Raonic’s Wimbledon ends in disappointment, but he has much to be proud of

Making the final of Grand Slam was the next challenge for Milos Raonic, and he passed that test at Wimbledon. Despite a three-set loss in the final to Andy Murray, it was a historic couple of weeks for the top Canadian. Raonic really put his mark on the tournament after coming back from down two-sets-to-love in the fourth round against David Goffin. Raonic was previously 0-8 in Grand Slams after losing the first two sets, so at that point it looked likely that his tournament was over. Instead, he pulled off the comeback and gained steam into the Quarter-Finals where he defeated American Sam Querrey in four sets. The next test was making the Final, which he previously had a opportunity to do in 2014 before losing to Roger Federer in straight sets. Raonic got his revenge as he defeated the 17-time Grand Slam champion in a fantastic five-setter that will go down as one of the most historic matches in Canadian tennis history. Raonic became the first Canadian male to make a Grand Slam singles final, just two years after Eugenie Bouchard achieved the feat on the women’s side. Raonic had an entire country behind him during the Federer match and despite the loss to Murray; it has become clear that Raonic can win a major.

 

Serena Williams shakes off a trio of tough losses and finally ties Graf

Just when many began to think No. 22 was no longer a guarantee; Serena Williams had a near flawless tournament and got the monkey off her back. It was nearly a year ago at the U.S. Open where Serena was upset by Roberta Vinci in the Semi-Finals, and followed that up with back-to-back finals losses to Angelique Kerber and Garbine Muguruza. What was wrong with Serena? It was clearly just a dry spell because she played fantastic tennis throughout Wimbledon, only dropping a single set in the process. Other than the early round stumble it was some of the best tennis she has played throughout her career. Now, can she win No. 23 in New York and pass Steffi Graf?

 

Novak Djokovic is human

The last year has been completely dominated by Novak Djokovic who has been unbeatable in Grand Slams. Four straight titles and five-in-his-last-six, Djokovic went from a great player to one of the greatest to ever play the game in just a short period of time. The streak came to a crashing halt when he lost to Sam Querrey in a rain interrupted third-round match. Querrey played fantastic, but even Querrey at his absolute best shouldn’t have even had a chance against the World No. 1. Djokovic wasn’t able to find any rhythm with multiple rain delays along with the match being stopped due to darkness, but he did not use that as an excuse and gave all credit to the big serving American. No need to panic just yet, as Djokovic will still be a huge favourite to win the U.S. Open in September.

 

Bouchard continues to improve in 2016

While it has been mixed results since re-joining Nick Saviano in April, Eugenie Bouchard had her best Grand Slam result of the year. A solid first-round win over Magdalena Rybarikova was followed by an upset win over 16th seed Johanna Konta, who made the Semi-Finals earlier this year at the Australian Open. Bouchard also had to deal with the crowd who was supporting Konta, the top ranked British player on the Ladies’ side. The Canadian prevailed in three tough sets and moved onto play Dominika Cibulkova, whom Bouchard defeated last year at the U.S. Open. Cibulkova played a solid match, making Bouchard work hard for every point as she does with all her opponents.  The Canadian was not able to win the extended points and only won 64 percent of points on her first serve. Despite the loss, Bouchard continues to head in the right direction as the hard court season approaches. A realistic goal would be to be seeded at the U.S. Open at the end of summer, as Bouchard’s ranking moved up eight spots to No. 40.

 

Canadian Juniors are catching everyone’s attention

 It had been almost four years since a Canadian junior had made the final of a Grand Slam before Felix Auger-Aliassime’s run to the final at Roland Garros, but it’s now back-to-back final appearances by Canucks with Denis Shapovalov’s amazing run at Wimbledon. The 17-year old won the Junior Boys’ title coming back from a set down over Aussie Alex De Minaur, capping off another outstanding Grand Slam showing by Canadians. Shapovalov became the third junior to win a Grand Slam singles title, joining Bouchard and Filip Peliwo who both won titles in 2012. Auger-Aliassime made the Quarter-Finals while the pair teamed up and made the doubles final as well at this year’s Wimbledon. The future is extremely bright for Canadian tennis, and the timing couldn’t be better. Next week’s Citi Open in Washington granted Shapovalov with a main draw wildcard as he will play his first ATP 500 series event.