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Milos Raonic reaches first Wimbledon quarterfinal but, surprise, surprise, won’t play Nadal
WIMBLEDON – First things first. Canadian Milos Raonic had to defeat rival Kei Nishikori, a contemporary he had lost to twice in as many attempts, in the fourth round.
It was a tall order, and only after could he even contemplate the spectre of an even taller order in Rafael Nadal, another player he has yet to beat, in the quarter-finals.
Raonic took care of the first piece of business in remarkably composed fashion, defeating Nishikori 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3 to reach his first Wimbledon quarterfinal, his second consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal after doing the same in Paris at the French Open.
He is the first Canadian man to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon since ... let's go back into the dusty archives of the early 20th century ... Robert Powell, in 1912.
Then, Aussie Nick Kyrgios – all of 19 – took care of the Nadal issue in stunning fashion later in the day on Centre Court.
And so the top-ranked member of Generation Next will meet the valedictorian of Generation After-Next in a Court 1 clash Wednesday. Hopefully those in charge of the on-court officials for that one will provide hockey helmets, because the balls are going to get pulverized.
Kyrgios served 37 aces in four sets against Nadal. Raonic served 35 in four sets against Nishikori, who said afterwards that he just couldn't read the Canadian's delivery.
"Mostly I have to guess because he has great both serves, first and second. He can hit spin sometimes the first and second serve. I tried everything, but I couldn't read his serve. I was, you know, trying to study before the match, but he did well," Nishikori said.
But he was just as complimentary about Raonic's return game – and that's not something you hear every day.
"He played really aggressive tennis, especially when he was returning. He hit some good returns after my second serve especially. Yeah, that make me, you know, get little more pressure," Nishikori said.
There were seven break points in the first game of the match, and Raonic ended up being broken. Nishikori didn't get another one after that.
That set was the first set Raonic had lost in his four matches here. It turns out it was also the only set so far.
"Yeah. I've been serving in general well this tournament, and even throughout the clay-court season. But obviously here it sort of gets emphasized a little bit more. It's a little bit more on display," Raonic said. "That's helping me, taking a lot of pressure off me and putting more on my opponents."
Raonic didn't come to net much; he hasn't done it much through the tournament although in the third-round match against Lukasz Kubot of Poland, he didn't have much of a chance because Kubot usually got there first.
Against Nishikori, he showed impressive variety and good point construction when he got into a rally, using his backhand slice to good effect, notably down the line. He also ripped two-handed backhands down the line at appropriate times, completely fooling Nishikori and leaving the speedy 24-year-old a bit flat-footed.
But it always begins and ends with the serve for Raonic. And he knows it. He almost decapitated Nishikori with one 141-mph delivery that completely jammed him.
"There's going to be a lot of walking from side to side from his serve, and there's going to be a lot of winners in the match. It's going to be hard to find rhythm. I'm just going to go out there and just go my return of serve. Holding serve is going to be important, being able to make inroads on the other person's serves." Kyrgios said. "Milos has probably got the best serve in the world. I'm just going to go out there and have fun again."
Normally the two would have a day's rest between the fourth round and the quarter-finals. But the rain on Saturday and Monday took care of that. So they will go right back at it Wednesday although they are the last match on Court 1.
"To tell you the truth, it doesn't really mean anything. Everybody, when they step on the court, they're going to fight. You just have to make the most out of the situation. Everybody's really going through it," Raonic said. "Everybody makes it disappear mentally as soon as the match starts."
The two met just a few weeks ago, in the first round of the French Open on Court Suzanne Lenglen. Raonic won, 6-3, 7-6(1) 6-3. and served 27 aces that day; Kyrgios only served four.
It's highly unlikely that statistic, that disparity, will be repeated Wednesday.