The London faithful could not ask for anything more than to watch Andy Murray play in the Queen’s Club final on Sunday afternoon. But will the fans get what they come to see? Milos Raonic and his huge serve will have other ideas.
Andy Murray and Milos Raonic will be squaring off for the ninth time in their careers and for the third time this season when they meet again in the final of the AEGON Championships on Sunday afternoon.
Murray is leading the head-to-head series 5-3, including 4-0 in their last four encounters. The second-ranked Scot prevailed 6-3, 7-5 at the 2014 World Tour Finals, 6-4, 7-5 on the clay courts of Madrid last spring, in five sets of this year’s Australian Open, and by an alarming 6-2, 6-0 scoreline two months ago in Monte-Carlo.
Even though Murray is outstanding on grass, this surface–on which they have never previously faced each other–should give Raonic a much better chance. The ninth-ranked Canadian is best known, of course, for his massive first serve. With John McEnroe in his coaching box, Raonic is also constructing points the right way and getting into net to minimize baseline rallies. The No. 3 seed’s groundstrokes are still a work in progress, to put it mildly, so the aforementioned tactics are especially crucial for him to implement. So far at Queen’s Club, Raonic has taken out Nick Kyrgios, Jiri Vesely, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Bernard Tomic, surrendering just his first set to Kyrgios in the process.
Murray is one win away from what would be a record fifth title at this event (eight players have triumphed four times). The No. 1 seed has advanced this week with wins over Nicolas Mahut, Aljaz Bedene, Kyle Edmund, and Marin Cilic–the latter two both in three sets. Murray is 32-6 for his 2016 campaign and coming off a runner-up performance at the French Open.
“A lot of great players have played here over the years and winning any tournament a few times is hard, obviously,” Murray commented. “But this one in particular has always got a very strong field. I’m glad I have given myself the opportunity to try and win again tomorrow.”
“For me it’s going to be about trying to dictate and play on my terms,” Raonic explained. “For him it’s going to be trying to take away time from me and trying to make me play as much as possible.”
Nobody other than Novak Djokovic is better at making opponents hit extra shots than Murray, who owns one of the best service returns in tennis. He seems to have figured out the Raonic serve of late, and that should help him triumph yet again in front of the British crowd.
Pick: Murray in 3
[polldaddy poll=9449286]
gonna go with Venus de Milo in 3.
3rd set via tiebreak
Murray in two tough sets using the crowd to tough his way through to a small slice of history at home.
Raonic does have a pretty good chance though as he’s been very impressive here in Queen’s. Seems like the addition of McEnroe to his team during the grass court season was a good move.
I like Murray’s chances in this final, although Raonic seems to be playing well.
I think Murray will make history, but I think Raonic will put up a good fight.
What he doesn’t need. A TB against the serve machine.
So close. So far. Murray vents his frustration on his racquet after losing the TB by a whisker.
This is doing my head in. Watching Queens on the TV and Halle on my computer.
Zev saves a bunch of match points against Mayer to take it to a decider. Had my money on Mayer but not sure if he can stave off the challenge from the Young Pretender.
Milos moving suprisingly well.
Breaks too. Wow.
Raonic serving and hitting his forehand on grass is impeccable.
Now I’m getting nervous for Murray. Raonic is looking dangerous.
Go Andy! Come on…
Oh he’s done it.
Attaboy Andy.
Now just give us a repeat performance at Wimby. Three GSs sounds a lot better than only two. 🙂
Beside you owe it to your friend Rafa.
Great tennis and final, so chuffed for Murray, hope it spurs him on to win SW19 again, J-Mac so animated, and Lendel doesnt even flinch lol like chalk and cheese those two ….
Congrats to Mayer, but for me Zev was the star of the week, hope they all bring it to W ….
And Maddie Keys what a week, could be a dark horse at W for the titl, although i would still back Williams, i dont think shes invincible anymore, i think other girls are getting the measure of her now ….
Looking forward to SW19 so much now, but would love to see a different champion this year on the mens and womens side ….
Hi RC hope you enjoyed the weeks tennis, i certainly did, well the bits i saw ;-)) ….
Murray makes history!! Happy for him but it was a bit of a shame to see Raonic lose a set and 3-1 lead. Also had game point for 4-1 in the second. Bummer. Still it’s nice to see muzza win at home again. Congrats to him
Murray so good on grass….with Lendl back, he has a very strong chance to win his second title. The surface favors his game a lot more . Clay is bad not only for his game but also for his body.
Congratulations to Andy on making history with this win. It sounds like Raonic had opportunities, but couldn’t get it done.
This is great preparation for Andy heading into Wimbledon. With Lendl on board again, I think Andy has a really good chance at Wimbledon.
I did see the queens final from the end of the second set to the end on a replay. Murray did well to take control in the third set with the early break. He looked focused and sharp as he closed it out. I thought he served well and returned very well.
Lendl will keep Murray disciplined and get him mentally even tougher. I think it’s clear that Andy is targeting Wimbledon. It’s been for years since he won it and it’s time for him to do it again.