Canada and Mexico split singles matches
After day one of the Davis Cup Americas Group 1 tiebreak between Canada and host nation Mexico, the two teams are tied 1-1. In the first singles match, Frank Dancevic appeared to be cruising to a straight set victory against Daniel Garza after winning the first two sets easily and breaking his opponent's serve to start the third. Garza immediately broke back and, after a heated dispute over a line call that went in the Mexican's favour, the match turned around for him completely. Galo Blanco, Milos Raonic's coach, got involved in the line controversy and was eventually asked to leave the stands. Despite the spirited support of the Canadian team Dancevic couldn't regain his form against Garza, who had stepped up his game after getting broken in the third set. Garza won 2-6. 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4.
Milos didn't seem to accumulate too much rust during his time off since Memphis. It was clear from the very beginning of the second singles match that Milos Raonic would be too much for Manual Sanchez to handle. Raonic broke Sanchez with devastating frequency throughout the match, while rarely being tested on his own serve. It was a nearly perfect performance by Milos, winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-1. Raonic had no problems closing out the match in convincing fashion, something his teammate Dancevic was unable to do in the first rubber.
Check out the Davis Cup results page here. Read more about the matches here.
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Coach Blanco on Raonic
In this article by Kate Flory, Raonic's coach, Galo Blanco, offers insight into how Milos has improved so dramatically this year and what the future may hold for the young Canadian. Here is what Blanco says about the terrific start to the season:
“If I’m honest, we did not expect this start to the season,” Blanco told RadioMARCA. “I had a lot of faith in Milos, but his progress has been much faster than we expected. What has helped us a lot is that we didn’t stand still after reaching the fourth round of the Australian Open. If he hadn’t continued working, he wouldn’t have had those results in San Jose and Memphis. What he does so well is that he keeps wanting to improve every day. It is something he has learnt from the Spaniards."
Being able to back up his surprise run at the Aussie Open is really what has solidified Raonic's reputation as a rising star. Raonic capitalized on the momentum he gathered in Australia and carried it into San Jose and Memphis. It's been an exciting couple of months, but this is only the beginning. As Blanco admits, there is still a lot of potential for Milos.
“I do think he can win a big title, such as a Masters 1000 or a Grand Slam. However, I don’t like to set goals on this scale. I think we have to keep our feet on the ground and remember that two months ago he was World No. 150; when I started working with him he was No. 230 in the rankings. Time has shown us that with hard work, anything is possible.”
I'm curious to see how Raonic's game will play out on the clay courts. The big serve may not be as effective, so those free points might be harder to come by. However, Milos has shown that he is more than just a big server. His new-found patience allows him to setup points more effectively and pick the right time to go for the winner. Defense and strategy are key to clay court success. Of course, a bit of experience couldn't hurt either.
Raonic will compete on clay in Canada’s Davis Cup tie away to Mexico this weekend, and following his appearances at the BNP Paribas Open and Sony Ericsson Open next month, will embark on a six-week spell on clay.
Indian Wells, Miami, and a bunch of clay court tournaments? Sounds good to me.
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Davis Cup on Sportsnet One
Relax Canadian tennis fans, Rogers Sportsnet will have coverage of the Davis Cup this weekend. The Sportsnet TV Schedule shows that Sportsnet One will air Davis Cup tennis starting at 12:00PM ET on Friday, March 4. On Saturday, coverage runs from 2:00PM-6:00PM ET on Sportsnet East, West and Ontario. Then on Sunday, Sportsnet One has coverage of the final day beginning at 12:00PM ET.
Canada is matched up against Mexico this weekend in the first round of the Group 1 Americas. Milos Raonic will be playing for Canada and it's hard not to like his chances given the lineup. This article even goes so far as to say that Raonic will run the table this weekend:
Against such a weak Mexican side Milos Raonic promises to go undefeated in all matches he plays in as does Daniel Nestor in doubles.
There is a slight discrepancy between the times listed in the article for TV coverage and those shown on the Sportsnet schedule, so I'm going by the numbers I got from the Rogers website.
I've never watched any Davis Cup action before. I always hear the commentators talk about it while watching other tournaments (specifically Patrick McEnroe when he calls matches on ESPN), but I have yet to see Davis Cup on any of the sports networks here. I guess Milos' meteoric rise in popularity has prompted Rogers Sportsnet to remedy that.
Sounds good to me.
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Raonic a wildcard in Indian Wells
This is from an article found at the BNP Paribas Open webpage:
Rising stars Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Ryan Harrison, Bernard Tomic, Coco Vandeweghe, and Christina McHale were granted wildcards into the main draws for the BNP Paribas Open, to be held March 7-20, 2011 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, it was announced today by Steve Simon, tournament director.
So there you have it. Confirmation that Canada's Milos Raonic will be in the main draw at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells, California. The draw itself hasn't been posted, so we don't yet know who his opponent will be in the opening round. Here's what else the article had to say about Milos:
Raonic, currently ranked No. 37 on the ATP World Tour (from No. 156 at the end of 2010), advanced through qualifying at the Australian Open this January and proceeded to blaze into the fourth round. Just a few weeks ago the 20-year old Canadian captured his first ATP World Tour title in San Jose and reached the finals at Memphis in back to back weeks. With his results he became the highest ranked Canadian singles player in the history of ATP Rankings (since 1973).
Good stuff. The first round for the men gets underway Thursday, March 10. All the top players will be at the BNP Paribas Open, including (but not limited to) Nadal, Federer, Djokovic, Söderling, and Murray. It's basically a mini-major.
Can't wait for March 10.
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All signs point to yes
Without explicit confirmation from the tournament websites for Indian Wells and Miami, I must admit there's been a little confusion or uncertainty as to whether Milos Raonic will be playing those events. His ranking may not have been high enough at the appropriate time to receive automatic entry into the tournaments, but it looks like he'll be playing. This isn't exactly news, but here is a tweet by Milos from last Friday:
Tmrw I fly off to mexico city to drive to Toluca for davis cup after that I will go to indian wells and miami
We'll be watching for when the draws for the tournaments are finalized.
Raonic is currently gearing up to play for Canada in the 1st round in the Americas Group 1. Canada will be facing off against Mexico this weekend, who will have the 'home team' advantage on their clay courts. Take a look at the details here. The Canadian players are doing much better in the singles rankings (aside from Nestor, obviously), but Mexico is currently leading in the head-to-head record.
Other than that, there won't be a whole lot going on in this week in the world of pro tennis.
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Nadal gives a shout out to Raonic
As I alluded to in a previous post, the Major title hogs at the top of the game will not reign supreme forever. The proverbial changing of the guard will eventually take place sometime in the not-too-distant future. It's physics. But is the future now?
If we are to believe No.1 ranked Rafa Nadal, then the future is now. In this article, Nadal states that the Age Of Dominance (mainly by one Roger Federer, but Rafa himself is also to blame) is coming to an end. Despite Djokovic claiming his second major title win in Australia this year, I think this observation is a little premature. Regardless, Nadal took it upon himself to name some of those responsible for the shift. Murray and Djokovic are obvious, but take a look at who else he mentions:
“I’ve never seen so many new talents,” he added. “Of course there is [Milos] Raonic, the Canadian, who has started the year very well, and there is [Grigor] Dimitrov. They are the two youngsters who have improved the most."
Rafa, you read my mind. (...and blog posts, apparently.)
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Raonic pulls out of Acapulco
I was just checking the schedule for the day in Acapulco and couldn't find Raonic's name. So I checked the draw, and his spot has been filled by a Lucky Loser by the name of Daniel Muñoz de la Nava (ESP). After a quick Google search, I found this article from the Globe & Mail which states that Raonic has pulled out of the Acapulco tournament due to a shoulder injury.
According to the Tennis Canada Twitter page, Raonic is still planning to play for Canada in the Davis Cup while in Mexico. The shoulder injury is obviously bad news, but it's good to hear that it won't keep him out of competition for very long.
What a bummer.
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EDIT 6pm: Google News coverage here. -- WACB
Acapulco (and Delray Beach)
After that terrific final against Andy Roddick in Memphis, Milos heads to Acapulco, Mexico for another ATP 500 event. Here is the tournament website. The singles draw is set, and it looks like Raonic will take on Argentinian Carlos Berlocq in the first round. Milos has a "day off" and isn't scheduled to play today -- I assume he'll play tomorrow, but it doesn't look like the order of play is set right now (or it just hasn't been posted on the website yet).
Not sure if this tournament will be streamed online for free, or if there will be any TV coverage of the early rounds here in Canada. Sportsnet coverage of Acapulco will start on Wednesday, according to the Canadian Sports Media Blog tennis schedule. Sportsnet One will be showing the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships starting this morning at 10:00AM ET.
In other Canadian tennis news, Frank Dancevic is current making his way through the qualifying rounds at the Delray Beach International Tennis Championships, an ATP 250 event. Dancevic has one more round of qualifying to go before earning a spot in the main draw. Here are the results from yesterday, and the schedule for today.
Plenty of tennis to keep an eye on this week.
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Memphis finals had it all
Great serving, swings in momentum, and even ref bashing. The final in Memphis truly had it all. Unfortunately for Raonic fans (guilty as charged), Roddick came away with the title. What a match, though. I could describe and dissect the details of the match, but that really wouldn't do it justice. In fact, it would be an injustice. You kind of had to watch it.
Good luck in Mexico, Milos.
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ATP Rising Stars poll
Milos is currently leading in the ATP Rising Stars poll on the ATP website. As I write this, Raonic has 54% of the vote, followed by Alexandr Dolgopolov with 39%. Dolgopolov is currently ranked higher than Raonic, but the poll asks which player will finish the year with the highest rank. Both players had great runs at the Australian Open this year: Raonic lost in the Round of 16 to Simon Gruel, and Dolgopolov reached the quarterfinals before losing to Andy Murray.
Have you voted yet? I have.
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