(London) Milos Raonic triumphed on his return to the Grand Slam tournament on Wednesday after beating Austrian Dennis Novak 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5) and 6- 1 in the first round at Wimbledon.
The canadian, a power puncher, had 28 aces in his first game in a major tournament since losing to Serbian Novak Djokovic in the round of 16 at the Australian Open in 2021.
Raonic shrugged off two rain-induced interruptions and overcame Novak after two hours and 38 minutes.
The 32-year-old veteran won the last five games and sealed the game after hitting an ace on his second match point.
Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., returned to competition last month after battling numerous injuries for nearly two years.
The former world No. 3 and finalist at Wimbledon in 2016 started the Grand Slam tournament presented on the grass by occupying the 849e global level.
Raonic will face in the next round the winner of the duel between the American Tommy Paul and the Japanese Shintaro Mochizuki.
Wednesday is likely to be a hectic day for the Canadians after rain caused major delays to the schedule at the All England Club.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., is set to continue his first-round duel against Moldova’s Radu Albot, which was interrupted by darkness on Monday.
Carol Zhao of Richmond Hill, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and Rebecca Marino of Vancouver are all scheduled to play their first-round matches on Wednesday.
For her part, Laval’s Leylah Annie Fernandez will meet fifth seed Caroline Garcia in the second round on Thursday.