Raonic def. Gulbis in straight sets « Milos Raonic

12Apr/11Off

Raonic def. Gulbis in straight sets

Milos Raonic defeated Ernests Gulbis (LAT) in straight sets today at the Monte-Carle Rolex Masters, 6-4, 7-5. It was a tight match that took 91 minutes to settle in Raonic's favour, who proved to be the more solid player when it counted.

Both players came out serving well to open the first set. It was Raonic who was able to get the first break of the match after a few untimely errors by Gulbis. But Raonic couldn't consolidate the break and Gulbis broke back in the following game. The turning point of the set came when Gulbis was attempting to return a drop shot and the umpire intervened calling a double bounce. The point went to Raonic, and Gulbis was visibly frustrated by the call. Raonic was able to get the break in that game and would hold onto the lead to take the first set 6-4.

Gulbis settled down after what he thought was an unfair call and looked steady in the second set. Raonic needed every big first serve he could get in order to keep from falling behind early. With Gulbis challenging in Raonic's fourth service game, Milos hit an emphatic smash winner from deep in the court. He followed that up with a huge ace to hold serve and put the pressure back on Gulbis. This proved to be another turning point in the match. Raonic kept that momentum going into Gulbis' next service game and got the break rather quickly to take a 5-4 lead. Serving for the match, it looked like Milos was going to hold at love for the win -- but at 40-0 he threw in his first double fault of the match and gave Gulbis an opening. From there, Gulbis battled his way to deuce and put together some great winners to break Raonic and stay in the match. Some spotty play by Gulbis resulted in Raonic breaking back at love and getting another chance to serve for the match. This time, Raonic made no mistake and won in style by hitting an ace on his fifth match point.

For the most part, Raonic looked solid on his serve except for that slight anomaly when trying to close out the match. His first serve percentage fell off a bit in the second set, but he ended up winning more of those points compared to the first set. Most of Milos' 7 aces came in the second set, which helped him out of a few jams when Gulbis was putting together some good rallies. Overall, it was a good win for Raonic which will no doubt give him some confidence going forward in the tournament.

Raonic will face one of two Spaniards in the third round, either Feliciano Lopez or [4] David Ferrer. Their match will be decided first thing tomorrow morning on Court des Princes.

What Milos in his post-match interview here.

-multi