Milos Raonic beaten by a superior Andy Murray in his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON – If you tuned into Sunday’s Wimbledon men’s singles final largely because the Canadian Milos Raonic was playing, you might not have been all that familiar with his opponent, No. 2 seed Andy Murray.

He’s best known for the week’s growth of scraggly beard, the monotone voice, the unkempt mop of hair, the perennial look of a grim reaper and a propensity to bark angrily at his supporters on the sidelines during matches.

He also is a hell of a tennis player. And when he’s playing at peak level as he did Sunday against Raonic, it’s a huge challenge to find solutions.

Raonic acquitted himself well in his first Grand Slam final, but he was no match for a tactically sound and inspired Murray, who defeated him 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) to win his second career Wimbledon title.

Raonic, whose game style means he will play a lot of tiebreaks, didn’t play well in either of the two against Murray. One loose error, or two, and the sets were gone despite all of the good work that let up to those moments.

In Murray, he was facing one of the premier returners in the game, arguably right behind Novak Djokovic in terms of his ability to neutralize a big server.

Raonic tried to give him different looks. But when your opponent has the ability to take a 147 miles-per-hour serve right into his body and somehow get it back deep into the court, it’s going to put pressure on that server to try to do a little too much. In fact, Raonic was more successful with his second serve than he was with his first.

Murray’s ability to pass a net-rushing opponent is also an underrated skill. It’s not one that necessarily comes into play as much on the other surfaces but on the grass, it’s a big advantage. He has perhaps the best topspin lob in the game now that Lleyton Hewitt has retired, although he didn’t use it much on Sunday. What he did do brilliantly was conceive of the passing shot as a one-two punch: his first shot often was something low, sometimes sliced, nearly always angled. He made the 6-5 Raonic reach and bend for tough volleys, which then opened up the court for the more routine finishing shots.

There’s a cumulative effect to that passing pressure even if a player who consistently rushes the net has to accept that a two-thirds success rate is excellent, which means he’s going to have to accept a certain number of passing shots will scoot by his outstretched racquet.

Raonic kept asking the questions; he went 46-for-74 at the net, a 62 per cent success rate that is good, but not great. Certainly on Sunday, it wasn’t good enough.

This time, Murray defeated Raonic fair and square. When they met in the Australian Open semi-final back in January, Raonic was in command before his strained adductor hobbled him. When they met a month ago in the Queen’s Club final on grass, Raonic was up a set and 3-1 – with a point for 4-1 – before letting Murray back into the match.

This time, he was healthy, not playing badly. He was just second best on the day.

The scenes after the match was over were touching on the Murray side. The pressure on the man from Scotland to end the endlessly-discussed British curse at Wimbledon, the 77-year streak of futility that brought 1936 champion Fred Perry’s name back into the news every July, was a relief more than it was a joy when he won his first title three years ago.

This one was a joy. Murray, a sensitive soul, kept breaking down. He sobbed into his towel, regained his composure, and the tears would well up again. In contrast, Raonic was stoic and composed, whatever he may have been feeling inside. The scenes of him hugging the champion's trophy so tightly it's a wonder he didn't dent it will be indelible.

Murray said that he feels more motivated than he ever has and that he’s convinced that at 29, his best tennis still lies ahead of him.

For Raonic, the same holds true. He didn’t get his first Grand Slam title this time around, and that will make him even hungrier going forward.