Milos Raonic – Canada Fan Blog an (unofficial) blog about tennis and Canadian player Milos Raonic

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Qualifiers and Wildcards

The qualifying rounds have finished and the main draws are underway.  Qualifiers on the men's singles side included Alex Bogomolov Jr., Ryan Sweeting, Robert Kendrick, and Donald Young from the USA and Marsel Ilhan from Turkey, who Milos defeated in the round of 128 at Indian Wells (it is unlikely we will see a rematch, as Marsel would have to make it to the semi-finals from his quarter of the draw, which includes Murray, Verdasco, and Djokovic).

Qualifiers on the women's singles side include Jamie Hampton and Sloane Stephens from the USA to join other Americans like Melanie Oudin and Madison Keys in the main draw.

Of note on the doubles side, wildcards have been issued to the American team of Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock, who will face the Bryan Brothers (USA) in the first round, and to the USA/JPN team of Donald Young and Kei Nishikori.

Also of note, Milos Raonic was not given a wildcard in this tournament - his ranking (currently #34) gave him automatic entry.

Canadians

As previously posted, Rebecca Marino and Stephanie Dubois were Canada's hopefuls for the qualifying draw but they were eliminated.  Frank Dancevic made it through the first round but fell to Alex Bogomolov Jr. in the second qualifying round 4-6, 6-1, 3-6.  That leaves Milos Raonic as the only singles player remaining in the tournament, and Daniel Nestor the only doubles player.

Daniel Nestor's draw as 2nd seed in men's doubles will not be easy to start.  He and Max Mirnyi (BLR) will take on Spain's Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez in the first round, followed by the winner of the match between Djokovic/Murray and Stakhovsky/Youzhny.  As the second seed, they could potentially be facing the Bryans in the finals if both were to make it through their halfs of the draw.

Milos Raonic

Click here to see how I think the men's draw will turn out.  As you can see, I expect Milos having to defeat Devvarman (IND), Ferrer (ESP), Wawrinka (SUI), Soderling (SWE), Djokovic (SRB), and Federer (SUI) on his way to the title!  It would be quite the feat indeed.

Milos Raonic will play his first match Friday, tomorrow, 25 March.  He will be playing against Somdev Devvarman, who is coming off a win against Potito Starace (ITA) 6-2, 6-4 and made a very impressive performance earlier this month in Indian Wells, California in his round of 16 match against Federer at the BNP Paribas Open.

Good luck Milos!

--wacb