Raonic through to semis at Estoril Open « Milos Raonic

30Apr/11Off

Raonic through to semis at Estoril Open

Milos Raonic defeated Gilles Simon in three sets at the Estoril Open, 7-6(4) 4-6 6-3.

The first set was close, with both players earning a single break and taking the set to a tiebreak. Milos edged out Simon in the tiebreak, but couldn't carry that momentum into the second set.

Simon quickly jumped out to a double break lead and was mounting a comeback. But Raonic made a bit of a comeback of his own to break Simon twice to get back on serve. Serving at 4-4, Milos was broken again and Simon would hold to take the second set.

It was Raonic who took the lead early in the third and managed to hold on to it to take the set and the match.

Raonic advances to his first clay court semi-final and will face Fernando Verdasco (ESP) later today, weather permitting. Verdasco came back from a set down to defeat Anderson (RSA) and have a chance to play some real tennis against Raonic on clay.

-multi

Posted by multiformous

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Mike Quinlan
April 30th, 2011 - 19:08

Well I got to watch the most of the first set. Milos seemed to be playing great. Ran around his backhand foolishly a couple of times in the final game, but until that point seemed solid on serve and impressed me with a few laser backhands. From what I could see didnt seem to be his shoulder. My guess is that he had some form of stomach virus. He looked a bit ashen and like he was forcing himself to continue. That is pure conjecture on my part though. Shame about the finish, but a good run nonetheless. The impressive progression continues!
- wacb
  April 30th, 2011 - 19:55
  
  It turns out it was back pain that he’d been feeling all day. He was really big about it though, not too emotional, angry, etc. and walked right up to Verdasco after that first set to shake hands, which was apparently a surprise to Verdasco. There didn’t seem to be any bad blood between them despite Verdasco’s comments in Feb. Oh well, there’s always the big time at the French Open…
Mike Quinlan
April 30th, 2011 - 16:01

Thanks for the response. Looked on Rogers Sportsnet site and it said 3PM was the time coverage started. So figured I would watch it streamed live on their web site. Well just went there at 2:55 and the match is over already. Sadly from what I gather, Milos had to withdraw due to injury, and cannot tell how far the match went from the live comments. Not sure if I will be even able to watch what bit of match there was. Hope he is OK.
Mike Quinlan
April 30th, 2011 - 12:34

Any idea what time the match will be played? Its tough to find information. For the life of me I cannot figure out Rogers coverage. I find its a joke that I cannnot even subscribe to sportsnet one in Quebec. Anyway, go Milos! I have been trying to watch you play on clay for the past 3 weeks with zero success.
Make Verdasco eat his words today!!!!
- wacb
  April 30th, 2011 - 15:40
  
  Hi Mike,
  
  It was meant to start at 11 am Eastern Time… or “not before 4 pm” in Portugal… the order of play is here:
  
  http://www.estorilopen.net/Schedules/OOP.aspx
  
  Sportsnet will start semi-final coverage at 3pm Eastern Time today… I believe it is only on Sportsnet ONE (SN1) so you may be out of luck in Quebec. Otherwise you can probably find it streaming at that time on SportsNet.ca at this link, which will probably start in a half hour (3 pm Eastern Time):
  
  Sportsnet.ca live tennis
  
  And in the worst case scenario, you can use the official live score ticker:
  
  http://www.protennislive.com/frameset.asp?year=2011&wkno=17&lang=en&tabno=1&eventid=M008&ref=www.estorilopen.net/
  
  Best thing to do is check the site here, and we’ll let you know when it’s on whenever we get the info. leave a comment, use the comment form, etc.
  
  I for one have not checked any results. If the match was not rain delayed it would be finished right now – so I prefer to wait for it to air in tape delay on SportsNet. Hopefully it went well and he’s good to go for the final. After I watch it, I’ll be posting the result here along with the timings and where/when to watch tomorrow!