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

18Feb/12Off

Sportsnet One to air Raonic vs Harrison on tape delay

According to this tweet from @Tennis_Canada, the semi-final match between Milos Raonic and Ryan Harrison at the SAP Open will be aired on tape delay at 6:30PM EST on Sportsnet One.

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17Feb/12Off

Raonic defeats Anderson, to play Harrison in semis of SAP Open

Milos Raonic defeated Kevin Anderson today 7-5, 7-6(3).  Raonic looked in form throughout the match, with no problems holding his serve.

He will face Ryan Harrison tomorrow in the semifinals, starting at 4:00 PM Eastern, 1 PM local.  The up-and-coming American beat Raonic last year at Indian Wells in 3 sets in the Round of 32.  This has the potential t0 become a Can/US rivalry in Tennis.  Good stuff!

Should he win the semifinal match tomorrow, he would probably face either Andy Roddick or Julien Benneteau in the final.  Their quarterfinal matches have yet to be completed; they're facing Denis Istomin and Steve Darcis respectively in San Jose tonight.

--wacb

16Feb/12Off

Milos Raonic to play Kevin Anderson on Friday Afternoon

It'll be around 7PM Eastern time on Friday when Milos takes the stage at the HP Pavilion in San Jose at the SAP Open Quarterfinals.  It is the final match of the morning session, which is scheduled for not earlier than 4PM local time.

His opponent will be Kevin Anderson of South Africa.  The two have never met on the tour, and they are closely matched in the rankings (currently Milos is 3 spots ahead of Anderson at #32).

Still no word on anyone televising the action.  Veetle.com was an excellent streamer last year when they provided every match in HD for free, it's unfortunate their partnership with the SAP Open isn't happening this year.  Right now, the only way for us Canadians to watch is less legal internet streams or paying exhorbident amounts for the ATP World Tour official streaming site.  The semi-finals will be on Tennis Channel though, if you have that in your cable package.

A treat to watch...

Here's an interview Milos did on Tuesday.  It's kind of a treat, since they discuss what could be "one of the most important things to happen in [Milos'] life" (it's not what you'd expect).  Also, Milos' Valentine for 2012 is revealed!

Let's hope we see a little of this tomorrow:

Milos Celebrating

Milos Raonic at SAP Open 2011 - photo courtesy SAP Sponserships - http://www.SAPsponsorships.com

--wacb

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16Feb/12Off

Raonic Begins Title Defense in San Jose With Win

Milos Raonic defeated Tobias Kamke (GER) in the second round of the SAP Open last night, 6-2 7-6(7).

It was about 2AM here in Newfoundland when Andy Roddick pushed his match with Denis Kudla to a third set. At that point, I knew I couldn't stay up to watch the Raonic vs Kamke match live. So I can't really comment on how the knee looked, but the stats look promising. Milos broke Kamke twice in the first set and hit seven aces without giving up a single double fault.

Raonic failed to save the lone break point he faced during the second set (the only one he faced during the match), but he was ultimately able to close it out after falling behind in the tiebreak. Milos also hit eleven aces against three double faults in the second set, with a couple of those aces coming at a crucial time in the breaker.

UPDATE ON THE KNEE INJURY - Here, in Raonic's own words, is the official status of the knee issue that kept him from participating in the final day of Davis Cup:

"It was bad luck last week," Raonic told TENNIS.com in San Jose. “After we lost to doubles I went to have an echography [in Vancouver] and I was told I had four-millimeter tear in the tendon and it was month-long recovery. I was told that if I played on Sunday it could completely snap and I’d be out for eight to 12 months. So it was a no-brainer not to play. So I spoke to my doctor in Spain and I came here because I knew the services were really good at the Stanford Medical Clinic. I did an MRI and I was told it was just misplaced fluid instead of a tear and it was just showing tendonitis and I could play through, it won’t get any worse. It was little a disheartening because I was in the dark and I wish I could have played. If I knew I wasn’t taking a risk, I would have played Tsonga. I was sore, but I knew if I could take a pain killer, I could probably have played through the pain." [source: Tennis.com]

Click here to listen to Milos' post-match interview.

According to the schedule, Raonic will not have to play his next match until Friday morning. His third round opponent has yet to be decided. Milos will face either [6] Kevin Anderson (RSA) or Matthew Ebden (AUS), whose match will be decided later this afternoon.

Here is a picture of Raonic signing autographs after the match in his bright yellow shirt (courtesy of @SAPSponsers):

Share photos on twitter with Twitpic
 

Here is a little Q&A from twitter with Milos conducted the day before his match with Kamke:

14Feb/12Off

Raonic in San Jose to Defend Title

Milos Raonic has made his way to San Jose to defend the title he won last year at the SAP Open. All indications are that he will be ready to play Tobias Kamke (GER) on Wednesday evening (Feb. 15) after Andy Roddick's 2nd round match. Raonic defeated Kamke in straight sets on the grass in Halle, Germany last year.

It has been difficult to find any information about Raonic's knee injury since Canada lost the Davis Cup tie to France on Sunday. Assuming he takes the court tomorrow, all eyes will be on the knee that has been giving him trouble recently. Perhaps we will learn more as it gets closer to match time.

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12Feb/12Off

Milos Raonic pulls out of Davis Cup on Day 3 versus France

Frank Dancevic to play Tsonga in Milos' stead

The reason Milos Raonic has pulled out of his much-anticipated match with Jo-Wilfred Tsonga today is due to pain in his knee.

"After our doubles match yesterday I consulted with my team, and a team of doctors regarding some pain in my knee," said Raonic. "After extensive discussions, the doctors determined it is not in my best interest to play today. We are continuing to explore the reasoning behind the pain, and taking it day by day. Obviously I am extremely disappointed to not be able to play for my team today, but I will be cheering them on from the sidelines and want the focus to stay on winning this tie."

source: Tennis Canada Press Release: [ http://www.lovemeansnothing.ca/media/tennis-canada-media-centre/professional/dancevic-replaces-raonic-at-davis-cup ]

--wacb

UPDATE: Sportsnet reported during the Dancevic vs. Tsonga match that Milos has had an MRI but the results were inconclusive. He plans to travel to San Jose on Monday and undergo another MRI. The results will then be sent to his doctor in Spain when a further decision will be made on when he will be ready to play.

In an interview with Arash Madani, Milos said that he's trying to deal with the injury in a mature way and not take any unnecessary risks. He also said that the "toughest part right now is lack of information."

It is also being reported that Milos will no longer be playing the doubles exhibition match with John McEnroe, Gael Monfils, and Jack Sock in San Jose on Monday. According to the SAP Open schedule, Raonic's 2nd round match won't be until Wednesday, February 15.  The first round bye and the extra days off may allow Milos to get healthy enough to defend his title in San Jose.

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11Feb/12Off

France takes lead in Davis Cup tie

The French team of Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra defeated Canadians Milos Raonic and Daniel Nestor in straight sets, 7-6(1) 7-6(2) 6-3. France has a 2-1 lead over Canada in their Davis Cup World Group tie.

Canada's hopes of winning the tie were dealt a serious blow with the loss in the doubles rubber. This now puts tremendous pressure of Milos Raonic in his upcoming match with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday. If Raonic was able to pull out a big win over the No.6 player in the world, then there is still the possibilty of Gael Monfils stepping in for the final rubber. The tie isn't over yet, but it's going to be quite an uphill battle from here on out for Team Canada.

The first two sets of the match were rather close with no breaks of serve. Yet France was able to run away with both tiebreaks to take a two set lead in the rubber. Milos wasn't at his best and was having trouble with the first serve. Nestor and Raonic did well to stay in the match despite their overall low first serve percentage. The French team was just more consistent on the big points, which was most apparent in the tiebreaks.

The first break of serve of the match came early in the third and it went France's way. Canada couldn't get things to swing their way and was unable to get back on serve. All the momentum seemed to be with Benneteau and Llodra who were bolstered by French fans that had more to cheer about than the home crowd. France broke again to win the rubber, disappointing a lot of Canadian fans in the process.

Sunday will be a big day for singles, but it's sudden death for Team Canada. Raonic will certainly be in tough against Tsonga. That match starts at 4:30PM EST and will be live on Sportsnet. The fifth rubber will likely feature Vasek Pospisil and either Julien Benneteau or Gael Monfils. If Tsonga beats Raonic, however, it could be a dead rubber and will be a best-of-three set match instead of best-of-five.

It's crunch time, Canada.

-multi

11Feb/12Off

Canada and France split opening singles rubbers

In the first singles rubber of the Davis Cup World Group tie, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dismissed Vasek Pospisil in straight sets. Milos Raonic returned the favour against Julien Benneteau, also winning in straight sets.

Canada and France are now tied with one point each heading into Saturday's crucial doubles rubber. This is exactly where Canada wanted to be after the first day. Pospisil was a huge underdog in his match against Tsonga, who is the "number two player outside the top four". The pressure was always going to be on Raonic to come up with the goods and keep things on even terms. With Daniel Nestor playing in the doubles rubber, it is a very real possibility that Canada could have the lead going into the final day of the tie.

Pospisil vs. Tsonga

The young Canadian was simply overmatched. There is little else to say. Pospisil felt his serve let him down in the match, but regardless of how he was serving Tsonga was still a clear favourite. Jo-Wilfried's serve and forehand were as powerful as ever as and he looked to be in top form as he zipped around the court making brilliant returns from very tricky places. Pospisil came up with some big wins to almost single-handedly get Canada to this World Group tie, but he had almost no chance in this match. It ended 6-1 6-3 6-3 in France's favour.

Raonic vs. Benneteau

Milos came out like gangbusters to start this match breaking Benneteau on his first service game. The entire first set was all Raonic. Not to suggest that Benneteau was playing poorly, because he wasn't. He was hitting the ball well and fighting for every point. Raonic was just too much to handle. The Canadian put the first set away easily after getting an insurance break.

Benneteau was able to stay with Raonic throughout most of the second and third sets, but in both cases Milos was able to come up a late break of serve to put the set on his racqeut. In addition to hitting over 20 aces, Raonic was almost unstoppable when he got his first serve in play. He rarely lost a point on it. Benneteau played a squeaky clean match which forced Milos to work extra hard on the return in the latter stages of their rubber. In doing so, Raonic demonstrated just how much effort he has put into his movement and the return of serve. The improvement is clear. Milos won it convincingly in straight sets, 6-2 6-4 7-5. It was quite a performance in front of a very vocal and enthusiastic Canadian crowd.

The doubles rubber will likely be the swing match for the tie. Whatever the outcome, it certainly sets up a huge fourth round singles rubber between Raonic and Tsonga.

-multi

Bonus update Saturday Morning: Here are some thumbnails from the first two rubbers (Day 1) from DavisCup.com (Tsonga, Raonic, Pospisil, and Benneteau).  Click on them to go to the originals (photos by Antoine Couvercelle):

Arash Madani snapped and tweeted a pic of a nice hockey jersey in Vancouver today.  Click on the thumbnail below to see the original tweet and 640 x 480 photo.  (I think he needs a new, higher-tech mobile phone)

jersey-photo-by-arash-madini-thumbnail

Somehow, I'm still a bigger fan of the guy in a similar jersey in this photo:

Milos Raonic accepts a personalized San Jose Sharks hockey jersey and some good ol' Canadian maple syrup during the trophy presentation at the SAP Open in 2011.

Milos Raonic accepting a personalized San Jose Sharks hockey Jersey and some good ol' Canadian maple syrup after winning the SAP Open 2011 - photo courtesy SAP Sponserships - http://www.SAPsponsorships.com

Milos will be playing in the SAP Open in San Jose, California again this week, starting off with a first round bye and an exhibition doubles match with John McEnroe, Gael Monfils, and Jack Sock on Monday night.

--wacb

10Feb/12Off

Raonic and Tsonga cruise to victory in Day 1 of France .vs. Canada

Both matches in today's first round Davis Cup tie between France and Canada seemed fairly easy for their respective winners.  Tsonga was on form and was able to dominate Vasek Pospisil in front of a loud, proud Canadian crowd, and Raonic kept them fired up with an impressive victory against Julien Benneteau.

Milos' victory over Benneteau was very impressive.  He was focused and on his game for the entire match.  His first serves were on, his first serve points won were on, and he even finished up with a 2nd serve ace to put away the match.  Here's the stats from DavisCup.com:

10-feb-canada-france-davis-cup-rubber-2-stats

from DavisCup.com

The doubles match, which is on tomorrow at 5pm Eastern Time on Sportsnet's regional channels again (but not online unfortunately), will decide who goes into the 3rd day with the lead.  Nestor and Pospisil will be taking on Benneteau and Llodra in the match.  If the veteran Nestor can lead the team to victory tomorrow, Canada will need to win at least one of both matches on Sunday (Raonic vs Tsonga followed by Pospisil vs Benneteau).  If the Canadians lose the doubles, we need both singles wins on Sunday.  Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

My gut feel tells me that we'll be watching a 5th and deciding rubber where Vasek Pospisil will have another chance to bring home the glory for Canada, and this time in front of his hometown crowd!  Hopefully he's successful again.

What do you think of Raonic's chances against Tsonga given how well he played today... leave a comment to let us know!

Go, Canada, Go!!!

--wacb

9Feb/12Off

SAP Open draw on Friday

The draw to determine the first round matches at this year's SAP Open in San Jose will take place at 12 noon on Friday, February 10. You can follow the results live via their twitter account. This means that by the time the first Davis Cup rubber begins, we should know what the draw looks like for Raonic's return to San Jose next week.

Defending champion Milos Raonic is currently the third highest ranked player on the list for the tournament -- the top eight will be seeded. Raonic was unseeded last year and had to face fourth seed Xavier Malisse (BEL) in the first round. He would later defeat the top two seeds on his way to capturing his first ATP title. It will be another first for Milos when he returns to San Jose after playing Davis Cup this weekend: He gets to experience what it's like to defend a title.

UPDATE: Milos Raonic has a first round bye at the SAP Open and will face either Tobias Kamke (GER) or Izak Van Der Merwe (RSA) in the second round. Raonic is seeded #3 and is in the same half of the draw as Gael Monfils (FRA).

You can view the draw here.

-multi

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