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Brash Aussie, and his own physical health, doom Milos Raonic in Wimbledon's third round

Brash Aussie, and his own physical health, doom Milos Raonic in Wimbledon's third round

WIMBLEDON – The right sleeve wasn’t the right sleeve at Wimbledon on Friday, as Canadian Milos Raonic was dispatched in the third round by a player sporting a Raonic-like sleeve on his left arm whose game has similarities to his, but whose personality and demeanour are on the opposite end of the spectrum.

Raonic defeated Aussie Nick Kyrgios a year ago here in the quarter-finals. In this Wimbledon third-round rematch, the 24-year-old Canadian essentially was betrayed by his own body in a 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-3 defeat.

“I didn't want to lose again, I lost to him twice at Grand Slams. I thought it was a good day. I played some really, really good tennis,” said Kyrgios, who had a few unnecessarily dramatic moments on court – including a racquet that bounced off the grass surface and into the third row of the stands – and some petulant moments during his press conference.

Nick Kyrgios of Australia throws his racket onto the ground and it bounces up into the fans during his match against Milos Raonic of Canada at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, July 3, 2015.     REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
Nick Kyrgios of Australia throws his racket onto the ground and it bounces up into the fans during his match against Milos Raonic of Canada at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, July 3, 2015. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Raonic had a list of physical challenges – all of them, he said, instigated by the procedure he had done six weeks ago on his right foot to remove a Morton’s Neuroma.

Which body part bothered him the most?

There wasn't a place it wasn't (bothersome). It sort of goes (in segments). First, ankle; then the hip, and then the back. Then when those things aren't working, you just put too much pressure on your shoulder (to serve harder), and then your shoulder hurts,” Raonic said. “I’m just dealing with a lot of things. I still have some discomfort in my foot, so compensation and stuff like this just make any pain pretty much come up. The more I got through the match the more difficult it was. But all things said, they weren't going to stop me from trying.”

Raonic was calm and cool for the first set and most of the second, and effective, too. He won the first set when the Aussie played a whopper of a game at 5-6 in the first set that included three double-faults, including on the deciding point.

Raonic was doing a pretty good job putting returns in play. He was playing some mature tennis, using the entire court, changing speeds and angles with his forehand and blasting his backhand down the line. He was beating Kyrgios from the baseline, even though the Aussie would probably be considered a more consistent baseliner these days.

Raonic had to hit a lot of tough volleys during his match against Kyrgios, rarely getting himself into good position. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
Raonic had to hit a lot of tough volleys during his match against Kyrgios, rarely getting himself into good position. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

And then, suddenly, Raonic was rushing the net a whole lot more, as though it was a new toy he’d just discovered. In the 5-5 game of that second set, Kyrgios found the passing shots he needed to break. And then served it out. Ace. Ace. Ace. Ace.

As the match went on, it became clear the Canadian was dealing with physical issues – not because of his body language or any overt Kyrgiosian-type drama, but from his play.

His serve speed dropped noticeably. He often looked laboured running to balls. There just wasn’t the spark that he needed and meanwhile, Kyrgios seemed to settle down to play some extremely solid tennis.

“I think when I'm in that state of mind, when I feel relaxed and I'm playing around, I think that's when I play my best tennis. I'm focusing, but at the same time I'm having fun,”Kyrgios said. “When I find that balance, I play some really good tennis. I thought I was doing that today in the second, third and fourth. I was chanting to the crowd every now and then, playing with the ballboys. That's a good place to be out there.”

Kyrgios out-aced Raonic by a wide margin (34-18), took advantage of some of the fairly routine passing shot opportunities Raonic gave him in the last two sets, and showed that on the day, the left sleeve was the right one.

“It's disappointing. I wanted this tournament to last longer, but it is what it is. I’m dealing with what I'm dealing with. I can't make it disappear. I can't make any magic out of it.  I'm just facing it head on,” Raonic said. “It's stuff I have been expecting. Maybe I had hoped it was quite a bit better by now, but it's a situation I'm in. 

“I honestly hoped I'd be in better shape and in better condition, but I'm just trying to push myself every day.” he added.

Raonic tested himself out after the mid-May foot surgery by playing the warmup tournament at Queen’s Club two weeks ago. He got three long matches in and made the quarter-finals. But he essentially said Friday that if Wimbledon had been starting the following Monday, he would have been in pretty rough shape. As it was, he was loaded up with therapeutic tape on the practice courts here last weekend, around the shoulder and up the back of the arm.

Milos Raonic of Canada (R) congratulates Nick Kyrgios of Australia on victory at the net. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Milos Raonic of Canada (R) congratulates Nick Kyrgios of Australia on victory at the net. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

For now, Raonic said he didn’t expect his general physical state to affect his participation in Davis Cup, which will be held in two weeks in Belgium. “I think now it's just about cleaning myself up as much as I can and getting myself back out there,” he said.