Milos Raonic’s path to Wimbledon semifinals just got way easier

milos-raonic-wimbledon-semifinal-path

Milos Raonic of Canada celebrates defeating John Millman of Australia in their men's singles match on the third day at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Wednesday July 4, 2018. (Tim Ireland/AP)

Milos Raonic has to focus one match at a time, and knows he can’t afford to look too far ahead.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t.

A series of upsets has left the hard-serving Canadian as the highest seed in his quadrant, with a semifinal very much in reach.

It started with Stan Wawrinka – whose battles with a knee injury brought him to Wimbledon as the ATP’s 224th-ranked player – knocking out the sixth-seeded Gregor Dimitrov in Round 1.

Whatever momentum Wawrinka gained from his big win failed to carry into his next match against Italy’s Thomas Fabbiano, a qualifier ranked 133rd in the world. Fabbiano dispatched the Swiss star in straight sets to book his first ever appearance in Wimbledon’s third round.

Then, the shock of the tournament thus far: last year’s runner-up and 3-seed Marin Cilic dropping a two-set lead and falling to 82nd-ranked Guido Pella.

With solid top-30 players Lucas Pouille and Pablo Carreno Busta losing in the second and first round respectively, here’s what we’re left with from Sections 3 and 4 in the Wimbledon’s men’s singles bracket.

Raonic hasn’t dropped a set through his first two matches at the All-England Club, though his form isn’t quite where it was when he made his charge to the Wimbledon final two years ago. The 27-year-old hasn’t been at full health in quite some time, telling reporters on Wednesday: “Obviously we are very cautious with it, because it’s tough to ask the body to stop and start all the time.”

His next match is against Austria’s Dennis Novak, a 24-year-old who’s never made it past the third round of a Slam. The winner plays either Pella or 103rd-ranked Mackenzie McDonald for a spot in the quarters.

If all goes well for the Thornhill, Ont., native, a quarterfinal match against serve-bot John Isner (against whom Raonic has a 1-3 career record, though Raonic won their last meeting in 2016), or rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas likely awaits.

Tsitsipas, of Greece, has done well in just his second Wimbledon appearance. The 19-year-old (just seven months older than Denis Shapovalov), ousted American Jared Donaldson in five sets on Thursday to advance to Round 3, and has the type of talent that could one day secure multiple Grand Slam titles. He may just be Raonic’s biggest threat to a possible return to Wimbledon’s final four.

There aren’t any easy matches at a draw like Wimbledon, especially for a player like Raonic still making his way back up the ATP rankings after missing time with injury.

But the road ahead for Canada’s most successful singles player of all time could have been a lot tougher.

Soon we’ll see if he can take advantage.

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