WIMBLEDON, England - One more win at Wimbledon and Milos Raonic will likely face the biggest match on the grandest stage of his young tennis career.
If the 20-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., can defeat Luxembourg's Gilles Muller on Wednesday in the second round, he will almost certainly face defending champion and world No. 1 Rafael Nadal next.
For Nadal to keep his side of the bargain, he only needs to beat American Ryan Sweeting, a man he dispatched 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 at the Australian Open in January and 6-3, 6-1 in Indian Wells in March.
Raonic was impressive in a first-round 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over Marc Gicquel of France on Monday, with his awesome serve doing much of the damage.
"I've played (Andy) Roddick three times," said the 34-years-old Gicquel, referring to the big-serving American. "But with Raonic he hits his serve so effortlessly. He doesn't really force it and it comes off incredibly big. With Roddick, you sense that he really tries to put a lot into it, to hit it hard."
Playing his first match on the Wimbledon grass, Raonic won 86 per cent of the points when he made his first serve, and a healthy 70 per cent on his second serve against Gicquel.
"Even if you know where he's going to serve, it's so heavy and hard that it's tough to return," the Frenchman said of Raonic. "And behind it he knows how to play tennis. So, if you don't hit a good return, he's going to move forward and finish the point."
Raonic's next challenge will be Muller, a tall hulking left-hander with a big serve of his own. He blasted 37 aces in a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3 first-round win over German veteran Tommy Haas.
The No. 92-ranked Muller, best known for upsetting Roddick in the first round of the 2005 U.S. Open, is aware of Raonic.
"I've never played him, but I saw him at some Challengers we both played last year," said the 28-year-old Muller. "I know he's one of the young guns coming up and that he really hits hard. If I get chances to break serve early in the match, I'm going to have to take advantage of them."
Muller being a lefty could be of some concern to Raonic, because one of his most disappointing losses this year occurred in the first round of the French Open to another big-hitting unheralded left-hander in Michael Berrer of Germany.
Berrer, a seasoned 30-year-old, was able to pound his forehand cross-court into Raonic's weaker two-handed backhand side with some success.
But Raonic was in an edgy, irritable mood that day in Paris, and struggled to maintain his composure against the burly German.
His frame of mind was infinitely better against Gicquel.
"I stayed intense the whole time," Raonic said. "I didn't get caught up in anything. The intensity and the focus were there. I wasn't giving away too many freebie points."
Ranked No. 25 and seeded 31st, Raonic knows Nadal potentially looms in the third round, but also that Muller could be a tricky challenge before that.
"I think I can push myself and reach new limits match by match, day by day, and just keep getting better," he said.
He appears psyched up about playing Muller and then probably Nadal this week.
But Gicquel, after a little over 90 minutes on court with him, was still able to look at Raonic in a longer-term perspective.
"At just 20, he has a lot of room to improve," the Frenchman said. "He's got a great future, no worries about that."
