Canadaâs Milos Raonic looked ânervousâ and âunsure of himselfâ against Britainâs Andy Murray in the final moments of the menâs singles Wimbledon final, according to Raonicâs 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 Canadaâs first Grand Slam singles champion.
âHe looked really good right in the beginning, and then he started to look a little bit nervous. I donât know if he was having some demons coming into his head a little bit,â Casey Curtis, Raonicâs former coach, told ŰÎŰ´ŤĂ˝ Channel.
Curtis coached Canadaâs highest-ranked tennis star between the ages of 8 and 17, and is said to have helped the Thornhill, Ont. native craft his âbig powerâ style on the court.
âThere 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,â Curtis said. âAt 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. Thatâs just not his game. He is a power player and he always will be.â
Murray broke Raonic's forceful serve only once in the match. But Murrayâs precise returning ability ultimately gave him the edge over his opponent.
Curtis said Murray just played great tennis. âHe made very, very few mistakes. He gave Milos very few opportunities to capitalize on any mistakes.â
After the match, Raonic told the BBC that the loss would âsting.â But he promised that heâd do his best to return to centre court.
"Iâm 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,â he said.
Curtis watched the match with his students and fellow coaches, many of whom have trained with Raonic as his career progressed.