Milos Raonic triumphed in his return to the Grand Slam tournament on Wednesday after beating Austria’s Dennis Novak 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (5) and 6-1 in the first round of the Wimbledon Internationals.
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 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 being plagued by numerous injuries for nearly two years.
The former no. 3 in the world 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 face 16th-seeded American Tommy Paul in the next round, 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 schedule delays at the All England Club.
Ontario’s Denis Shapovalov was finally able to continue and complete his first-round duel against Moldova’s Radu Albot, which was interrupted by darkness on Monday.
On the restart, Shapovalov was down 5-7, 2-2 and proved dominant by winning the duel in four sets 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. In the second round, Shapovalov will battle Frenchman Grégoire Barrère, ranked 49th at ATP.
On the women’s side, 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 not Bianca Andreescu. She should therefore play this first match on Thursday, against the Hungarian Anna Bondar.
For her part, Laval’s Leylah Fernandez will meet fifth seed Caroline Garcia in the second round on Thursday.