Canada’s Milos Raonic looked “nervous” and “unsure of himself” against Britain’s Andy Murray in the final moments of the men’s singles Wimbledon final, according to Raonic’s childhood coach.
Raonic lost in his first-ever appearance in a Grand Slam final Sunday, falling in three straight sets to Murray. Murray topped the 25-year-old Raonic 6-4, 7-6, and 7-6 to capture his second Wimbledon title and third major championship. If he had won, Raonic would have been Canada’s first Grand Slam singles champion.
“He looked really good right in the beginning, and then he started to look a little bit nervous. I don’t know if he was having some demons coming into his head a little bit,” Casey Curtis, Raonic’s former coach, told CTV News Channel.
Curtis coached Canada’s highest-ranked tennis star between the ages of 8 and 17, and is said to have helped the Thornhill, Ont. native craft his “big power” style on the court.
“There are actually quite a few similarities now to when he was younger. He actually got away from the way I was coaching him when he was younger,” Curtis said. “At one point he was backing up behind the base line quite a bit, and trying to, I think, be a bit more of a consistent type of player. That’s just not his game. He is a power player and he always will be.”
Murray broke Raonic's forceful serve only once in the match. But Murray’s precise returning ability ultimately gave him the edge over his opponent.
Curtis said Murray just played great tennis. “He made very, very few mistakes. He gave Milos very few opportunities to capitalize on any mistakes.”
After the match, Raonic told the BBC that the loss would “sting.” But he promised that he’d do his best to return to centre court.
"I’m going to make sure as the grass on these courts is green that I do everything that I can to be back here for another chance,” he said.
Curtis watched the match with his students and fellow coaches, many of whom have trained with Raonic as his career progressed.
