Raonic def. Giraldo in 5 sets « Milos Raonic

28Aug/12Off

Raonic def. Giraldo in 5 sets

I was not able to watch the match today (I sometimes need to take time out from being a tennis fan to actually work!). I have it on good authority that the match went down like so:

Milos got a break at love to go up 4-2 in the first set and held on to the break to take that set 6-3.

At the end of the second set, with Milos serving at 4-5, he let the set get away from him with a poor service game. They were tied at a set apiece.

I'm told another poor service game gave Giraldo a break in the third set, which he was able to hold on to, now up 2 sets to 1. To put it as I was told: "maaan double faults goin e'rywhere. Giraldo goes up a break in the third. --multi"

In the fourth, Raonic and Giraldo broke each other, but after they got back on serve, Milos broke again, forcing a deciding set.

In the first service game of the fifth set, Milos had to save a break point. Not a good sign going into a 5th set. He was able to hang on and hold though (surprise, surprise). Raonic broke Giraldo in the final game, to win the fifth and deciding set at 6-4.

It was a shkey game for sure, probably not pretty to watch. We all know Milos is capable of such a better showing, and I look forward to improvements as we go through the rounds here at the US Open.

No timing yet, but Tennis Canada is reporting that Milos will be playing on Thursday for his second round match against Paul-Henri Mathieu (weather permitting), since his half of the draw won't play on Friday.

Paul-Henri Mathieu has 4 titles since turning pro in 1999 (9 years before Raonic). Mathieu, the 128th-ranked Frenchman, beat Igor Andreev (ranked 100th) in 5 sets in their first round matchup, having to come back from a 2 set deficit by winning the 3rd and 4th sets in tiebreakers, then winning the fifth 6-1. Milos has yet to meet Mathieu in a match on the tour.

Report from ATP World Tour: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/08/35/US-Open-Tuesday-Berdych-Holds-Off-Goffin.aspx

Here's some info from the twitter-verse today, with links to some pics and a video interview with Milos Raonic, following his first round win today:

http://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/240544721418731520

http://twitter.com/Tennis_Canada/status/240523102155591680

http://twitter.com/Tennis_Canada/status/240530525125758976

One fan had this advice for Milos (comment from the previous post):

Tennis Fan
August 28th, 2012 - 16:12

Raonic, great to see you pull that out of the fire. In your last few matches you were standing closer to the baseline and doing well. This match you faded further and further back which made the chore of winning increasing difficult. You have to stand closer to the court … you are putting yourself in poor positioning by standing so far back. I have criticized this before of your game and is probably the biggest issue confronting your success. You have to consciously make yourself play more aggressively by standing forward and then the success will come. I think your getting closer now. good luck at the US open this week (and NEXT!)

TOM simply mentioned it was a character builder. I tend to agree that this can be motivational - as Milos will expect more from himself than the perfermance he gave this morning. I suspect he did not like the feeling of being down 2 sets to 1 against a player he should be beating...

--wacb