Canada鈥檚 Milos Raonic looked 鈥渘ervous鈥� and 鈥渦nsure of himself鈥� against Britain鈥檚 Andy Murray in the final moments of the men鈥檚 singles Wimbledon final, according to Raonic鈥檚 childhood coach.
Raonic lost in his first-ever appearance in a Grand Slam final Sunday, falling in three straight sets to Murray. Murray topped the 25-year-old Raonic 6-4, 7-6, and 7-6 to capture his second Wimbledon title and third major championship. If he had won, Raonic would have been Canada鈥檚 first Grand Slam singles champion.
鈥淗e looked really good right in the beginning, and then he started to look a little bit nervous. I don鈥檛 know if he was having some demons coming into his head a little bit,鈥� Casey Curtis, Raonic鈥檚 former coach, told 麻豆影视 Channel.
Curtis coached Canada鈥檚 highest-ranked tennis star between the ages of 8 and 17, and is said to have helped the Thornhill, Ont. native craft his 鈥渂ig power鈥� style on the court.
鈥淭here are actually quite a few similarities now to when he was younger. He actually got away from the way I was coaching him when he was younger,鈥� Curtis said. 鈥淎t one point he was backing up behind the base line quite a bit, and trying to, I think, be a bit more of a consistent type of player. That鈥檚 just not his game. He is a power player and he always will be.鈥�
Murray broke Raonic's forceful serve only once in the match. But Murray鈥檚 precise returning ability ultimately gave him the edge over his opponent.
Curtis said Murray just played great tennis. 鈥淗e made very, very few mistakes. He gave Milos very few opportunities to capitalize on any mistakes.鈥�
After the match, Raonic told the BBC that the loss would 鈥渟ting.鈥� But he promised that he鈥檇 do his best to return to centre court.
"I鈥檓 going to make sure as the grass on these courts is green that I do everything that I can to be back here for another chance,鈥� he said.
Curtis watched the match with his students and fellow coaches, many of whom have trained with Raonic as his career progressed.
