LONDON — Canada's Milos Raonic advanced to the third round of Wimbledon with a 3-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 7-5 win over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny on Thursday.
Raonic, the sixth seed from Thornhill, Ont., picked up a key break to take a 6-5 lead in the third set. He later secured the victory with his 27th ace of the match.
"I think I'm getting better and better with each match. That's easy to say with two matches though," said Raonic. "I think today I was better than the first round but I think even in those matches I'm making good steps forward."
The match on the No. 2 court at the All England Club took two hours 40 minutes to complete. Raonic, a finalist last year at Wimbledon, will next face 25th-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain.
"The one thing that was very important for me (today) was not to rush through things," said Raonic. "To sort of try and have a say in the situation as much as possible, which isn't always the case, but I've been doing that and I think that's why I have been getting better and better throughout the matches.
"Today I ended better than I did two days ago. If that continues to be the case then hopefully the momentum can speed up bit by bit."
Ramos-Vinolas needed five sets to complete a 7-5, 6-7 (6), 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Russia's Andrey Rublev. The match lasted three hours 32 minutes.
Raonic and Ramos-Vinolas have split their two previous meetings. Raonic was victorious when they met in Davis Cup play in 2013 and Ramos-Vinolas defeated the Canadian in the Round of 16 last year on clay at the French Open.
The Canadian Press