By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, July 8, 2016
Milos Raonic exploited Roger Federer's stumble fighting into his first Wimbledon final with a 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 conquest of the seven-time champion.
Photo credit: Stephen White/CameraSport
Racing to his left, the edge of Roger Federer's left foot caught a worn patch of grass sending the most graceful of champions sprawling across the lawn in the final set.
Pete Sampras called Centre Court a tennis cathedral.
Watch: Federer Tumbles As Raonic Rumbles
It sounded as silent as morgue as the seven-time Wimbledon champion lay face down on the service line down a break point to a revitalized Milos Raonic.
Federer rose from the stumble to continue the fight.
Raonic rose to the occasion to realize a dream.
An intense Raonic exploited Federer's fall fighting into his first Wimbledon final with a 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 conquest of the seven-time champion.
Playing aggressive all-court tennis and exuding confident emotion, Raonic won eight of the last 11 games tearing through the final set of a riveting semifinal becoming the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final.
"It's an incredible comeback for me," Raonic told the BBC. "I was struggling through the third and fourth sets. He was playing some really good tennis. I just found a little, little opening. I managed to turn it around and play a great match."
It's a deflating defeat that will surely sting Federer, who suffered his first loss in 11 Wimbledon semifinals. Federer was playing for his third straight Wimbledon final before a late fourth-set lapse cost him leaving the 17-time Grand Slam ruing some self-inflicted wounds.
The 34-year-old Federer faltered later in the fourth set failing to convert a break point at 4-all then squandering a 40-0 lead at 5-6 enabling Raonic to steal a set where he was teetering.
"This one clearly hurts," Federer said. "I could have had it. I was so, so close."
The unpredictability of sport underscored emotional extremes. Federer won a match he should have lost saving three match points to subdue Marin Cilic in a quarterfinal thriller, and lost a match he should have won against Raonic.
Once as tightly restrained as his formerly lacquered hairstyle, Raonic played with belief and positive emotion elevating his intensity and his game in a dynamic deciding set. The sixth seed played with fierce desire, saving eight of nine break points and delivering 75 winners compared to 49 from Federer.
"(Coach John McEnroe told me) to out there and leave it all out there," Raonic said. "I showed a lot of emotion and I think that's what got me through it. Mentally, I had one of the best matches in the history of my career."
Contesting his second Wimbledon semifinal, Raonic was determined to get off first in rallies.
Cracking the wide serve to set up his first forehand strike, Raonic took the net away from the third-seeded Swiss at the outset. Charging forward, Raonic won eight of 12 net trips, while Federer managed a single frontcourt point in the first set.
In his pulsating quarterfinal comeback win, Federer fired 27 aces without a double fault under immense pressure. Today, the second serve wasn't as sharp: A flat Federer double-faulted off the tape in the fourth game to donate the break and a 3-1 lead.
Serving for the set, Raonic unloaded a 141 mph serve. Federer reflexed a backhand return and hooked a sharp-angle crosscourt pass to save a set point. In the past, that stirring sequence may have played on Raonic's mind.
Not today, Raonic ripped a pair of forehand drives down the line for a one-set lead.
Deadlocked at 30-all in the ninth game of the second set, Federer roused himself with a spirited stand. Raking a clean backhand winner down the line, the Swiss celebrated a challenging hold with a firm "come on!" snatching a 5-4 lead.
Nerves struck the Canadian, who had held in 99 of 103 service games to that point. He bungled a backhand slice to start the game then scattered a double fault to face triple set point.
Facing severe pressure with forward thinking, Raonic saved the first set point with a full-stretch forehand volley, drew a netted pass on the second and unleashed a bold twisting second serve to Federer's backhand to deny the third. He fought off a fourth break point, banging a body serve to hold for 5-all.
Conviction helped Raonic force the tie break, but cloudy judgment saw him donate a double fault to hand Federer the mini-break and a 4-3 lead in the breaker. Exploiting that slight crack, Federer drilled a serve down the T then followed with the slider out wide for a fifth set point. Raonic sprayed a backhand down the line as Federer leveled the match with a clenched fist.
Both players left the court for a bathroom break with Raonic spending more than five minutes on sabbatical leaving Federer staring at empty court hands on hips.
Moving more fluidly in the third set, Federer curled a running forehand pass crosscourt for break points catapulting wife Mirka and former coach Stefan Edberg out of their seats. When Raonic clanked a backhand, Federer had the break for 4-3.
Muttering to his box in frustration, a jittery Raonic looked unsettled and Federer fed off that show of anxiety. Pounding his seventh ace down the middle, Federer seized the third set finding his groove on serve in the process.
Alternating the low slice backhand with the flat backhand drive, Federer earned break point in the ninth game. He was one point from serving for the final, but Raonic amped up his serve and cranked his forehand to escape for a 5-4 fourth-set edge.
For the fourth consecutive service game, Raonic rallied from a deficit to hold hanging tough despite consistent pressure then he pounced when Federer tightened up.
Serving at 5-6, Federer flinched.
The Swiss squandered a 40-0 lead spitting up successive double faults. Federer fought off two set points, the second charging forward to block a volley winner.
A wobbly Federer could not close and a revitalized Raonic made him pay. On a third set point, Federer volley down the line right back at Raonic, who stayed low and leaned into a crackling backhand pass down the line forcing the fifth set with a shout.
"I don't know (what happened). Something went wrong," Federer said. "I don't know. I can't believe I served a double‑fault twice. Unexplainable for me really, yeah. Very sad about that and angry at myself because never should I allow him to get out of that set that easily.
"I mean, he deserved it. He earned it at the end. But I helped him so much to get back into that game. I would like to see a breaker because I was the better player for the set."
Seconds from a tie break, Federer found himself forced to a fifth set for the second straight match. After two hours, 47 minutes of play Federer, who underwent meniscus surgery on his left knee in February, took treatment for some apparent tightness above the right knee. After another bathroom break, Raonic returned to court serving to start the decider.
Serving at 1-2, Federer lunged low for a smooth half volley, but as he raced along the service line he tumbled to the turf. Face down and motionless on the grass, Federer rose and took treatment for a left knee issue.
He return to court curling a crosscourt winner to deny the break point inciting an eruption from the crowd. Cheers turned to quiet concern as double fault gave Raonic a second break point.
Dancing at net, Federer repelled passes with a series of volleys, but Raonic kept swinging and hooked a short-angle forehand pass breaking for 3-1 with a scream. The staggered champion was reeling. Raonic was unrelenting.
Things happen in a hurry on grass and Federer was still feeling the abrupt reversal of fortune minutes after the match ended.
"It goes both ways. I feel like I lost it and he won it for sure," Federer said. "Like I said, he played on top of the line when he had to. He fought. He believed, like I did against Cilic. These things sometimes don't go your way. If he blinks the wrong time, if I connect the right way on a 130 serve, it happens so fast that you connect well... Things change, we're doing a different press conference.
"But credit to him for hanging in there."
Seeing the finish line, Raonic sprinted through it. An adrenalized Raonic won 12 of the last 13 points played on his serve closing a rousing comeback in three hours, 24 minutes.
Federer, who fell short in his bid to win back-to-back five setters, departed to a rousing ovation.
Thriving through a frenetic Friday, the seventh-ranked Raonic looks ahead to championship Sunday when he faces 2013 champion Andy Murray—and what should be a festive Centre Court crowd—for the title.
The second-seeded Murray dismantled Tomas Berdych, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, rolling into his third SW19 final in the last five years.
Murray rallied past Raonic in the three-set Queen's Club final last month; the Canadian wasted little time looking toward the rematch.
"We played in the final of Queen's a few weeks ago and I told him I hope I get a rematch a few Sundays from now," Raonic said. "I gotta prepare myself and I'll do the best I can."