By Erik Gudris | Wednesday, July 2, 2014
With big serving, Canada's Milos Raonic defeated wildcard wonder Nick Kyrgios, who hit yet another incredible shot, to reach his first ever Grand Slam semifinal.
Photo Credit: Kieran Galvin / CameraSport
After a longer than expected wait, Milos Raonic is now into his first ever Grand Slam semifinal.
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But to get there, the Canadian needed near perfect serving against a rising Australian wonder who was ready to make Grand Slam history of his own.
Though entering his quarterfinal with more experience than his younger opponent, the 23-year-old Raonic probably expected more shotmaking flair from 19-year-old Nick Kyrgios of Australia. Having just pulled off his massive upset over World No. 1 Rafael Nadal the day before, the question remained is what Kyrgios would have left for his first ever trip into the elite eight of a major.
Plenty, at least during the first set. Both men found themselves in a serving contest right away in the opening set. Yet when the inevitable tiebreak ensured, Kyrgios was the one who walked away with the 7-6(4) lead. Was the Aussie wildcard about on the verge of yet another upset win?
Kyrgios once again entertained the crowd with some inspiring shotmaking that included this no look passing shot winner early in the second set.
Despite those theatrics, Kyrgios' level dropped from there. Seizing hold of two breaks against the Australian, Raonic rebounded and claimed the second set 6-2.
With Kyrgios looking more fatigued, Raonic made his move. Raonic would reel off eight straight points midway through the third set. He then closed out the set with yet another ace granting him a two sets to love lead.
Rowdy Australian fans sitting on the sidelines yelled and sang as loud as they could in an attempt to revive their man "Nicky". That seemed to do the trick as Kyrgios once again found the fire on his serve. Yet a cool, collected Raonic did the same - and even better.
Raonic would answer each Kyrgios' service hold with multiple holds of his own at love. In fact, Raonic dropped only two points on his serve before both needed yet another tiebreak.
With several strong returns, Raonic raced out to a 6-1 lead in the breaker. Kyrgios recovered enough so that he found himself down only 6-4 versus the Canadian. Yet Raonic wouldn't waver as he struck a final 133 MPH ace, his 39th of the match, down the tee on his fourth match point.
Raonic finally erupted in celebration of his 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(4) win. His result makes him the first Canadian man to reach a major semifinal since William Johnston back in 1923. Raonic is also just the third player from his country, man or woman, to reach a Grand Slam semi in the Open Era. The others were Carling Bassett-Seguso and Eugenie Bouchard.
Next for the Canadian will be Roger Federer who reached his 35th career Grand Slam semifinal with a four set win over Stan Wawrinka.