McEnroe’s influence felt in Raonic’s Wimbledon run

Could Milos Raonic be a legitimate shot at a maiden major title at Wimbledon?

If his refined tactics continue to produce such impressive outcomes, then the answer is a resounding yes.

The Canadian on Wednesday dismissed Sam Querrey in four sets to reach the semifinal stage at a Grand Slam for the third time, and for the second time at the All England Club.

In 2014, when he first reached this point at Wimbledon, he was swatted aside in straight sets by Roger Federer. His second major semi, at Australian Open 2016, was a much more assured performance – until injury intervened when he led Andy Murray by two sets to one.

Now might be a case of third time lucky. The world No.7, seeded sixth here, will again line up against Federer. But instead, it’s Raonic who comes in as a warm favourite, given his grasscourt lead-in, his form this fortnight at SW19 and his commanding win the last time he faced the Swiss great, a straight-sets win in the Brisbane International final.

The recent Queens’ finalist has a new weapon at his disposal – the influence of tennis legend John McEnroe.

Raonic believed the American, a seven-time major champion and three times a winner at Wimbledon who is now working with the 25-year-old as a consultant coach, has added an attacking dimension to his game.

“That was a part of the motivation to bring him along to help, was to improve that aspect (net play) of how much I can implement it in my game and how to use it and what the right moments are,” Raonic said. “I was efficient with it today. Other than those three games, I think I had a very good percentage when I was coming in. So I’m proud of that.”

Raonic approached the net almost 50 times – 14 more than Querrey – and won nearly three-quarters of points once there. And it was consistent with his approach all fortnight at Wimbledon – in his fourth-round win over David Goffin he advanced on the net 58 times and did so 43 times against Jack Sock in round three.

In all five of his matches so far, the Canadian has approached the net significantly more times than his opponent. And this is a continuation of a trend that emerged at Queens’, soon after Raonic and McEnroe linked up.

“First things we focused on when we were spending a week of training was really about not passing up any opportunities to come forward, to always keep the pressure on my opponents, keep them guessing, making them feel uncomfortable, trying to make them play unbalanced as much as possible,” Raonic revealed.

“Then when we played the tournament at Queen’s, when I was playing, it sort of shifted to obviously putting those things in effect, but also about attitude on the court throughout matches, having a bigger presence, trying to make a difference.”

It’s not just at the net where Raonic is enjoying success.

With the weapons at his disposal, Raonic is overwhelming opponents. He clubbed 58 winners to Querrey’s 36 on No.1 Court on Wednesday – while keeping his unforced errors to a tidy 16 – and slammed 22 aces to Goffin’s 12 in the last 16. He aced Seppi 25 times to two in the second round and has routinely topped 225km/h on serve.

Such brutality with the racquet is part of Raonic’s never-ending quest to impose his will and might on players throughout matches. It’s something he’s again keen to implement when he faces Federer on Thursday in a Centre Court semifinal blockbuster.

“Obviously, the terms are to bring the match on my racquet, sort of take away rhythm and timing from him. That’s what I’m going to be striving to do,” Raonic said.

“I feel like I’m one of the best guys at backing up my serve. You have to do specific things well. You have to try to play it on your terms, whether that be from the back or coming in. But you have to stick to your game. Just the serve isn’t enough.”

The relationship between the combustible American legend and the cool steady Canadian appears so far to be flourishing. But is entirely necessary? Would Raonic be enjoying similar success without McEnroe being involved?

He already has another former world No.1, Carlos Moya, in his entourage as primary coach as well as a large support team around him. And plenty of other players manage fine without a coach: witness Nick Kyrgios’s charge through to the second week at Wimbledon this year, a player who beat Raonic in the third round in 2015.

Is it a case of too many cooks potentially spoiling the broth? Raonic thinks otherwise.

“The way I’ve always looked at it is, don’t spare any expense when it comes to improving. Maybe some other guys look at it a different way,” he said.

“I have three coaches here, not here right now, but around me. I have numerous physios I alternate. I have a fitness guy. I have numerous people that either come to tournaments or are taking care of me behind the scenes.

“I feel that’s what I need.”

It’s hard to argue with that, when you look at his performances throughout the grasscourt season.

And should the next be a victory over the great Federer to deliver him his first Grand Slam final appearance, you can bet that McEnroe’s presence may continue in the Raonic camp a little longer.