These two men couldn’t be more opposite in appearance and demeanor. Raonic is meticulously put together and a calm, expressionless perfectionist; Murray, an emotionally charged firecracker, has a look could sometimes be described as disheveled. The Scot glared up at his box in disgust or excitement after nearly every point, fingers of his left hand splayed, pointed teeth bared. Raonic, on the other hand, kept his head down and his face serene, like he has this whole tournament.
The third set saw Raonic kick his serve up into an even higher gear. The crowd was fairly split in its support, going in Raonic’s favor on a few occasions but steadied back by Murray’s biggest fans—four young guys in white shirts spelling out “ANDY.” They would stand up to belt out songs, such as one set to Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit Of…Murray). It turns out only one of them hails from Great Britain (the “A”), but the other three Australians have been Murray fans for over seven years. And yes, they said that they do wash their embroidered Under Armour shirts between Murray’s matches.
The third set had very few points last for more than nine shots, and a tiebreak seemed inevitable. Murray was scampering from side to side, often releasing massive grunts mid-point as he raced down forehand inside-outs, while Raonic was barely emitting any sounds at all.
Raonic opened the tiebreak with a ridiculous forehand angle return winner, and then closed it by hitting an even more ridiculous bouncing overhead winner down the line.
“You just try and use different things when you’re on the court. Obviously losing that third set was tough. He played a good tiebreaker,” Murray said. “I was starting to hit the ball better in the third set I was hitting the ball cleaner from the back of the court and I wasn’t allowing him to dictate as many points as I was in the beginning.”
Early in the fourth set, Raonic requested to leave the court for a medical timeout. Given the chilly weather, with temperatures in the upper 50s, and his flowing momentum, the decision was an odd one. After the match, Raonic explained that it was an adductor injury and it prevented him from changing direction and pushing off his serve properly.
“It’s unfortunate—probably the most heart broken I’ve felt on court,” Raonic said. “But that’s what it is.”