The ouster of Novak Djokovic removes a major stumbling block to Milos Raonic's Wimbledon ambitions, but much work remains

WIMBLEDON – To the draw analysts and odds makers, the stunning defeat of world No. 1 Novak Djokovic by American Sam Querrey and the resultant fallout in the men’s singles draw at Wimbledon, were major topics of discussion Saturday.

But to one of the contenders for the men’s singles title, the one who theoretically benefits the most from the future absence of the defending champion, it was a non-issue. 

“Nothing really changed.  It was obviously a surprise.  You know where you stand with that, so you push a little harder,” said Raonic, who posted another victory over No. 27 seed Jack Sock in the third round Saturday, a 7-6 (2), 6-4, 7-6 (1) win that puts him into the second week of Wimbledon.

Raonic said the tournament would probably feel different now that the current holder of all four Grand Slam titles has been dispatched. But not significantly so.

At or near the top of that list is Raonic himself, who is fighting to earn that maiden Grand Slam title. The 25-year-old from Thornhill, Ont. drew the short straw and ended up being drawn in the same quarter as the seemingly unbeatable No. 1.

That hurdle has been cleared. It doesn’t mean others aren’t still firmly anchored in place. But it means that the road to the semi-finals, at least, became considerably more inviting.

First up, Raonic has No. 11 seed David Goffin of Belgium in the round-of-16 on Monday. The Canadian defeated Goffin in three sets in the Indian Wells semi-final in March. He also lost to him in another tight contest at the end of 2014 in Basel, on one of the fastest courts the players see all year. It’s very much a David and Goliath matchup that will be quite unlike the challenge he faced Saturday against Sock.

The 23-year-old American has a huge serve and a howitzer forehand that reportedly has even more revolutions than that of Rafael Nadal. And yet, Raonic is now 8-1 against him; five of those wins came in 2014 when it seemed he would run into the American every time he turned a corner.

“I think I'm a bit more efficient on serving than he is.  He has a heavy forehand.  But I think the thing that's really made the difference is a little more efficiency on the serve.  A lot of tiebreak sets we've played, I think I have a considerably better record when it comes to tiebreaks.  I think that's been a positive for me,” Raonic said.

The record is more than considerably better; it’s a perfect 9-0.

Goffin presents a different challenge. “I think the best part of his game is probably his movement.  He serves well, returns well, does all these things well.  Has a great backhand as well.  It's tough to play him because you try to find a way to impose yourself on him.  He does a lot of things well,” Raonic said. “Hopefully I can take that comfort away from him and play on my terms.”

If you look beyond that, and Raonic likely isn’t, the next opponent would be either Querrey or grass-court craftsman Nicolas Mahut, who is into the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career at age 34. Raonic hasn’t played Querrey in more than three years, and he has never played Mahut.

But all due respect to them, neither is Djokovic. At that point, you could be looking at Roger Federer in the semi-finals. And after that …

Few players other than the familiar names have won majors in recent years and when they have, it seems everything just fell into place for them. The loss of Djokovic from the men’s singles event is one of those serendipitous happenings that a player like Raonic can exploit.

Of course, every single player remaining in the draw probably feels exactly the same way.