With Wimbledon looming, many players are beginning their grass seasons this week. Taking on each other in the first round at the Cinch Championships in Queen’s, London are local star Cameron Norrie and former world No. 3 Milos Raonic.
Who prevails in this tight first-round clash? Read on for our Norrie vs Raonic prediction and betting tips.
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Player Form: Raonic Looking Sharper
Both Raonic and Norrie come to Queen’s off the back of reasonably dry spells.
For Norrie, he had a luckless clay court swing. The Brit went 4-5 across the five clay events he played in April and May, with his best result a quarter-final in Barcelona. He’s riding a two-loss losing streak on the ATP Tour thanks to a second-round loss in Rome followed by an opening defeat at Roland-Garros.
The Brit did hit the grass last week, taking part in a Challenger event. Rather than boost his confidence, this may have done some harm, with Norrie losing in the second round to world No. 773 Jack Pinnington Jones.
Raonic, on the other hand, missed all of the clay swing with an injury. The Canadian made an impressive return last week, however, winning his first two matches at the Libema Open. He fell in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Alex de Minaur, but not before pushing him to 7-5 in the opening set.
How the Bookies View It: Home Star an Underdog
Despite the big discrepancies in ranking between Raonic and Norrie, bookmaker bet365 has the Canadian as a 4/7 favourite to win. Norrie trails at 11/8, and is given a +1.5 handicap at 10/11. Set betting expects Raonic to win this in straight sets, with this outcome paying 13/8.
Recent Head-to-Head: Raonic Leads
It’s been four years since Raonic and Norrie last met, with both very different players back then. However, Raonic leads the head-to-head between the pair 2-0, claiming both of their meetings (on indoor hard courts) in straight sets.
Anything Else Catch the Eye?
This one comes down to the serve for us. If Raonic can have it firing against Norrie, then the Brit’s level simply isn’t strong enough at the moment to make up the difference caused by all those free points.
All signs point towards Raonic’s serve being red-hot against Norrie. The Canadian fired down an impressive 25 aces in his win against Roberto Bautista-Agut in Germany, and 14 against Jordan Thompson. Even in his loss to De Minuar, Raonic won 76% of first serve points.
Overall, Raonic holds a 22.7% career ace rate on grass. This is incredible stuff–just compare that to Norrie’s ace rate on the same surface, which is down at 6.4%.
Raonic vs Norrie Betting Tips & Predictions
This match genuinely feels like it could go either way. Norrie having got a bad loss out of the way last week helps, as will the home crowd at Queen’s. However, Raonic is brilliant on grass, with the surface playing right into his natural game. We see him taking it here, thanks to that big serve.
- Raonic to win @ 4/7
- Raonic to win 2-0 @ 13/8
Raonic and Norrie play third on Centre Court at Queen’s, roughly 3pm local time.
In December 2020 we sadly 
