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

Milos Raonic out of 1st Round Davis Cup tie with Japan this week

“Unfortunately I am pulling out of Davis Cup this week. I came to Tokyo believing my ankle would recover but it is not at a level where I feel I can compete or help my team,"

With that, as announced by a Tennis Canada press release, Canada's Davis Cup team suddenly has a mountain to climb in their first round tie against Japan. To make matters worse, Vasek Pospisil's back injury still plagues him as he readies for Tokyo, causing him to only be listed during the doubles match paired with Nestor, though veteran Montreal tennis blogger Stephanie Myles doubts he'll even play then.

When the tie starts tomorrow (Fri, Jan 31st) we'll see Peter Polansky and Frank Dancevic hoping to make up for Canada's two top singles players' absences. They'll play Nishikori and Soeda respectively. Saturday will see the doubles action where Nestor/Pospisil are scheduled against Sugita/Uchiyama, followed by the reverse of Friday's singles matches on Sunday.

Davis cup is a team event, it won't be the first time Polansky or Dancevic has faced this kind of pressure in the international team competition, and there's the comfort that if they were to succeed, it won't have been the first time for that, either.

#LetsGoCanada #TeamCanada #GoCanadaGo

— Milos Raonic (@milosraonic) January 31, 2014

“Novak and Stan teach the women a lesson in humility” – Article from The West Australian

This article is great. The reason we all like Bouchard and Ivanovic is because they're nice. They don't seem like they're bullies or were "mean girls" in high school. Something tells me many at the top of the women's game are taking it too seriously.

>> http://http://au.sports.yahoo.com/tennis/news/article/-/20930381/novak-and-stan-teach-the-women-a-lesson-in-humility/

<< From The West Australian 2014-01-22

Genie Bouchard through to semi-finals in Melbourne

Wow, Genie continues to impress in Melbourne, defeating Ana Ivanovic 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 today.

"Magical run for Bouchard continues Down Under with win over Ivanovic" by Rachel Brady in Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/canadian-bouchard-reaches-australian-open-semi-final-with-win-over-ivanovic/article16425350/

tweets with good pics:

.@geniebouchard into her first career Grand Slam SF after 3-set victory over Ivanovic! Way to go Genie! #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/v0RRKO877J

— Lagardere Unlimited (@LagardereTennis) January 21, 2014

1st Grand Slam SF! @GenieBouchard reaches #AusOpen SF with a comeback 57 75 62 victory against Ana Ivanovic. #tennis pic.twitter.com/PEdTQTEdGj

— WTA (@WTA) January 21, 2014

Slideshow:   http://au.sports.yahoo.com/tennis/galleries/g/20967791/the-mighty-bouchard/20971897/

Australian Open

Update 17 Jan: Rough match for Milos, he'll be disappointed I think. Dimitrov moves on, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(10).

Genie Bouchard is still in though... She'll be playing up first versus unseeded Australian Casey Dellacqua in the night session on Rod Laver Arena tomorrow. She and her partner upset #11 seeds in doubles today too!

Update - 1030pm Eastern, 13 Jan:

Milos' match vs Hanescu should be starting now, but the extreme heat policy is in effect until at least 4pm local. The courts with roofs they can close will play on...

http://www.twitter.com/Tennis_Canada/status/423650637679570945

Update - 11pm Eastern, 13 Jan:

Milos "cruises" through to 2nd round (see Globe and Mail article here - http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/more-sports/canadas-milos-raonic-advances-to-second-round-at-australian-open/article16320799/), joining Genie and Vasek - lots of good news for Canada at this year's Aussie Open so far.  Dancevic is scheduled to play later, his match will be streamed on TSN.ca.

I wasn't able to watch - but I got this comment in from Andrew (sent from a Canmore, Alberta internet (IP) address) which was directed toward Milos. Very good comment, anyone else have anything to add?

Hey I was watching the game tonight. You played great. I noticed you changed your shirt and hat; and went downhill THERE IS A REASON FOR THIS! Your hat was a different brim and lower sitting your shirt was more reflective being white. This changed the light aperture from the court to your eyes. I seems harmless but it throws off your sight which can be devastating especially at 100 of mph. The brim how it sits the light reflection off your shirt

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Not such a great draw for Milos for the Aussie Open. First two rounds aside he’s got a tough path to go through after that. Dimitrov is tricky opponent who finished his 2013 pretty strong and will look to further his progress here. Del Potro I think has a pretty good chance of winning this tournament and he too has been playing very well. Nadal of course is the number one player in the world. Couldn’t have asked for a tougher draw in my opinion, but Milos does have the ability.

Pospisil will have 2 winnable matchups to start with groth followed by Ebden/Mahut. He then gets a rematch with Wawrinka. I thought he played very well against Stan a week ago before retiring with an injury. He earned quite a few break opportunities but was just unable to convert them. I look forward to this rematch and I hope the week off helped Vasek recover quickly.

Eugenie has a Chinese qualifier followed by an opponent that will be ranked around 100. Errani is up in the third round and while she is ranked 7th in the world she doesn’t seem to have a lot of success recently and seems like a favourable potential opponent for Bouchard. I see this as a pretty favourable draw for her, although I admit I am not as familiar with players in the WTA.

I do think there is a pretty good chance we see all three of the seeded Canadians into the third round. They seem to have avoided any potential landmines from the unseeded players in the early rounds. This should be a very exciting tournament to watch. [Sam]