Raonic def. Kamke in straights « Milos Raonic

8Jun/11Off

Raonic def. Kamke in straights

Milos Raonic defeated Tobias Kamke (GER) in straight sets at the Gerry Weber Open today, 7-6(2) 6-3.

Milos hit an ace on his very first serve of the match, setting the pace early on for his service games. Everything was going the way of the server in the opening set, with most games being completely one-sided. Raonic had a slight opening of 0-30 at one point, but Kamke promptly served his way out of trouble. A tiebreak seemed inevitable until Kamke earned a break point chance with Milos serving at 5-6. The German's hopes for stealing the set before the tiebreak were quickly dashed by a bombing serve from Raonic. A few terrific volleys tipped the breaker in Raonic's favour, winning it 7-2 without losing a point on his serve.

The match tightened up after the first set. The points became longer and more contested, and both players began showing more variety during the rallies. Raonic got his first chance to break on Kamke's second service game. After a relatively lengthy rally, Raonic came to the net forcing Kamke to hit a topspin lob. It landed long, and Milos got the first break of the match to take a 3-1 lead in the second. Raonic looked great serving out the match at 5-3, holding at love to take the match and secure a spot in the quarter-finals.

While the sheer dominance on serve was a major factor for Raonic, he also displayed some skills at the net when coming in behind heavy forehands and serves. Milos made some nice volleys at key points throughout the match, and he often used the backhand slice very effectively to break the rhythm of the baseline rallies. In short, everything seems to be working for Milos on the grass.

-multi

UPDATE: Milos will face Philipp Petzschner (GER) in the quarter-finals in Halle. That match isn't scheduled for tomorrow, but Raonic will be playing doubles with Robin Haase on Court 2 while the other half of the singles draw is being sorted out on Center Court.