That brings to an end our live coverage of the Wimbledon men’s singles final, I hope that you’ve enjoyed it. You can continue to follow our VAVEL tennis coverage which now moves onto the Davis Cup next weekend. We will then provide plenty of previews, reports and live commentaries across the US hard court season which concludes with the US Open in August. Congregations Andy Murray on winning his third Grand Slam title. Bye for now.
This is a deserved third major for Murray who has worked unbelievably hard over the past few years and has now been in eleven Grand Slam finals. He has been unfortunate to come up against Djokovic on a lot of those occasions, but this time Murray has to dealt with the added pressure of becoming the tournament favourite following Djokovic’s early exit. He has dropped just two sets all tournament and has been the best player over the two weeks. A third major is well deserved and in this sort of form he could still add many more.
Like against Federer, Raonic charged into the net at every opportunity but Murray’s passing shots were exquisite. He repelled 140mph+ serves with ease and rarely allowed Raonic to hit the first strike in the rally.
What a performance that was from Andy Murray! This was a different match compared to his victory in 2013 when he toppled Novak Djokovic in the final, Murray was expected to win and rose to the occasion brilliantly. Raonic played his part but Murray returned his serve exceptionally and rarely gave the Canadian a look at his second serve. He dominated both tie breaks and held his nerve at the crucial moments.
“I played really good stuff today. Milos has had a great few weeks on the grass and had some unbelievable wins, that semi-final against Roger was a great, great match”. he adds “He is one of the harder workers out there and each time we play against each other he's made big improvements”.
Andy Murray steps up to the microphone "This the most important tournament for me every year. I've had some great moments here but also some tough losses the wins feels extra special because of the tough losses”.
The presentation is underway.
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) Raonic - Final point ended with a Murray inside-out forehand and a Raonic backhand into the net. The Canadian played his part but Murray was too strong.
ANDY MURRAY WINS HIS SECOND WIMBLEDON TITLE
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) Raonic GAME SET AND MATCH MURRAY
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-6 [6-1] Raonic - Match point Murray!
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-6 [5-1] Raonic – Murray knifes away a volley before landing another flicked backhand pass to claim the first mini-break. Raonic then shanks a backhand long and puts a forehand in the net for 4-0. The pair then split the next two points.
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-6 Raonic – Another tie break. Raonic misses his first three first serves but puts away a volley before a second serve ace to make it 30-0. Murray misses a forehand pass before Raonic converts another volley.
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 6-5 Raonic* - Two first serves from Murray make it 30-0. Raonic then fires a forehand wide off a Murray slice before a Murray drop shot makes it 6-5.
*Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 5-5 Raonic - Murray’s backhand clips the top of the net on the first point before Raonic fires a giant serve out wide to make it 30-0. He then serves an ace before Murray hits long off a forehand.
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 5-4* Raonic - Raonic will serve to stay in the match. Two aces and a missed second serve from Raonic give Murray the game.
*Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 4-4 Raonic - Raonic misses a volley at 15-0 then an easy forehand at 30-15. He lets a Murray lob bounce at 30-30 but eventually wins the point with a composed volley.
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 4-3 Raonic* - Two aces in one game for Murray, any slip up now and it could be decisive.
*Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 3-3 Raonic - The Canadian is now holding serve more comfortably than Murray. He wins the game to 15.
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 3-2 Raonic* - The first break points of the match come and go for Raonic as Murray gets out of a hole from 15-40. The Canadian takes a couple of swings at the Murray second serve but the Brit slides a serve out wide before forcing his opponent into a backhand error at 30-40.
*Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 2-2 Raonic - Another opening for Murray but Raonic shuts the door. He is still coming to the net on every opportunity. Murray passes twice to make it 30-30 but the Canadian serve volleys twice to close out the game.
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 2-1 Raonic* - Murray’s first serve percentage has dropped slightly but Raonic hasn’t been able to take advantage. The Canadian fires a return long at 30-15 before missing a forehand a point later, both came after Murray had missed first serves.
*Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 1-1 - Raonic Raonic hasn’t gone away just yet. He misses two first serves in the opening three points but still moves 30-15 ahead. An assured volley makes it 40-15 before he closes out the game with a forehand into the open court.
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 1-0 Raonic* - Murray has the advantage of serving first in this set and takes it, holding to 30 in the opening game.
Murray 6-4 7-6 (7-3) Raonic SECOND SET MURRAY- Murray nails a backhand down the line before Raonic wins both points on his serve to make it 6-3. Murray misses his first serve but then hits a gutsy second with Raonic hits in the net.
Murray 6-4 6-6 (5-1) Raonic – Raonic misses a routine slice backhand to concede a mini-break on the first point. Murray then makes two first serves before clinching a second mini-break with a supurb forehand pass off a Raonic smash.
Murray 6-4 6-6 Raonic* - Tie Break time, Raonic has chances but sends two forehands wide. He still hasn't had a break point.
*Murray 6-4 5-6 Raonic - Murray can’t get a foothold in the game as Raonic holds to love.
Murray 6-4 5-5 Raonic* - Murray comes through a pressure game from 0-15 down. Gets a little lucky at 15-15 when a forehand flicks off the top of the net and bonces in. Murray goes on to win the point and then the game.
*Murray 6-4 4-5 Raonic - Raonic storms into a 30-0 lead but is pegged back to 30-30 after a Murray backhand pass on the run. The Brit then returns a 147mph serve! and wins the point with another spectacular backhand pass. Murray then misses two break point opportunities as he put a slice backhand into the net before Raonic fires away a forehand.
Murray 6-4 4-4 Raonic* - A missed backhand from Murray makes it 0-15 but Raonic then fires a second serve return long and concedes his advantage. Murray goes on and holds to 30.
*Murray 6-4 3-4 Raonic - Murray goes down 0-30 with a missed backhand and a Raonic ace. The Canadian then misses a volley before a Murray passing shot makes it 30-30. The game goes to deuce before Murray earns break point with a brilliant dipping passing shot. An ace followed by a missed forehand from Murray ends the game.
Murray 6-4 3-3 Raonic*Murray misses four first serves but still holds to 15 as Raonic fails to take advantage. The Canadian is still yet to have a break point.
*Murray 6-4 2-3 Raonic - A hold to love for the Canadian who serves only his second ace of the match. A first serve out wide is then put into the net from Murray to end the game.
Murray 6-4 2-2 Raonic*- Another comfortable hold of serve for Murray which is finished with an unreturned serve down the tee. Pressure back on Raonic.
*Murray 6-4 1-2 Raonic - Three unreturned serves from Raonic as he keeps his noise ahead in the second set.
Murray 6-4 1-1 Raonic* - Raonic isn’t getting a look at Murray’s second serve. The Brit’s first serve percentage is currently at 70 per cent following another comfortable hold.
*Murray 6-4 0-1 Raonic - Raonic is using the same body serve which he used against Federer but Murray is returning incredibly well. The Canadian deserves some credit though as he saves another break point when advantage down.
Murray 6-4 Raonic FIRST SET MURRAY - A missed first serve is crushed by Raonic to go 0-15 up. However Murray recomposes himself, making three out of four first serves. He then closes out the opening set in 41 minutes.
*Murray 5-4 Raonic - Raonic forces Murray to serve out the set after recovering from 15-30 on serve.
Murray 5-3 Raonic* - When they get into rallies from the back of the court, Murray is up on the baseline and not allowing Raonic to dictate the points. His second serve is being punished but Raonic isn’t seeing too many.
*Murray 4-3 Raonic MURRAY BREAKS - Raonic has persisted with coming into the net but he playing a man with some of the best passing shots in the game. Raonic’s serve just keep coming back and and Murray then extracts the errors to get to 15-40. From there the Canadian misses two first serves before dumping a volley in the net.
Murray 3-3 Raonic* - Murray holds to love. He’s serving well and not allowing Raonic to get the first strike in the rallies. Impressive start from both players.
*Murray 2-3 Raonic - Raonic is serving a number of first serves wide to open up the court and charge into the net. Like against Federer he appears to be volleying well but Murray is regularly making him play at the net.
Murray 2-2 Raonic* - Murray appears to be taking a bit of pace off his first serve and hasn’t given Raonic many looks at his second delivery. The Brit holds to 30.
*Murray 1-2 Raonic - Raonic saves the first break point of the match by swatting away a forehand at 30-40. Murray is getting a racquet on the Canadian’s delivery though.
Murray 1-1 Raonic* - Just as impressive from Murray three first serves in and he holds to 15.
*Murray 0-1 Raonic - Murry takes the opening point but Raonic shows no signs of nerves with a couple of big forehands.
Here we go! The players have made their way onto court and have been greeted by a huge roar from the Centre Court crowd. Raonic won the toss and has elected to serve.
I'll be back at around 2:00pm with game by game updates when Murray will attept to win his second Wimbledon title.
In terms of playing styles this should be an intriguing contest between one of the biggest servers in the game and one of the greatest returners. Raonic’s first serve percentage for the tournament is an impressive 69 per cent and against Federer he won 83 per cent of the points when his first delivery went in. But Canadian has also shown that he has more weapons in his arsenal. His volleys and awareness around the net has improved significantly since bringing Mcenroe on board, while he appears to have become even more aggressive when unleashing his potent forehand. However Murray is one of the best defenders in the world and has the ability to mix things up with his slice and drop shots from the back of the court. Murray has converted 32 break points this tournament, that’s more than any other player. Yet there is no question that an inspired Raonic will be his toughest test yet.
Raonic is more of an unknown quantity going into this match, and while Murray has been in this position many times before this is the Canadian’s first Grand Slam final. Tipped as one of the dark horses before the tournament, the sixth seed breezed through the first week without dropping a set; however he has played three tough matches since. Only Raonic knows how much it took out of him coming back from two sets down against Goffin and then coming back to beat Federer in five sets. Most of the points he plays are relatively short, however the mental strain of getting to his first major final may turn out to be a telling factor.
In terms of fatigue Murray should come into this match the fresher, both physically and mentally, after dropping just two sets on route to the final. He was tested against Tsonga, which may turn out the be a positive thing, as the Frenchman forced Murray to play some of his best tennis in the deciding set. On paper Berdych, a former finalist at Wimbledon, appeared another tricky obstacle, yet the Czech never looked like denying Murray a place in the final. Overall Murray has looked assured and confident about his game over the last two weeks. He has also dealt well with the added pressure of becoming the favourite for the title following Djokovic’s early elimination.
SF [10] Tomas Berdych 6-3 6-3 6-3
QF [12] Jo-Wilfred Tsonga 7-6(10) 6-1 3-6 4-6 6-1
R4 [15] Nick Kyrgios 7-5 6-1 6-4
R3 John Millman 6-3 7-5 6-2
R2 Yen-Hsun Lu 6-3 6-2 6-1
R1 Liam Broady 6-2 6-3 6-4
Murray’s Route
SF [3] Roger Federer 6-3 6-7(3) 4-6 7-5 6-3
QF [28] Sam Querrey 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-4
R4 [11] David Goffin 4-6 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4
R3 [27] Jack Sock 7-6(2) 6-4 7-6(1)
R2 Andreas Seppi 7-6(5) 6-4 6-2
R1 Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6(4) 6-2 6-4
Raonic’s Route
Around two and a half hours until the players walk onto Centre Court. Here is a look at how both Raonic and Murray made it to the final.
"I don't think he'd be doing this job if he didn't believe in me and believe that I could win these events, because he doesn't need to”. Said Murray "Also the information I get from him, the psychological help that I get from having him around, being able to chat to him at these events, before the big matches, makes a difference."
The match up will also pit super coaches Ivan Lendl, with Murray, and John McEnroe, with Raonic, against one another. Murray, who joined up with Lendel again before the grass court season was as expected full of praise for his coach who helped him win his two major titles in 2012 and 2013.
The pair have met twice at a Grand Slam events, the last of which came at this year’s Australian Open in semi-final when Murry prevailed in five sets. Their other meeting at a major came back at the US Open in 2012 when Raonic failed to win a set.
Murray and Raonic have met nine times before with the Scot leading their head to head record by six matches to three. Their only meeting on grass came three weeks ago in the final of Queens, when Murray came back from a set and a break down to win 6-7 6-4 6-3.
The second seed swept through the first week without dropping a set, before he convincing dispatched the temperamental Nick Krygios in the fourth round. On Friday Tomas Berdych was no match for the British number one, who reached his third Wimbledon final with a 6-3 6-3 6-3 victory over the giant Czech.
Murray’s route to the final has been, for the most part, a more straight forward path, however he was pushed all the way to five sets against Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in the last eight.
For Raonic this is his first Grand Slam final and the sixth seed is clearly in the best form of his career following his dramatic semi-final victory over Roger Federer in five sets. The Canadian also beat Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Sam Querrey in the quarter-finals, and came back from two sets down against Belgium’s David Goffin in round four.
Hello and welcome to VAVEL’s live coverage of the 2016 Wimbledon final between Britain’s Andy Murray and Canadian Milos Raonic. The players are due on court at 2:00pm, so stick around for live game by game updates and match analysis as Murray attempts to win his second singles title at SW19.