For the third straight year, Milos Raonic will play in the Wimbledon quarterfinal, a date with ninth-seeded American John Isner set for Wednesday.
While the 13th-seeded Raonic has seen some success at Wimbledon recently, this is Isner’s best showing at the All England Club yet. This also ties Isner's best performance in a Grand Slam tournament, after he also made the quarterfinals at the Australian Open in 2011.
The road to this round for both players hasn’t been too difficult. Raonic has yet to face a seeded opponent after his side of the bracket opened up following Marin Cilic's second-round loss. Gregor Dimitrov and Stan Warinka also bowed out in the early rounds of the tournament. Raonic defeated Mackenzie McDonald, ranked no. 102 in the world, in four sets on Monday.
Isner’s first match against a seeded opponent came on Monday when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas (31) in straight sets. Isner has won three of his four matches in straight sets so far, while Isnar was pushed to five in the second round against Ruben Bemelmans.
Wednesday’s match will be the fifth time Raonic will face Isner, who holds the better record in the matchup, 3-1 against Raonic. However, Raonic did win the most recent meeting between the two in 2016, defeating Raonic in the Western & Southern Open, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5). And to make the matchup even tighter, a tiebreak has determined seven of the last nine sets between the two players.
“The key is going to come down to one, two or three points here or there, that’s pretty much it,” Raonic told reporters on Monday following his Round of 16 victory.
The biggest strength for both players is their serve. In his win against McDonald on Monday, Raonic had 37 aces to McDonald’s five. In Isner’s win over Tsitsipas on Monday, he recorded 22 aces. In his five-set victory against Bemelmans, Isner cranked out 64 aces.
🇨🇦 Milos Raonic revving up his serve during today's #Wimbledon practice
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) July 10, 2018
🚀 pic.twitter.com/w1uqTQh8zX
Raonic knows how good Isner’s serve is, simply calling it “amazing.”
Raonic said he believes who breaks serve will ultimately be the deciding factor on Wednesday.
“I don’t think we’re going to have many very consecutive opportunities on each other’s serves,” Raonic said. “So, it’s going be coming down to those moments of being sharp in the right moments and who is going to be able to step up and dictate more pressure on the other guy.”
Isner has the length advantage, standing at 6-feet 10-inches to Raonic’s 6-feet 5-inches. But Raonic said he has advantages in other areas.
“I can move a little bit better than he can, he’s got a bigger wingspan than I do,” Raonic said. “The thing is, neither of us behind our serves is hitting extremely difficult volleys. I think I feel more comfortable than he does up there.”
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Ultimately, Raonic said he will have to be aggressive for the entire match to move onto the semifinal, where a he would be projected to play the top-seeded Roger Federer.
“The margins are small,” Raonic said. “It’s going to come down to being disciplined with yourself. Just because opportunities arise and if you let the other guy be the aggressor and you get passive, it’s going to hurt you pretty quickly.”
Raonic recently played Federer in the Stuttgart Open final, where Raonic was defeated by the World No. 1 in straight sets. Raonic reached the 2016 Wimbledon final before losing to Andy Murray.