Wimbledon 2016: Andy Murray wins third Grand Slam title

Andy Murray has won Wimbledon 2016 after beating Milos Raonic in straight sets 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2) at the All-England club on Sunday.

Murray used an intelligent return game to consistently thwart big-serving Raonic, who came in as the underdog and No. 6 seed. Yet, the Scot, who has always been a savvy all-rounder, also maintained excellence on his own serve.

BBC Sport’s Piers Newbery helped show how Murray kept Raonic frustrated on serve, while also holding his own to deny the Canadian vital break points:

In fact, it wasn’t until the third set when Raonic finally broke the efficient Murray serve, per Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times:

But it was Murray’s own defenses that were causing Raonic the most problems. With his best weapon blunted, the 25-year-old found himself relentlessly moved across court by the impressive range of intelligently manufactured shots Murray produced.

When he did face break points in the third, Murray was able to fend most of them off as he opened up a 3-2 then 6-5 lead to put him on the brink of the title.

However, Raonic wasn’t prepared to go quietly, and he forced a tiebreak after holding serve. Now he needed to earn one of those elusive break points as Murray served to open the tiebreak.

Raonic couldn’t find it though, and Murray served out the tiebreak at 6-2 to earn his second Wimbledon title.

As soon as Novak Djokovic was surprisingly eliminated early on, this became Murray’s tournament to win. But not having to beat the world No. 1 shouldn’t cheapen Murray’s achievement.

For Murray, this is his third Grand Slam title and ninth final appearance. While he has been overshadowed by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic throughout his career, Murray is one of the all-time greats.