Milos Raonic made Roger Federer feel his age at Wimbledon on Friday as the Canadian sharp-shooter bombarded Centre Court with a succession of 140 mph missiles to flatten the seven-times champion and reach his first grand slam final.
Raonic appeared to be down and out as he trailed Federer by two-sets to one and 15-40 in the fifth game of the fourth set but somehow he managed to cling on for a 6-3 6-7(3) 4-6 7-5 6-3 win and became the first Canadian man to reach a major final.
"It’s an incredible comeback for me," said the sixth seed, who will be seeking to win his first grasscourt title when he meets 2013 champion Andy Murray on Sunday in a repeat of last month's Queen's Club final.
"I was struggling throughout the third and fourth sets, he was playing some really good tennis and just on a little opening I managed to turn it around and finish it off in a great match.
"I showed a lot of emotion today, always positive, and that’s what got me through. Mentally I had one of my best matches in my career and I think that’s what made the biggest difference."
Federer, who had survived a five-set thriller two days ago against Croatian Marin Cilic, added: "He fought. He believed, like I did against Cilic. Credit to him for hanging in there."
STAYING POWER
The Swiss had come into the tournament with "no idea" about his own staying power as he had been forced to miss last month's French Open with a back injury.
Some of those questions were answered when he recovered from two sets and three match points down to beat Cilic but many pundits believed Raonic's younger limbs would deliver the knockout blow as two days was not enough for a 34-year-old's body to recover from such a taxing showdown.
Yet, incredibly, it was Raonic, 25, who appeared to be heading for a second semi-final defeat in three years against Federer as the third seed surged ahead and earned two break points in the fifth game of the fourth set.
Raonic kept his wits about him to save both and he survived a third in the ninth game as his thunderbolt serve got him out of trouble again.
When Federer moved to 40-0 in the 12th game, the contest was poised to enter a fourth-set tiebreak. But two days after the Swiss boldly stated that "my second serve has always been there for me... it never lets me down" -- guess what? It let him down.
Two successive double faults brought Raonic to deuce and while Federer saved two set points -- with an unreturnable serve and a volley winner -- his luck ran out on the third.
A blazing backhand passing shot had Raonic pumping his fists towards his support box as a shell-shocked Federer, who had come back from two sets and three match points down to beat Cilic on Wednesday, was left wondering how the set got away from him.
"Federer had it all going his way but you couldn't script that this would go on and on," exclaimed Raonic's grasscourt mentor John McEnroe.
MENTAL SCARS
The 17-times grand slam champion, who was about to contest his 10th set in three days, called on the trainer to massage his aching limbs back to life but it was the mental scars that could not be rubbed away.
Four games into the final set, with the score at deuce, Federer rolled his left ankle as he lunged after a flying forehand winner from Raonic and found himself sprawled face down on his beloved turf.
He lay still for what seemed an eternity before getting back to his feet and then slumped into his chair rather than heading for the baseline.
The crowd started to chuckle, wondering if Federer was staging a sit-in protest, but in fact he had called on the trainer again to manipulate his left knee and leg.
The Swiss, chasing a record-extending 11th appearance in the final, managed to save that break point but Raonic refused to let him off the hook and four points later the Canadian had the break for 3-1 as he ended a dazzling net exchange with a rasping crosscourt passing shot.
From them on there only seemed to be one winner and, after firing down 23 aces, with his fastest serve being clocked at 144 mph, Raonic bagged a place in the final when Federer floated a tired forehand long to end the three hours 25 minutes duel.
"This one clearly hurts, because I could have had it. I was so, so, close," summed up Federer after coming off second best for the first time in 11 Wimbledon semi-final appearances.
Lagos State Governor,
Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Friday expressed delight at the winning of the
annual Spelling Bee Competition by students of public schools in the
State, saying that the development was an eloquent testimony that his
administration is on the right path to transform the education sector.
Governor Ambode, who spoke at the Lagos House, Ikeja while hosting the
16th One-day Governor, Master Olaseinde Olufemi Joshua and members of
his cabinet, said the fact that winners of the competition emerged from
public schools in inner communities was a clear indication that public
schools in the State are now becoming exemplary citadel of learning.
He said: “I must say that I am impressed about the mixture of the people
that we are now celebrating. I can personally say that I did watch the
school debate on television and I am very excited that the schools from
which the winners emerged are from our inner communities in Shasha in
Alimosho, Badagry, Ilupeju and also in Mushin.
“That in itself shows that we are on the right path. We must be able to
show that our public schools are exemplary citadel of learning that we
can also use to showcase the fact that the future of Lagos is brighter
than what we have now,” Governor Ambode said.
While congratulating the winners of the competition for doing the State
proud, Governor Ambode said the competition was one of the ways of
encouraging younger ones to venture into position of leadership, adding
that development would also go a long way in preparing the students for
position of leadership in the future.
He added: “We want to say that the six winners we are celebrating today
are worthy to be celebrated and we will indeed celebrate them and use
them as examples to encourage other younger ones to reach out so that we
can be proud that in another twenty years, these ones will take over
from us and we would be proud that we really did the State proud.”
Besides, the Governor congratulated the State’s Ministry of Education
and other stakeholders for sustaining the initiative which started about
16 years ago, and called for the scaling up of the initiative to
accommodate more younger students.
Earlier, the One-day Governor, Master Olaseinde Olufemi Joshua, a
student of Shasha Community Senior High School saluted the vision of the
wife of former Lagos State Governor, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, who was
the pioneer of the Spelling Bee competition, saying that the competition
had helped students in the State to be more dedicated to their studies
and strive for excellence.
He added that the competition would not have been possible without the
free education policy of the Lagos State Government over the years,
which is being sustained by the present administration.
Speaking on Governor Ambode’s administration, Master Joshua said:
“Barely a year after taking over the reign of power as the Governor of
the State, Lagosians have witnessed a rapid transformation of
infrastructural facilities and integrated lighting system. There is no
gainsaying that Lagosians’ dream of becoming Africa’s model megacity is
becoming into reality through your hard work and dedication.
“This is evident in your meticulous implementation of various
developmental programmes. I can easily predict that our visionary
Governor Ambode will take Lagos State to the promise land within his
first tenure in office,” he said.
Master Joshua, who said his father could not make it to the event due to
health challenges, however, urged the Governor to consider donating a
school bus, a well-equipped E-library to his school and the
rehabilitation of drainage systems as well as the roads leading to his
school.
Responding, Governor Ambode granted the request for a school bus in
Joshua’s school and all other requests in respect of the other schools
of the winners.
He also ordered that Joshua’s father be treated at the health facilities
of the State Government.
Other winners are One-day Deputy Governor, Komolafe Kehinde of
Immaculate Heart Senior High School, Maryland; One-day Speaker,
Okinbaloye Rashidat of Ilupeju Senior Grammar School; One-day Secretary
to the State Government (SSG), Ogunfowora Islamiyat of Badagry Senior
Grammar School; One-day Commissioner for Education, Abdulkarim Asiyat of
Atunrase Senior High School and One-day Commissioner for Science and
Technology, Ahwanyinu Sesinu of Kakon Senior Secondary School.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/right-path-says-ambode/
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/right-path-says-ambode/
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