Raonic ends Querrey's Wimbledon fairytale
Sam Querrey's best showing at a grand slam came to end on Wednesday as Milos Raonic booked his Wimbledon semi-final place.
Milos Raonic ended Sam Querrey's Wimbledon fairytale with a superb all-round performance to win Wednesday's quarter-final 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-4.
The Canadian sealed a third grand slam semi-final of his career – and second at the All England Club – with a strong performance from the baseline, mixed with moments of magic at the net.
Raonic's booming serve naturally brought a lot of points for the sixth seed, but it was his ventures forward that brought No. 1 Court to its feet at regular intervals.
A tight opening set saw Raonic apply pressure to Querrey's serve and when the American was serving to stay in the set he finally buckled.
Querrey – who sensationally ended Novak Djokovic's hopes in the third round – allowed a 30-0 lead to slip away as a volley into the net and long forehand handed Raonic the early lead.
The second followed a similar pattern as Raonic served serenely, while making inroads into his rival's service games with deep approach shots and glorious touch at the net.
In almost a carbon copy of the first set, Querrey succumbed to Raonic's pressure in the 12th game of the second with a string of unforced errors – two crucial forehands flying long of the baseline.
Any thoughts that Raonic would complete a straight-sets win looked well founded as he continued to impress in the third, however he could not convert his sole break opportunity and Querrey profited.
He showed good touch of his own to force an opening before duly converting it, the American securing the set with a huge ace.
Hopes of a comeback quickly disappeared in the fourth set, although both players opened up more in a close contest.
Raonic wasted an early opportunity to break but when it came round again he made no mistake, more unforced errors from Querrey – including a double fault – handing the Canadian his place in the last four.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Raonic (6) bt Querrey (28) 6-4 7-5 5-7 6-4
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Raonic – 45/11
Querrey – 25/17
ACES
Raonic - 10
Querrey - 10
BREAK POINTS WON
Raonic – 2/4
Querrey – 0/0
FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
Raonic - 63
Querrey - 56
PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
Raonic – 90/76
Querrey – 83/45
TOTAL POINTS
Raonic - 98
Querrey - 76