Raonic out of Rakuten Japan Open
For the second year in a row, Rafael Nadal defeated Milos Raonic in the second round of the Rakuten Japan Open in straight sets, 7-5 6-3.
The first set was quite close, with Raonic serving extremely well. The serve was always going to be the key to the match for Raonic, especially against Rafa who has a greater chance of winning the points as the rallies become longer. The danger with this strategy is that it only takes a slight lapse in concentration to give Rafa a chance to do some damage. Milos did well to keep the majority of the points short on his serve and was able to keep Nadal at bay, albeit only temporarily. As is often the case with the best players in the world, Rafa was able to raise his level of play just as Raonic let up slightly while serving at 5-6. Nadal converted the first and only break point chance of the first set the snatch the set away before getting into a tiebreak.
From there, Raonic began to show signs of frustration. The forehand wasn't as consistent as it needed to be, and the few times he came to the net left something to be desired. Nadal only needed one break point to take the lead in the second, and continued to hold relatively comfortably to win the match. Raonic didn't earn a single break chance against Nadal, and was only able to get to deuce once on Rafa's serve.
The match wasn't a walkover by any means, and Raonic did have some looks against Nadal. After the match, Nadal said that Raonic's serve was "impressive, especially at the beginning of the match." Unfortunately, the sharpness and match readiness in the other aspects of his game just weren't there for Raonic. That will come back with time.
Luckily, we won't have to wait long to see Raonic in action again because the ATP Masters 1000 event in Shanghai is coming up next week. According to their schedule, Sportsnet ONE will begin coverage of the Shanghai Rolex Masters on Monday, October 10 at 9AM ET. Hopefully Roanic will have a slightly more forgiving draw in Shanghai. Running up against Nadal in the second round of your first tournament back isn't exactly the easiest way to build some momentum after returning from injury.
-multi
Recent Posts
- “Da agony of da feet.”
- What’s next?
- Milos Raonic out of 1st Round Davis Cup tie with Japan this week
- “Novak and Stan teach the women a lesson in humility” – Article from The West Australian
Recent Comments
- on What’s next?
- on Milos Raonic out of 1st Round Davis Cup tie with Japan this week
- on “Novak and Stan teach the women a lesson in humility” – Article from The West Australian
Categories
Blogroll
- Chris' Music
- multiformous on Twitter
- Raging Sloth IT
- unofficial Vasek Pospisil fan site (#ANYTHINGisPOSPISIL)
- wacb.net
Archives
- July 2015
- May 2015
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- February 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
Meta
Visitor Locales
"Flag Counter" apparently records unique hits per country and total number of pageviews since 21 Feb 2011
October 6th, 2011 - 15:29
#Raonic out of Rakuten Japan Open « Milos Raonic – Canada Fan Blog: http://t.co/OKmTVUYw via @AddThis