Share

Isner, Raonic braced for Wimbledon slugfest

London - John Isner will face Milos Raonic for a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals on Wednesday, but will anybody care?

That was the question facing tennis fans after Isner made the last-eight for the first time while 2016 runner-up Raonic booked a quarter-final spot for the fourth time.

Isner, 33, has not been broken in 74 service games in four rounds so far while Raonic has dropped serve just three times in 72 games.

As well as topping the service charts, American ninth seed Isner has unleashed a tournament-leading 135 aces.

Canadian 13th seed Raonic is second on the list with 117.

When it comes to speed, the two giants are also full throttle.

Raonic has the fastest serve of this year's Wimbledon at 147mph (236.5km/h) while Isner is just behind on 144mph (231.7km/h).

So Wednesday's quarter-final will not be pretty.

"Isner v Raonic. What an exciting QF, full of powerful serving .......... said no-one ever," tweeted one fan.

"Raonic vs. Isner in the quarterfinals on grass with no 5th set tie break. That match might go in for days," wrote another.

Isner, who leads Raonic 3-1 in career meetings, admits that the match will not be easy on the eye.

"Well, there's a good chance it's going to come down to a few points here and there. It's strength on strength, for sure," said the 6ft 10in (2.07m) American.

"He serves exceptionally well. He does other things very well, too. He attacks well. He looks for his forehand a lot, which is effective on this surface.

"Look, if one of us gets a crack, a few chances, we're going to have to take it."

When asked to point out what differences there were between the two men, Isner struggled.

"I'm taller than him. That's all I got for you right now."

In their four meetings, Isner and Raonic have played nine sets -- seven have been decided by tie breaks.

"Incredible," said Raonic, six years Isner's junior, when asked to describe the American's serve.

"The keys is going to come down to one, two, three points here and there. That's pretty much it," said Raonic in a similarly downbeat assessment of what Wednesday's quarter-final may hold.

"I don't think we're going to have many consecutive opportunities on each other's serves. It's going to be coming down to being sharp in the right moments, who is going to be able to step up, be the one that's able to dictate, putting more pressure on the other guy.

"I think it's going to be decided by small margins."

Wimbledon results on Monday, the seventh day of the 2018 championships (x denotes seeded player):

Men

Fourth round

Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Adrian Mannarino (FRA x22) 6-0, 7-5, 6-4

Kevin Anderson (RSA x8) bt Gael Monfils (FRA) 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/2), 5-7, 7-6 (7/4)

Milos Raonic (CAN x13) bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 6-3, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-2

John Isner (USA x9) bt Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x31) 6-4, 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/4)

Novak Djokovic (SRB x12) bt Karen Khachanov (RUS) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2

Kei Nishikori (JPN x24) bt Ernests Gulbis (LAT) 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (12/10), 6-1

Rafael Nadal (ESP x2) bt Jiri Vesely (CZE) 6-3, 6-3, 6-4

Suspended due to darkness:

Juan Martin del Potro (ARG x5) leads Gilles Simon (FRA) 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7.5), 5-7

Women

Fourth round

Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) bt Hsieh Su-Wei (TPE) 6-4, 6-1

Jelena Ostapenko (LAT x12) bt Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) 7-6 (7/4), 6-0

Daria Kasatkina (RUS x14) bt Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-2

Angelique Kerber (GER x11) bt Belinda Bencic (SUI) 6-3, 7-6 (7/5)

Kiki Bertens (NED x20) bt Karolina Pliskova (CZE x7) 6-3, 7-6 (7/1)

Julia Goerges (GER x13) bt Donna Vekic (CRO) 6-3, 6-2

Serena Williams (USA x25) bt Evgeniya Rodina (RUS) 6-2, 6-2

Camila Giorgi (ITA) bt Ekaterina Makarova (RUS) 6-3, 6-4

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Should the Proteas pick Faf du Plessis for the T20 World Cup in West Indies and the United States in June?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
Yes! Faf still has a lot to give ...
50% - 5 votes
No! It's time to move on ...
50% - 5 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE