through things,” said Raonic. “To sort of try and have a say in the situation as much as possible, which isn’t always the case, but I’ve been doing that and I think that’s why I have been getting better and better throughout the matches.
“Today I ended better than I did two days ago. If that continues to be the case then hopefully the momentum can speed up bit by bit.”
Ramos-Vinolas needed five sets to complete a 7-5, 6-7 (6), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russia’s Andrey Rublev. The match lasted three hours 32 minutes.
Raonic and Ramos-Vinolas have split their two previous meetings. Raonic was victorious when they met in Davis Cup play in 2013 and Ramos-Vinolas defeated the Canadian in the Round of 16 last year on clay at the French Open.
Elsewhere, the screams were startling.
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a 32-year-old American who came to Wimbledon eyeing a fourth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title, fell to the grass when her right knee buckled as she moved toward the net in a second-round singles match Thursday.
She immediately clutched her knee and, down on the turf, wailed loudly, imploring for someone to “Help me! Help me!”
Her opponent, Sorana Cirstea, immediately climbed over the net to check on Mattek-Sands, who after about 20 minutes was removed from Court 17 on a stretcher and taken to a hospital.
“Her knee was in a very weird position. I’ve never seen anything like this, probably, except in the movies. And, yeah, I panicked a little bit, as well,” Cirstea said. “Then I called for help, but no one was coming. Then tried to comfort her as much as I could. But, I mean, you could feel the pain.”
The extent of Mattek-Sands’ injury, which came in the third set’s opening game, was not immediately known. But word quickly spread around the grounds, generating concern among players. She’s popular on tour, known for her gregarious personality, loud laugh and original fashion choices, including the stars-and-stripes knee-high socks she wore while teaming with Jack Sock to win a mixed-doubles gold medal for the U.S. at last year’s Rio Olympics.