Raonic to face Federer in Madrid « Milos Raonic

8May/12Off

Raonic to face Federer in Madrid

Milos Raonic defeated David Nalbandian in straight sets at the Mutua Madrid Open, 6-4 6-4. Raonic will meet Roger Federer [3] in the second round.

You couldn't have asked for a better start to the match from Milos. Nalbandian wasn't serving particularly well and Raonic jumped on the opportunity to secure the early break. He was being aggressive with the forehand and it was paying off immediately. Milos backed it up by hitting a few aces and holding serve comfortably. From there it was business as usual as Raonic continued to serve well and didn't give Nalbandian any chance to get back on serve. The bombs down the T-line and the kick serve out wide were on full display today.

Nalbandian began to show some frustration in the second set, bouncing his racquet off the court after chunking a shot into the net. While Raonic was holding easily, Nalbandian had to work for his service games. Raonic earned the first break point of the second set with Nalbandian serving at 3-3, but squandered it by hitting a ball long. Milos wouldn't have to wait long for another chance however, earning another break point against Nalbandian in his next service game. This time, Nalbandian would gift it away on a double fault giving Raonic the 5-4 lead and the chance to serve for the match. There was no double fault when serving for it at 40-0 this time: Raonic put the match away with an ace and a love service game.

Playing at altitude in dry conditions certainly helped Milos hit through the court and run up the ace count. Nadal was right about the smurf clay courts being quicker and rewarding the big servers. The total ace count was 16, which is quite impressive for two sets on clay. What's more is that he didn't drop a single point when he landed his first serve in. Even though he was facing a great player in Nalbandian, this looked like a typical Raonic victory. He gave up no break point chances, and he was patient enough to wait for his opportunities to be aggressive. Raonic's serve was just impenetrable.

And his reward for a solid performance against a tough first round opponent? Raonic will have another crack at Roger Federer. Milos was able to take a set from Federer in a tiebreak at Indian Wells earlier this year, but ultimately lost the match. All these recent clay court wins over big players (Murray, Almagro, and Nalbandian) should give Raonic a tremendous amount of confidence heading into the match against Federer.

This will be a match to watch, folks. But you already knew that. One blogger is even predicting that Milos will win. It is certainly true that Federer hasn't played in a while and that he might be a little rusty starting out on the blue clay, and Raonic currently has all the smurf-claymentum on his side. It's kind of ironic considering how tall Milos is.

-multi

Posted by multiformous

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Robert
May 9th, 2012 - 05:32

Milos gives a very balanced comment on the smurf country : ““I got here early and have been training for almost a week on it. I like the conditions (but) the only tricky thing is the movement. It’s not a natural clay so it bundles up after some time. You get a few bad bounces, but other than that it’s not so different. It’s slippery and hard to change direction, but that benefits me in a way. ”
I just hope he doesn’t fall down. Otherwise, the surface seems to be a little to his advantage. I hope he will do well against Federer !
Robert
May 8th, 2012 - 19:07

One more success by Milos over a good clay player, Nalbandian. Obviously Nalbandian didn’t know what to do with Milos’ serve ! However I felt Milos not as good on the return as he was against Murray. Now, reading what most players say about Madrid courts, I can understand : it is very slippery and Milos has to be much more cautious on his move than in Barcelona. That is especially the case for Milos who is tall. Whatever the result against Federer, he has already won points. Of course, I wish him all the very best against Federer.
Trevor
May 8th, 2012 - 16:58

1. Definitely a dominant win by Milos. I can’t remember ever seeing a pro match where a player finished with a 100% win rate on his first serves. I wonder if there are any stats on that.

2. I’m a huge fan of both Fed and Raonic . . . wish this was a semi or final rather than the 2nd round, as really don’t want either player to lose.

3. My one observation from the Indian Wells match was that Federer seemed to constantly have Raonic wrong-footed/running in the wrong direction. I’m hoping to see Raonic with improved footwork in this match — as that to me was the biggest reason for his loss.
- multiformous
  May 8th, 2012 - 17:07
  
  Federer will be rusty in this upcoming match, and his opponent is already a perfect 1-0 on the blue clay. He may not be able to catch Raonic going in the wrong direction as easily this time. I’m a big fan of Federer, too, it’s hard not to be. But I think Milos has a real chance of beating him this time around.
- Robert
  May 8th, 2012 - 19:11
  
  I see we are many to love Milos and Roger. I am not astonished. But, for me, I would say I love both, but Milos first. Whatever the result, playing with Roger must be such an experience, a super master class, I would say. The match should be very interesting, the court permitting.
  - Tomaso
    May 8th, 2012 - 23:52
    
    I agree Robert, that the worst Milos can do is to receive a “super master class”. And the best… well, if all stars are aligned, we know Milos can do it! [By the way, can you please email me care/of this blog’s “contact info” at top? I have some things I would like to discuss with you off-line.]
TOM
May 8th, 2012 - 13:19

Milos Congratulations on your first win on SMURF CLAY
You are undefeated on Blue Clay.
Your skills ae right
Your head is right
Nothing can stop you now.
Good luck the rest of the way

Loyal Fan TOM