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LONDON

For a while, it seemed like Milos Raonic was poised to reach the quarter-finals at the All England Club for a fourth year in a row. However, the No. 15-seeded Canadian lost a heartbreaker to Argentina’s Guido Pella in five sets 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(3), 8-6.

Before Monday’s match, Raonic was just one of three players who hadn’t dropped a set. And early on, he seemed poised to continue that.

The Canadian got off to a wonderful start. With the first set tied 1-1, Raonic managed to score 12 consecutive points in order to score a break and win three games in a row. From there, the Maple Leaf Missile leaned on his big serve to close out the set. He tallied 8 aces and lost just one service point, winning 20 out of 21 in the first set. He also won 100% of his first-service points.

In the second set, after both players held serve through the first six games, Raonic finally scored a break. On his ninth break point of the set, the Canadian grabbed a 4-3 lead when Pella hit a forehand into the net. Milos then continued to lean on his serve, winning 13 of 16 first-service points.

However, Raonic got himself into some trouble in the third set. Trailing 2-1, he was broken for just second time at these Championships when he hit a two-handed backhand into the net. The Argentinian would hold serve from there – snapping Raonic’s streak at 11 straight sets.

Then, the No. 15-seeded Canadian had a great chance to close out the match in the fourth set. Leading 4-3, Raonic managed to score a break to give himself a chance to serve for the match. But Pella would bounce right back. In the very next game, the Argentinian scored a break of his own to level the set. In the tiebreaker, Pella jumped up to a 5-1 lead thanks to a couple of winners and mini-breaks. From there, Pella would force a fifth and final set using one of his six aces.

In that decisive set, Raonic did all he could to stave off elimination and advance. Trailing 5-4 and serving to stay in the match, the Canadian managed to save match point with a forehand volley winner at the net. Then, in his next service game, down 15-40, the 28 year old from Thornhill saved another two match points and scored four straight points to keep himself alive.

But eventually Raonic was unable to stop the momentum that Pella was generating. At 7-6, Milos placed a backhand volley into the net on the Argentinian’s fourth match point – securing him a place in the quarter-finals.

Although it was a disappointing result for Raonic, he put together some promising results over this grass-court season. Coming into Wimbledon, the Canadian had reached the quarters in three of his last four events, including attaining the semi-finals at Stuttgart and Indian Wells. Despite his latest defeat, Raonic stills holds a 19-8 record in 2019, finishing 8-2 on grass this season.

Dabrowski books QF spot in women’s doubles

Photo: Mauricio Paiz

Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and playing partner Yifan Xu also booked their spot in the quarter-finals in women’s doubles. The team took down No.13-seeded Chinese team of Duan Yingying and Zheng Saisai in straight sets 7-5, 6-3.

Dabrowski and Xu gave up their first break point of the tournament, but they managed to convert three of the nine break points they had in the match.

With this latest Dabrowski and Xu also haven’t dropped a set through three matches at this year’s Championships. This third straight victory on grass improves their record on this surface to 4-3 in 2019. They are also now just one win shy of reaching the semi-finals at the All England Club for the second year in a row.

In order to try and get there, the Canadian-Chinese duo will play the winner of the Americans Danielle Collins/Bethanie Mattek-Sands and the No.10-seeded team of Victoria Azarenka and Ashleigh Barty.

The Ottawa native was also not quite done playing at the All England Club on Monday. Dabrowski and her teammate Mate Pavic faced off against Mattek-Sands and Jamie Murray in the second round of mixed doubles. The No.3-seeded Canadian-Croatian duo were leading 6-4, 3-6, 4-3 before play was suspended due to darkness on Court No. 18.

(Photo: Mauricio Paiz)

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