Milos Raonic beats Roger Federer in five sets to reach Wimbledon final

John McEnroe, acting as a coaching consultant to the big serving Canadian here, had called on Raonic to be more expressive on court. Yet when he clinched victory 6-3, 6-7, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 with a performance of courage, power and no little skill he could manage no more than a shy smile, as though unable to believe what he had achieved.

"It's an incredible comeback from me, I was struggling through the third and fourth sets. On a little opening I managed to turn it around. It was a great match," he said afterwards.

It appeared at one stage as though the imperious Swiss was about to stride into his 11th Wimbledon final, having reeled in his younger opponent in a display that rolled back the years. Yet Federer, ultimately fading in his second five-set contest in a row, was unable to close out the match and Raonic - to his huge credit - came roaring back.

As it turns out, nerves get to everyone. Even Federer. The 34-year-old had only served two double faults in his run to the semi-final. But after failing to take chances of his own to seal victory, in the fourth set here he served two in a single game that Raonic went on to take in order to move into a fifth-set decider.

Then in that deciding set, having called for his troublesome knee to be massaged during a game that saw him prostrate on the Centre Court turf that he has bestrode down the years, Federer could only watch as his irrepressible opponent fizzed a forehand past the seven-time champion to break.

In the space of half an hour, Raonic had clawed his way back from the brink of defeat to win the fourth set and break Federer in the fifth. Afterwards, he said McEnroe's advice had been telling.

"What he told me today was to leave it all out there. I showed a lot of emotion, all of it positive. Mentally, I had one of the best matches in my career," he said.

After a whizz-bang opening the match had mutated into a gripping, if occasionally error-strewn, contest. Raonic had started like a train, pummelling Federer with serves of up to 143mph. In all, he served up 23 aces to Federer's 16.

Federer had used all his experience to turn the tables on his younger, opponent before the Canadian's power and resilience won out. At 2-1 down, the fresh faced Raonic was hanging on for dear life and in the knowledge that if he was going to go down he might as well go down fighting, began coming up with winners.

Displaying his usual grace under pressure, the seven-time Wimbledon champion had earlier imperceptibly taken control despite having come through an epic against Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals, establishing a 2-1 lead and appearing on course for victory. Yet it was Raonic who was able to summon new reserves of mental strength, and take advantage of an eventually tiring Federer, to win.

It was clear very early on that this was to be no repeat of 2014, when the pair met at the same stage and Federer closed out victory in straight sets. Federer, written off so many times in the past, is perhaps not quite the intimidating figure he once was. He had won just one of his four matches against top-10 opposition this season and lost his last three.

Raonic, who beat Federer in their most recent encounter in Brisbane but had lost their previous three matches before that and trailed 9-2 overall, started like a train.

Far from overawed by the reputation that precedes his illustrious opponent, Raonic - who had himself come back from two sets down to win in the fourth round against David Goffin - approached the first set with a swagger.

Federer was trying to attack the net wherever possible but the rangy Raonic gave as good as he got and could always rely on his thunderous serve to get him out of trouble.

The only glimmer of light for Federer came in the very seventh game, when Raonic found himself 0-30 down on his serve. But, typically, he thundered down a 141mph serve to regain the initiative and closed out the game, via two deuces, with an ace.

At set-point down, Federer dug out a cross-court winner that left Raonic stranded and elicited an elated reaction from the crowd. But Raonic would not be denied and put away a forehand winner to seal the set.

Federer came roaring back as up in the Royal Box, Bjorn Borg looked on. Down on the court, Raonic was in the groove and Federer struggled throughout the opening two sets to read the Canadian's serve.

Grace Jones, a Federer fan, was also in the expensive seats and thrilled at the sight of Federer coming back to the brink of victory.

Yet it was ultimately the Swiss who was a slave to Raonic's rhythm, as the 25-year-old sealed a historic victory in just under three and a half hours.

Kazinform refers to The Guardian.com