Milos Raonic wins epic 5-set match, advances to quarters at Wimbledon

Not yet, young man.

Milos Raonic survived a scare against Alexander Zverev in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Monday, but ultimately prevailed in a five-set thriller (4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1).

Zverev, the hard-serving 20-year-old from Germany, is a player on the rise. The 10th seed at Wimbledon, he gave the sixth-seeded Raonic all he could handle.

Raonic had his second service game of the match broken, falling behind 3-1 early in the first set, en route to losing 6-4.

Milos looked to be in big trouble in the second set, as Zverev broke his first service game of the set. But down 3-1, Raonic found a way to break back, levelling the set 3-3 before breaking Zverev for a second time to win 7-5.

The third set went to the young German. After trading the first seven games of the set, Raonic double-faulted to allow Zverev to go up a break before winning the set 6-4.

Just like he did last year when he was down 2-1 against David Goffin at Wimbledon, Raonic would need to dig deep for a comeback victory.

That’s exactly what he did.

The pair held serve for 11-straight games in the fourth set before Raonic broke through, winning 7-5 to force a decisive fifth set.

In the final set, Raonic exerted his dominance. His serve caught fire just as Zverev’s began to weaken, and Raonic cruised to a 6-1 win.

The big Canadian was more opportunistic during the match, winning 5-of-8 break point opportunities, while Zverev converted on just 3-of-17.

Raonic will advance to the quarter-final, where he’ll face living-legend Roger Federer on Wednesday. Federer has won nine of 12 matches against the Canadian, although he’s on a two-match losing streak against Raonic.

2014: Federer beats Raonic, Wimbledon semi.

2016: Raonic beats Federer, Wimbledon semi.

2017: Raonic vs Federer, Wimbledon QF. Buckle up

— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) July 10, 2017

The last match between the two was a five-set win for Raonic in the Wimbledon semi-final last year.

The 26-year-old from Thornhill is still looking for his first Grand Slam title. He lost to Andy Murray in straight sets last year at Wimbledon in his only Grand Slam final appearance.

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