The first match on day five played on Court 2 saw two of the ATP’s renowned young guns battle it out for a second consecutive year at the Wimbledon Championships. With the Australian Nick Kyrgios and his antics involved, the match was always going to be a heated affair, offset by the Milos Raonic's composure and calmness—ultimately an extremely interesting match up to follow. It was Kyrgios who powered his way through with a display of tremendous serving, hitting 34 monstrous aces to Raonic’s 16.
The first set remained extremely close, with the two players managing to hold their serves without facing any major hiccups until 5-5. Throughout the duration of the set, Raonic hit 15 winners, only two more than his opponent. Both players kept their unforced error count to single digits and it became a matter of who would blink first. It was Kyrgios who initially fell short, hitting three double faults as he attempted to serve to take the set to a tiebreak, thus losing it 7-5.
It seemed as if the early frustration would start to affect Kyrgios’ game and mindset as he strapped on a headband from the Wimbledon gift shop and became extremely vocal on his side of the net after almost every point. However, he used this aggressiveness to his advantage to hit nine aces and eighteen winners. More importantly, he kept his first serve percentage at a high 68 percent, losing only one out of twenty-three points on his first serve throughout the set. Raonic kept up with his opponent by hitting eight aces of his own, coupled with twenty-six huge winners, mostly coming from his forehand. He was however—surprisingly—unable to win more than 65 percent of his first serve points. In what seemed almost a reversal of the first set, Raonic found himself double faulting as he served at 5-5, and the Australian took it as his opportunity to capitalize. He hit two massive forehands in the game, breaking the Canadian’s serve emphatically. By hitting three adrenaline charged aces in the next game, Kyrgios took the second set 7-5.
Kyrgios continued to showcase his mammoth serving display in the third set, hitting eleven aces and managing to increase his first serve percentage to 71. Out of the 34 points played on the Australian’s serve, he lost only five. Raonic however, kept up with his first serve percentage of 73, but could only hit three aces in the set. Both players managed to hold their serves despite facing break points, taking the set to a tiebreak. Despite the seventh seed getting the first mini break, it was the lower seeded player who kept his composure to win four points in a row, and ultimately take the tiebreak 7-3.
The momentum was now entirely on the pumped Kyrgios’ side, and it was the cool and collected Raonic who was on the back foot; feeling the pressure. Despite this, the quality of the match remained high as both players hit only three unforced errors apiece in the final set. It was now the Canadian who was serving at a high 85 percent first serves, winning 82 percent of set points. Raonic also had one break point opportunity which he failed to convert. However, the Australian applied pressure exactly when required, clinching his lone break point opportunity in the eighth game, following it with serving out the set and match, 6-3.
Through entertaining the crowd with a parade of aces and 61 winners, Kyrgios got the revenge that he craved from his defeat last year. Pulling this upset may have been taxing for him, but he will need to keep up the intensity as he plays Richard Gasquet in the round of sixteen, who has not yet dropped a set.