Nerves and their wretched flow-on effect were always going to play a part in Grand Slam final between two men battling with the pressure of firsts.
Following world No.1 Novak Djokovic’s capitulation in the third round, this was the first major Andy Murray assumed title favouritism in 42 contested. That weight of expectation was only amplified heading into a final showdown as a heavy favourite.
Fortunately for the Scot, before an expectant home crowd, there were few obvious signs of struggling with the pressure.
For Milos Raonic, playing his first Grand Slam final, there was no hiding.
Gone was the level he summoned to finish off an ailing Roger Federer. It was always going to be a momentous mountain to climb if a fully fit player with the defensive brilliance of Murray was making inroads on his thunderous serve. And that was exactly the case, as three-time former Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick noted.
“[Raonic] doesn't want to stay back and trade groundstrokes. His intent is very clear, he's going to be overly aggressive and try to make the rallies short, take the ability to manoeuvre him out of a rally,” Roddick said midway through the match.
“I'm not convinced serving and volleying every single time off a first serve is the play. It's obviously something him and his coaching team have talked about and he's committed to it. But Murray loves a target and he's one of the best returners in the world.
"I think he should mix things up a bit, I don't think Murray should know what's coming. You don't want to become predictable against Andy Murray.”
The 25-year-old Canadian’s chief weapon was being nullified, not nearly the weapon it was in his previous rounds. Much of this boiled down to the Murray return.
Raonic’s ace count was a meagre eight to the Scot’s seven. He landed just 64 per cent of first serves, winning just 67 per cent of those points.
Murray, by contrast found the mark on 67 per cent of his first serves, winning 87 per cent of those points. Where the pair hit 39 winners apiece, Murray’s superior consistency was evident – just 12 unforced errors to Raonic’s 29.
Craig O’Shannessy, a leading tennis statistics analyst and presenter for Live @ Wimbledon, noted Raonic was attacking too much. Forcing the issue only compounded a mounting error count.
“You can’t miss a second serve return in a tiebreak of a Wimbledon final,” he said. “Just taking a little bit more time helps. If things are not going well in the match, immediately slow things down.
“Milos is not at the same rarefied level he was at in the semi-finals. I didn’t see one piece of negativity or frustration in that match ... but Roger didn’t have anywhere near his best game.
“He’s got to let the match come to him a bit. There are balls that you have to be a little bit more careful with coming to the net against Murray.”
Former British WTA player Anne Keothavong, commentating for Live @ Wimbledon, said Raonic’s nerves were especially evident in the first set.
“Those feet weren’t moving. We all know how well Andy Murray returns. Raonic hasn’t been able to get as many free points as he’d like. With him having to work so hard on his service games, sooner or later we might see him crack,” she said.
“[Murray’s] concentration out there, his body language out there has been so strong, so good.”
Where Murray admitted to feeling the weight of expectation serving out a nine-minute game to clinch his first Wimbledon title three years ago, his experience this time round rose to the fore.
If there any nerves closing out his third Grand Slam final he hid it brilliantly.