10SBALLS SHARES RICKY’S PICK AND PREVIEWS FOR THE WIMBLEDON MEN’S SINGLES FINAL: ANDY MURRAY VS. MILOS RAONIC

Written by: Staff on 9th July 2016

10SBALLS SHARES RICKY'S PICK AND PREVIEWS FOR THE WIMBLEDON MEN'S SINGLES FINAL: ANDY MURRAY VS. MILOS RAONIC

epa05410558 Milos Raonic of Canada serves to Sam Querrey of the US in their quarter final match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2016. EPA/GERRY PENNY EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO COMMERCIAL SALES |

By Ricky Dimon

For the first time in his career, Andy Murray will go up against someone other than Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer in a Grand Slam final when he takes the court at Wimbledon on Sunday afternoon. This title match also marks the first time since 2002 that championship Sunday will be without Djokovic, Federer, or Rafael Nadal. Instead, it will be Murray vs. Milos Raonic.

Ricky previews the action and makes his prediction.

(6) Milos Raonic vs. (2) Andy Murray

Murray and Raonic will be facing each other for the 10th time in their careers and for the fourth time this year. The head-to-head series stands at 6-3 in favor of Murray after he once trailed it 3-1. The world No. 2’s five-match winning streak against Raonic includes a perfect 3-0 record in 2016. Murray got the job done 4-6, 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2 in the Australian Open semis, 6-2, 6-0 on the clay of Monte-Carlo, and 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 in the recent Queen’s Club final. Their first-ever grass-court showdown saw Raonic lead by a set and a break only squander all of his lead by dropping four of his last eight service games.

“I got sucked into his game,” Raonic said of their Queen’s Club encounter. “I didn’t play on my terms.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Murray answered when told of Raonic’s comment. “I don’t know what I was doing to suck him into my style of play. I don’t know. I generally don’t know what it is I do.”

What Murray generally does is win, and that is exactly what he has been doing ever since losing last month’s French Open title match to Djokovic. The Scot is a perfect 11-0 on grass with wins this fortnight over Liam Broady, Yen-Hsun Lu, John Millman, Nick Kyrgios, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Tomas Berdych. Tsonga extended Murray to five sets after surrendering the first two, but Murray’s other five outings on the way to Sunday were straight-set routs.

Andy Murray of Britain returns to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in their semi final match during the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 08 July 2016. EPA/GERRY PENNY

Raonic, meanwhile, has required two five-setters along the way. The sixth seed even trailed David Goffin by two sets to love during fourth-round action on Monday but roared back to get the job done 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Federer had Raonic on the ropes to an even greater extent on Friday, but the underdog staved off a handful of seemingly virtual match points before prevailing 6-3, 6-7(3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in three hours and 25 minutes. Raonic’s trek also includes routine victories over Pablo Carreno Busta, Andreas Seppi, Jack Sock, and Sam Querrey.

“Milos is a very tough opponent,” Murray assessed. “He’s played very well on the grass this year and has earned his right to the final by beating one of the best, if not the best player ever, at this event. So he deserves to be there.”

“Andy is one of the premier workaholics, let’s say,” Raonic praised. “He’s given himself a lot of opportunity through that. I think he tries to sort of get you doing a lot of different things. He’ll try to throw you off, give you some slower balls, some harder balls, all these kinds of things. I guess my goal is to keep him away from that, play it on my terms, be aggressive, not hesitate.”

The world No. 7 knows what he must do in order to be successful, but executing the plan is easier said than done against one of the best returners in tennis. Murray’s ability to return serve and his overall outstanding defense has dominated Raonic of late and there is no reason to think the trend will suddenly end under these circumstances. The Scot has already played in two Wimbledon finals and won in his second appearance three years ago. Raonic, on the other hand, is contesting a major final for the first time in his career..

Pick: Murray in 3