LONDON - Canada's Milos Raonic dropped a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 decision to Switzerland's Roger Federer in men's singles semi-final play Friday at Wimbledon.
The running narrative in tennis the last few years has been the arrival of a new generation and how it was only a matter of time until one of them, with Milos Raonic arguably leading the pack as the only one who has spent consistent time in the top 10 during that period, broke through and won a major.
But it hasn't happened. The biggest problem for the young guns is that standing between them and one of those pieces of cherished hardware is one, usually two and sometimes even three of those perennial champions.
It was Raonic's first appearance in a Grand Slam semi-final. Federer will next play Serbia's Novak Djokovic, a four-set winner over Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov in the early semi-final.
Raonic's loss leaves Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., as the last remaining Canadian in singles play. On Saturday, Bouchard will try to become the first Canadian to win a Grand Slam singles title. She will play Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic in the women's final.
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., has lost all five career matchups against Federer, who will go for his eighth career singles title at the All England Club. It will be the Swiss star's 25th appearance in a Grand Slam final.
Federer, who owns 17 Slam titles, is back in a major final for the first time since winning Wimbledon in 2012. Earlier, the top-seeded Djokovic ran off six of the final seven points in the tiebreaker to beat Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (7) to advance to his third Wimbledon final in four years.
It's Djokovic's 14th Grand Slam final - and 10th in his last 13 majors.
Raonic appeared a little nervous at the start of the match Friday, with Federer breaking his serve in the opening game. Federer picked up one break in each of the following sets and never appeared threatened.
Before this tournament, no Canadian had ever reached a men's or women's Grand Slam singles final, according to Tennis Canada. The last Canadian to reach a singles semi-final at a major was Robert Powell at Wimbledon in 1908, the organization said.
Montreal native Greg Rusedski reached the U.S. Open final in 1997 but he was representing Great Britain at that time.
Raonic had not been past the second round in each of his three previous appearances at Wimbledon. He will rise three positions to a career-best ranking of No. 6 when the new ATP rankings are released Monday.
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