October « 2013 « Milos Raonic

26Oct/13Off

Paris 1000

Update, 31 Oct:

Milos goes down in straights- a tight first set and subsequent tie-break: Berdych wins 7-6(13), 6-4. I didn't see it, but Kyle has commented that he "imploded", must have been near the end of the second set. Anyone have anything to add?

All in all, Milos had a good run near the end of the season, but probably bit off more than he could chew in retrospect. His last ditch effort to make the tour finals was unsuccessful after all, but man did he try.

In the match today he had 18 aces but 5 fouble faults. In the first set he saw 3 break points and faced none himself. He was unable to convert. He did not have a chance to break in the second set, but Berdych converted one of his total of 3 chances. While his first serve % was 68% in the first set, it dropped below 50% in the second set...

Looking forward to 2014!

Tebbutt's take: http://www.tenniscanada.com/index.php?title=TEBBUTT:-RAONIC-OUT-IN-PARIS&pid=5112

[Nice pic of Milos at net with Berdych at end, and good details about Milos' "underhand ace" to finish the match with Haase.]

Hallowe'en schedule!

The 3rd round match between Milos Raonic vs. Thomas Berdych will take place on Court 1, not before 4:30pm local (11:30am Eastern). As the Frenchmen and top-4 clog up Centre Stage, top-10ers like Raonic, Berdych and del Po are relegated to Court 1 for the day (though Almagro/Wawrinka did break that mold- they played first on Centre Court today, with Wawrinka winning 6-3, 6-2).

Update: October 30th:

Milos wins 6-3, 6-4. Gotta like how Haase was only able to win 3% (1/31) first serve pts. He won 6 of Milos' 16 second serve pts. Robin Haase had no break point opportunities while Raonic was able to break twice in five total chances. Total points were 58-41 for Milos Raonic.

Update, 29 Oct:

Milos is up versus Robin Haase not before 8:30pm local, or 3:30pm Eastern. He's following Federer (not before 7:30pm), the Main Event on Court Central - it's as if they were thinking about us Canadians at home when they scheduled it : ). Hopefully folks don't have to work late tomorrow!

Tues, Oct 29:

Update: Pospisil gets a break. He just started against Andujar after Monfils was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury during practice yesterday. Full, long article here:

http://www.tennisearth.com/m/news/tennisNews/Vasek-Pospisil-vs-Pablo-Andujar-2013-Paris-Masters-Round-1-Preview-869854.htm

Monday, October 28th:

Pospisil is up tomorrow (Tuesday) against Monfils on Centre Court. Raonic is not scheduled, but Djokovic is up as the final match on Centre Court so the 2nd round is starting tomorrow... Milos'll probably play on Wednesday.

Pospisil's match is 2nd up on the main court, starting around 1pm local (8am Eastern).

Sat, Oct 26th:

#ANYTHINGisPOSPISIL

Vashy is up against Feds now in Basel semi. Down a break in the 1st set, and potentially about to go down another... [...but the match did not continue on in its FedEXpected way; see Comments for more.]

From Sam yesterday:

"Paris draw has been announced. Only way for Milos to make the World Tour finals without someone else withdrawing is to make the finals and get a little help with 2 of Gasquet, Tsonga, Wawrinka and Federer not going deep into the tournament. His draw is ideal in my opinion. First Round bye, second round istomin/qualifier, third round berdych/pospisil/monfils, quarters ferrer/simon, semis nadal/tsonga

Berdych is a guy that Milos has been able to beat, Ferrer I believe is the most beatable on this surface out of the top 4 seeds, and Nadal typically has not been as dominant at the end of season tournaments. Obviously a tough ask to make the final but a good season none the less particularly the second half.

As for Pospisil, who's made the semis this week in Basel, he gets a tough first round opponent in Monfils and should he get through that a rematch of his big Rogers Cup victory over Berdych. I would love to see a Milos/Vasek R16 showdown to finish one of their seasons off in Paris, but of course Vasek has Federer to worry about tomorrow first."

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14Oct/13Off

Stockholm 250

Oct. 17th:

Next up for Milos will be QF vs Benoit Paire, "not before 6:30pm" local time tomorrow; i.e. approx. 12:30 noon ET, 9:30 PT. [UPDATE: Looks like it will be on Sportsnet: on the live-schedule, e.g. for taping/viewing, not on web.] Paire is currently ranked #25, near his career high of #24, and has had a couple of notable upsets in the last six months (Wawrinka and Simon) but has lost a half-dozen times to players ranked #50+. Oddsmakers favour Milos at about 4 to 1; but Paire can be dangerous. Head-to-head: http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=PD31&oId=R975 <<

Oct 16th:

[From Daniel: Raonic d Johansson 6-2 7-6(3)] More decisive than the score might appear: Milos faced no break points, had 7 break points in the second set (five in the fourth game!) but was just not able to convert. A serving duel, which Milos won without really being challenged. >> http://www.tenniscanada.com/index.php?title=RAONIC-REACHES-QUARTER-FINALS-AT-STOCKHOLM&pid=5074 <<

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Raonic vs. Johansson will be "no later than" 8pm tomorrow (Thursday) in Stockholm, Sweden. (2pm Eastern EDT Time, 3:30pm in Newfoundland - they're 6 hours ahead of Toronto/Montréal time)

Obviously no previous matches between these two, their careers haven't overlapped until this return to the ATP tour for Johansson, the former top-10 Swedish tennis pro.

Funny article from Sportsnet: "Raonic could upset at ATP Tour world (sic) finals", Oct 14th:

"...guys like Nadal and Djokovic will be shaking in their boots if they are drawn against Milos and his gargantuan serve indoors.". --http://www.sportsnet.ca/tennis/raonic-could-upset-at-atp-tour-world-finals/

Oct 15th:

Looks like Alejandro Falla will face Swedish qualifier Joachim Johansson for the chance to face Milos Raonic in the 2nd rnd.

It would be interesting if Milos were to face Johansson, who is making a “one-off” return to tennis for this tournament in his home country. Johansson made it as high as #9 in the world in early 2005 after making it to the SF of the US Open in 2004. He retired from Tennis a few years later, in early 2008, due to a nagging shoulder injury.

What’s more interesting still is the playing style (from Wikipedia): “He held the record for most aces served in one match as he aced Andre Agassi 51 times in the 4th round of the 2005 Australian Open (though he still lost the match in four sets). In the post-match press conference, Johansson said he felt he could have served better.”

Falla has faced Raonic once before, in Barcelona, 2012. Milos won that bout in straights, though the 2nd set required a tiebreak and he didn’t make a lot of first serves (see the blog post for a trip down memory lane: http://milosraonic.ca/blog/2012/04/23/raonic-off-to-winning-start-in-barcelona/ )

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Milos has taken a spot in Stockholm this week, trying to earn a few extra points before going on to the final tournaments of the year. Qualifying for ATP World Tour Finals is still a long shot, but not impossible. At the very least he should be able to hold on to the alternate spot.

Raonic will get a bye in the first round then face either Alejandro Falla or a qualifier. He is seeded against [6]Benoit Paire in his quarter of the draw, and the seeds he could face in the semi-finals are Grigor Dimitrov and Kevin Anderson.

Seeds on the other half of the draw include David Ferrer, Ernests Gulbis, Jerzy Janowicz, and Ivan Dodig.

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7Oct/13Off

Shanghai Masters 1000

Oct 9th:

Milos' next match will be versus Stanislas Wawrinka. He'll be on Grandstand (a televised court) not before 6AM Eastern Time, but maybe as late as 8AM Eastern Time. Stan has beaten Milos in their only previous meeting at Cincy 2012. Stan's been playing well lately so it will be a challenging match... if only we didn't have to be at work in the morning : ).

Raonic gets past Verdasco 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-3 to reach the Rd of 16 in Shanghai where he will meet Wawrinka tomorrow. #CdnTennis

— Tennis Canada (@Tennis_Canada) October 9, 2013

Oct 8th: After dismissing qualifier Michal Przysiezny, Raonic's next challenge is Fernando Verdasco, who he'll play in the last match on "Union Pay Court 3". I don't think this one will be televised. A few hours before that, Pospisil will take on Monfils on the same court. Pospisil, having given Milos a chance at the Tour Finals by knocking out Gasquet today, will hopefully build on this big "not-in-Canada" win... And if Milos actually makes it to the tour finals, perhaps he'll thank Vasek by paying for his tickets to go watch...

When chair ump tells Przysiezny to speed up play on his own serve, he responds, "(Raonic's service) games are one minute, so ..." #truth

— Stephanie Myles (@exposbabe) October 8, 2013

As ever, effective serving from #Raonic as he stays in the hunt for three ATP finals in as many weeks in Asia. #ATP pic.twitter.com/514lXZQkCG

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) October 8, 2013

Despite help from his countryman, Raonic still can't pass Gasquet for No. 9 in WTF race this wk unless he makes SFs. Not over tho.

— Stephanie Myles (@exposbabe) October 8, 2013

Oct 7th: Still on the Asian swing, Milos plays this week in Shanghai, starting at 8AM Eastern Time Tuesday (tomorrow, not before 8PM in Shanghai, Tues, 8 Oct). The time difference between Eastern Time here in Canada and Shangai is 12 hours, so subtract 10 and a half hours to get Newfoundland Time : ).

Raonic will face Qualifier Michal Przysiezny of Poland.

Also in action tomorrow is Vasek Pospisil, who will take on Richard Gasquet around 4am Eeastern, tomorrow.

Aside: I thought this was a funny picture that TennisTV.com used for last week's final... reminded me of Seinfeld (not the "another game for Milos skit, either):