By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, July 10, 2016
Andy Murray masterfully managed the stress and a net-rushing Milos Raonic scoring a 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) victory to capture his second Wimbledon championship.
Photo credit: Stephen White/CameraSport
Roars from the Centre Court crowd were ringing in his ears while the sight of a hard-charging Milos Raonic bombarded Andy Murray's vision.
Playing with a bulls-eye on his back and target on his chest, Murray never took his eyes off the ball.
Calmly managing court geometry and stress points, a masterful Murray defused Raonic, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to capture his second Wimbledon championship in the last three years.
Watch: Federer On Wimbledon, Style
"It means a lot," Murray told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi afterward. "It's been a few years since I won a Slam. I've had a few tough losses in that period. I'm just really happy to have won it again."
The 29-year-old Scot is the first British man to win multiple Wimbledon titles since Fred Perry's triple crown run from 1934-36.
Murray shouldered a nation's hopes defeating Novak Djokovic to win the 2013 Wimbledon title and eradicate the ghosts of 77 years that haunted British tennis.
Contesting his 11th Grand Slam final today, Murray completed a more personal quest. He shed runner-up status applying his agility and sniper's accuracy in shredding the first-time major finalist.
Raonic, who carried a 20-6 tie break record this season into the final, fought hard to push the second seed into extra sessions but was outclassed in both breakers today.
"I think he played really well that second tiebreak," Raonic said. "But the first tiebreak, obviously I missed that ball, the short ball, on the first one. Wasn't even close. Missed into the middle of the net. Then I had an overhead that I didn't make the most of on my serve. I'll sort of look back at that with not too much joy."
Life experiences have taken Murray to blissful and painful places in the years since his first Wimbledon title: Back surgery, his marriage to long-time girlfriend Kim Sears, the birth of the couple's first child earlier this year and his reunion with coach Ivan Lendl. All those changes give Murray a different perspective this days.
"I feel a lot different these days to how I did three years ago," Murray told ESPN's Tom Rinaldi afterward. "I put so much more pressure on myself and so much stress. Obviously, it was extremely emotional at the end of both matches. But I feel like I'm gonna enjoy this one a lot more. "
Royalty and celebrity mingled watching Murray capture his third career Grand Slam championship. Prime Minister David Cameron, Prince William and Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge joined actors Bradley Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch and Hugh Grant as part of a packed Centre Court crowd.
Murray rallied past Raonic in a dramatic Queen's Club clash last month.
The man nicknamed "The Missile" revealed a ballistic game-plan for the rematch.
“Try to go through him. Maybe I can blow a hole through his stomach next time, we’ll try,” Raonic said of Murray.
The lanky Murray used his elastic reach to repel the Raonic serve.
The 6-foot-5 Canadian crushed 154 aces reaching the final, but was limited to just eight aces today. Murray dropped just nine points on his own serve.
"This one's gonna sting so I'm gonna make sure, as these courts are green, that I do everything to get back here for another chance," Raonic said. "I think I did the best I could. I tried to put the things together. I tried coming forward, putting pressure on him. He was playing much better than me off the baseline. He was more effective there.
"I tried to put together what I could, fought. It just didn't work out."
Raonic effectively attacked Roger Federer's backhand in his five-set semifinal victory over the seven-time Wimbledon winner. Murray defends the backhand better than Federer at this stage and used his two-hander to help carve out the first break
A running backhand pass followed by a deep defensive slice to provoke an error gave Murray double break point. Raonic did the right thing attacking behind an approach down the middle. Murray made the big man volley jamming a forehand pass into his right hip drawing a nudge volley into net to earn the lone break of the final for 4-3.
A soft forehand volley sealed the 41-minute opener in which Murray served 75 percent, won 18 of 21 first-serve points and defended his serve better than Raonic.
The match was a coaching clash between old adversaries John McEnroe—who joined Raonic's coaching team of Riccardo Piatti and former No. 1 Carlos Moya at the start of grass-court season—and Ivan Lendl, who returned to Murray's camp after his run to the French Open final.
The tactical influence of the Hall of Famers was evident as Raonic often hit deep approaches down the middle in an effort to deny Murray passing angles, a tactic McEnroe himself employed against Lendl acting on the advice of Don Budge, the first man to sweep the Grand Slam.
Conversely, Murray repeatedly dipped low passes to stretch the net-rushing Raonic and create space for his second passing shots, a passing shot combination play Lendl has seen five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg deploy.
Seventh game tremors struck Raonic again. Murray spun a pass at his shoelaces then shoveled a pass down the line for break point. An attacking Raonic denied it, then drilled his fourth ace and used the deep approach down the middle again to dodge danger for a 4-3 second-set lead.
A miscalculation cost the son of engineers in the tie break. Raonic drew a short reply on the first point but rather than blasting a winner, he bungled a slice backhand into net donating the opening mini-break.
Stirring defense from Murray including a shrewd lob to extend the point set up a running forehand pass for 4-1. Bolting a bold second serve down the T, Murray erupted with an affirmative "Yes!" and clenched fist converting his third set point for a two-set lead.
Serving at 2-all in the third set, Murray faced break points for the first time after two hours, 11 minutes of play. He erased the first with a slider wide and denied the second with a scrambling series of shots. The second seed threaded the needle with a backhand down the line, eventually passing his first test of the match for 3-2.
Physical fatigue from fighting back for a dramatic five-set semifinal win over Roger Federer combined with all those lunging movements scraping Murray's passing shots off his shoelaces caught up to Raonic in the third set.
A sharp angled backhand pass gave Murray the mini-break and a 2-0 lead in the third-set tie break. As the breeze blew up a cloud of dust, Murray quickly closed the show. An inside-out forehand winner and slashing forehand gave Murray championship points at 6-1.
On his second championship point, Murray attacked, drew the error and completed a two hour, 47-minute master class in coping with major pressure.
Shedding tears of joy into his towel afterward, the man who had finished second in eight prior Grand Slam finals was second to none today.
"I don't know, to be honest, exactly what it means in the grand scheme of things," Murray said. "I haven't had time to think about that. I'm just really proud that I managed to do it again after, you know, a lot of tough losses in the latter stages of the slams over the last couple of years.
"I'm also aware of how difficult these competitions are to win once. To do it twice here, an event where there is a lot of pressure on me to perform well here, you know,I'm very proud with how I've handled that over the years."