Second week of Wimbledon awaits Raonic following third round win
Bring on the second week at Wimbledon.
Last year’s finalist Milos Raonic has advanced to the fourth round at the All England Club with a straight-set victory over Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-4, 7-5.
Seeded sixth in men’s singles at The Championships, the Canadian beat his Spanish opponent (seeded No. 25) in two hours and 21 minutes. Raonic fired 21 aces on Court No. 1 to 11 for Ramos-Vinolas. The Canadian also won 84% of his first serve points to just 68% for the Spaniard, making for an efficient afternoon for Raonic against a difficult player ranked No. 22 in the ATP World Tour.
The fourth round sets up potentially the most mouth-watering and tricky tie for Raonic against rising star Alexander Zverev of Germany, who has Austrian Sebastian Ofner in his path. Zverev, 20, is ranked 12th on the tour and beat Raonic in straight sets on clay at the Italian Open earlier this season before going on to win his first Masters 1000 title.
Germany’s Alexander Zverev returns to Russia’s Evgeny Donskoy during their Men’s Singles Match on day two at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London Tuesday, July 4, 2017. Zverev could meet Milos Raonic in the fourth round. (AP Photo/Tim Ireland)
As with the inconsistency of youth, Zverez came into Roland Garros with high expectations but was bounced out in the first round by a far more experienced Fernando Verdasco of Spain. Since his untimely exit in Paris, Zverev regrouped on grass making a semifinal in the Netherlands and the final of the Gerry Weber Open in Germany, where the great Roger Federer was his undoing.
Raonic has beaten Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany) and Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) before jettisoning Ramos-Vinolas from The Championships. His win over Struff came in straight sets, while Youzhny pushed him to four. Raonic took part in just one additional grass court event this season, where he suffered an early round upset against Australian youngster Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Queen’s Club in London, a tune-up tournament to Wimbledon.
