Raonic’s run at Wimbledon ends in third-round upset

Nick Kyrgios, the 20-year-old Aussie sensation, on his zest for entertaining the crowd following Friday’s 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 6-3 third-round upset of Wimbledon No. 7 seed Milos Raonic.

“I like it”, Kyrgios said. She started laughing. I thought that’s what she said. “I didn’t see the match, but I imagine he played and served incredible”.

The aces count continued to rise as both players continued to comfortably hold to force a tie-break in the third set.

” I am pleased with the way I’m playing, definitely”, he said.

Pospisil is the only Canadian left in the singles draws.

“It was an incredible match”, he said, looking back 12 months. He had surgery for an inflamed nerve in his right foot and missed the French Open this spring. Afterward, he said his health was an issue.

“I had too many of my own things to be concerned about”, he said. He could have suffered the same fate in January’s Australian Open, after again attracting censure for swearing at fans (he went on to reach the quarter finals before an encounter with Andy Murray proved a step too far).

The world number 29 admitted that he was happy to get the job done in four sets as he now looks to secure a place in his second consecutive quarter-final at the All England Club. He still won the vast majority of his first-serve points, though.

Next for Kyrgios, at 20 a rising star: France’s Richard Gasquet, who Kyrgios beat previous year at Wimbledon.

Last year’s semi-finalist continued his poor form in 2015 as he was broken in his very first service game before hitting 22 unforced aces in his straight sets defeat.

It’s also true, though, that Raonic wasn’t reaching the blistering 140-mph speeds that he was surpassing even on Wednesday, a sign that he was already starting to wear down.

After turning it on the third set, Kyrgios was asked if it was the headband that inspired him. However, the Australian applied pressure exactly when required, clinching his lone break point opportunity in the eighth game, following it with serving out the set and match, 6-3. (Raonic blasted a 137 miles per hour ace anyway.). Because Kyrgios, who’s never been especially regarded as a monstrous serve-basher – though he doesn’t possess enough of a tour history to be known as anything in particular beyond the endless court antics – turned the tables on the master of the killer boom.

Asked for his thoughts on Wimbledon’s dress code – he hasn’t been the only player quizzed on the subject this week – Kyrgios retorted: “I like it. What kind of question is that?” “This time I went to the chipped approach and it worked”. I was hoping I could play better and better as the tournament progresses and that is what is happening. “How I pulled through, I really don’t know”.

Visitors across the All England Club stopped in silence at noon, with the crowd on Henman Hill rising to their feet and ball boys lining up alongside the courts.

Kyrgios had occasional exchanges with a fan clad in a Batman t-shirt, who appeared to be a useful motivator. “I’m really happy with the match today”. “He was actually saying some really good things at crucial moments”.

It was against the French in last year’s second round that Kyrgios announced his arrival as a major force when he saved a record nine match points before gunning down Rafael Nadal in round four.

The brash – and talented – Australian flung his racket onto the Wimbledon grass in disgust Friday and it bounced into the stands on Court 2. “That’s what happened”, he said.