Andy Murray Claims Second Wimbledon Title With Comprehensive Victory
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
Opposite Milos Raonic, a player contesting his first ever Grand Slam final, Andy Murray was the dominant player in the 2016 Wimbledon final, and a deserving champion for the second time in his career at Wimbledon. Murray has now won three titles out of eleven career Grand Slam finals and he’s reached the final of every Grand Slam this year. With Ivan Lendl in his box, and all of the UK sporting fans showing him love, Murray went on to an inspired 6-4 7-6 7-6 win over the big serving Canadian.
Raonic’s typically strong serving wasn’t the same as it had been all tournament. His nervous play in key moments, coupled with Murray’s elite return game gave the Brit a serious advantage in the map. Murray faced just two break points in the match, saving them both, as Raonic was poor when returning. On his serve, he was under pressure in all three sets, although he was only broken in the first set. Raonic also bottled both the second and third set tiebreaks, losing them both without putting any pressure on Murray.
This match was a great learning experience for Raonic, and he’s likely to make more slam finals in the future. The Canadian #1 continues to improve his game. He defeated David Goffin, Sam Querrey, and Roger Federer in the second week. He was pressed hard by a hungry Goffin, and Federer, but he came through in the clutch, and perhaps those tough wins left him sapped for this final against Murray.
The British #1 and world #2 made up ground on Novak Djokovic as he defeated Nick Kyrgios, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and Tomas Berdych, pushed only by Tsonga, to reach the final. Tsonga forced a fifth set, but Murray dominated that fifth set, and the level of his game wasn’t touched all tournament by any other player.
After achieving more Grand Slam joy, Murray now has a shot at defending his Olympic Gold Medal in Rio, and should be looking to make up more ground on Djokovic during the US Open Series tournaments this Summer on hard courts, a surface he plays well on.
Pierre Herbert and Nicolas Mahut continued a great Wimbledon for them, as Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin were defeated in the men’s doubles final by the fellow all-French pairing. Herbert and Mahut are one of the most promising doubles pairings in a long time based on their recent success. The grass season has now concluded, and tennis now heads to hard courts, and European clay before the Olympics in Rio. The second week of Wimbledon was completed without incident, after a first week full of rain and disruption.
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