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

31May/12Off

Raonic Rolls Into Third Round at Roland Garros

Milos Raonic defeated Jesse Levine in straight sets at the French Open this morning, 6-4 7-5 6-2. He will meet Juan Monaco in the third round this weekend.

This match was on Court 3, which is a TV show court. Since Raonic was facing an American, the ESPN coverage (which is what we get to see on TSN here in Canada) cut to their match at the end of the second and third sets. We were able to watch as Levine basically gave a service break away at 5-5 in the second set which allowed Raonic to serve for the two set lead. Then we saw Raonic close out the match with style after a quick third set. The match stats are here.

Milos was down a break early in the match, but he was able to take care of his serve throughout the match once he got the break back. The first serve percentage wasn't anything spectacular, averaging just 55% for the match. He did, however, win the majority of those first serve points when he got them in, as is often the case. Raonic hit 16 aces against a total of eight double faults, with half of the latter coming in the first set.

This is where things will get much tougher for Milos. His opponent in the next round is the No.13 seed Juan Monaco (ARG). It's obvious that Raonic could potentially makes things easier for himself in the upcoming match if he is able to be more consistent with the first serve. Monaco defeated the big serving John Isner in the finals in Houston earlier this year, which was played on clay. That match went to three sets, and in the end Monaco was able to neutralize Isner's serve to get the win. This is by no means an easy task, especially given Isner's surprising results against the Swiss Davis Cup team on clay back in February.

The slower conditions will likely favour Monaco, who will no doubt be chasing down a lot of balls. On the other hand, a slow court gives Milos a little bit of extra time to wind up and unload on the forehand and perhaps even run around a few backhands. Either way, it's going to be a great match, especially if Raonic can bring some quality serving.

-multi

UPDATE: Milos Raonic's third round match with Juan Monaco will be the last match on Court 2 this Saturday, June 2. Full schedule here.

Posted by multiformous

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  1. A nice and deserved victory for Milos, though he was a little unsecure on his serve. Now, whatever the final result, Roland Garros has been a success for Milos ! The match vs Monaco will be interesting. A real challenge for Milos, but he likes them ! He can win if he gets his serves in : it gives him full confidence. Allez Milos !!!


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