(Wimbledon) Milos Raonic triumphed in his return to action in a Grand Slam tennis tournament on Wednesday after beating Austrian Dennis Novak 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(5) and 6 -1 in the first round of the Wimbledon Open.
The Canadian had 28 aces in his first game at a major tournament since losing to Serbian Novak Djokovic in the 2021 Australian Open Round of 16.
Raonic shrugged off two rain-induced interruptions and overcame Novak after 2:38.
The 32-year-old has won the last five games and sealed the tie after hitting an ace on his second match point.
Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., returned to competition last month after being plagued by numerous injuries for almost two years.
The former world number 3 and finalist at Wimbledon in 2016 started the Grand Slam tournament presented on the grass by occupying the 849th level in the world.
Raonic will next face 16th-seeded American Tommy Paul, who defeated Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki 7-5, 6-3, 6-1.
A busy day was expected for the Canadians on Wednesday after rain caused major delays to the schedule at the All England Club.
Ontarian Denis Shapovalov was finally able to continue and complete his first round duel against Moldovan Radu Albot, which had been interrupted by nightfall on Monday.
On the restart, Shapovalov was down 5-7, 2-2, but he proved dominant by winning the duel in four sets of 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 and 6-2. In the second round, Shapovalov will battle Frenchman Grégoire Barrère, ranked 49th in the ATP rankings.
On the women’s side, Ontario qualifier Carol Zhao was eliminated in three sets 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 against Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch.
In the evening, Rebecca Marino was able to start her first round duel against the Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, but did not have time to finish it.
When the match was suspended, the British Columbian was leading 4-2 in the second set, having conceded the first set 6-2.
In addition, Ontario’s Bianca Andreescu had to wait before playing her first round match against Hungary’s Anna Bondar on Thursday.
For her part, Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez will meet fifth seed Caroline Garcia in the second round, this Thursday as well.