John Millman has bowed out to 2016 Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic.
Photo: AP
A battling John Millman has been edged out of Wimbledon by 2016 finalist Milos Raonic.
The big-hitting Canadian prevailed 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-4) on Court 2, hurling down 34 aces in a serve-dominated second-round contest that saw each player broken just once.
Raonic, who leads the championship's aces chart with 52, took out a tight opening set despite having only scored two points off Millman's serve before the tiebreak.
The second set followed a similar pattern before the 13th seed broke to take a 4-3 lead.
But the battling Queenslander fought back, repelling one 236.5kph bullet from Raonic – the fastest of the week – on his way to levelling the set at 5-5.
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However, the world No.54 once again fell just short in the tiebreak as the former world No.3, who has dropped to 32 in the rankings due to injury, extended his lead.
The 29-year-old was made to fight hard to hold his serve in the third set, holding off three break points and seven deuces across two games as the match went to another tiebreak.
Raonic opened with a 235kph thunderbolt and boosted by that strong start, opened up a 5-1 lead.
But Millman continued to fight, saving two match points before Raonic closed out the the win, setting up a third-round encounter against France's Lucas Pouille or Dennis Novak of Austria.
AAP
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