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

Federer bests Raonic in three sets

Roger Federer came back from one set down to defeat Milos Raonic in the 3rd round of the BNP Paribas Open, 6(4)-7 6-2 6-4.

This was a highly anticipated match and it certainly didn't disappoint. Both Milos and Roger were on cruise control during the first set, each playing holding serve without much difficulty. Federer suffered only the slightest hiccup on his serve facing the only break point of the set. Raonic was finally able to gain the advantage in the tiebreak and successfully served out the set after getting the single minibreak.

The start of the second set saw Raonic get off to a slow start. Federer began to open up just as the effectiveness of Milos' first serve dropped off the map. From this point on, Raonic was forced to play catch-up to the great Mr. Federer who broke Milos twice during the second set. While Raonic was able to steady himself to start the third, it wasn't long before Federer would take the lead yet again. It may not have amounted to much but when Federer was serving for the match at 0-15, Raonic decided not to challenge a close call that would have been overturned in his favour. Raonic looked to be building steam for a push to get back on serve, but he let an opportunity slip away by not taking a chance on a challenge late in the match.

Raonic didn't look particularly nervous having to face perhaps the greatest player ever for the first time on a fairly big stage. He was more than able to hold his own against Federer, especially throughout the first set and the early games of the third. But Roger is still Roger. It was a great effort from Milos to push Federer to three sets and it was a real treat to watch. Raonic had his chances, but ultimately wasn't as consistent as his vastly more experienced opponent. Hopefully this isn't the last time that Milos has a crack at Roger. It might have been a different story if this was a best of five set match.

Overall it was a very strong and promising performance from Raonic. Not many players can say they won the first they ever played against Roger Federer. That's kind of a big deal in my books. It's just a shame that this was a third round match and not a quarter or semi-final.

It's a bit of an early exit, but there's another ATP Masters 1000 event just around the corner. Milos is on the players list for the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. Perhaps the draw will be a little more favourable this time.

-multi

Milos Raonic runner up again in Memphis – loses to Jurgen Melzer – Memphis Final 2012

Milos Raonic lost to Jurgen Melzer today in the finals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championship.  As Reggie Barnes, Managing Director of Morgan Keegan and Company, put it when he handed Milos the runner-up trophy, "You can't win every week, Milos!"...

Here is the recap of the match, written as it progressed this afternoon.

First Set

Jurgen Melzer elected to receive upon winning the toss.  Milos had a little bit of trouble putting that first game away, and at 40-30, a correct challenge from Melzer forced a second serve which Milos doubled faulted into the net to make it deuce.  He followed with an ace and a forehand winner coming into the net to put away the game.  Milos made 3 of 8 first serves in the game - an unusual lapse in the first game of the match.  Melzer had a fairly easy service game to even it up.  So far so good...

Milos stepped it up in his next service game and quickly held at love.  Melzer had a pretty good service game himself to follow, though he did make a couple of errors to balance out the great serve and volleys.  In the end, we're on serve at 2-2.  It's apparent that Melzer's strategy of putting the first serve out wide and following up with the backhand volley across the court is a good one.  Unfortunately for Melzer though, as Milos put away the 5th game he reminded us why he hasn't lost a point yet in the match where he's gotten his first serve in.

The next game was a fairly routine hold for Melzer, and Milos answered with the same, getting up to 7 aces so far and making it 4-3 in his favour.  Still on serve...

Melzer continued to play the way he's been playing, going up 40-15 in the 8th game.  Even on second serve he's able to put it wide enough to hit a winner on Raonic's return of serve.  He wrapped up the game with an ace to make it 4-4 at match time 0:25.

Raonic continued to vary the serve, pretty much taking Melzer out of the match during the game.  He held at love with 3 aces during that game, amazing.  5-4 for Raonic with Melzer to serve to stay in the set coming up at match time 0:27.

Raonic played some great defence to start, but he put a ball long before Melzer failed to make a quick drop shot, and then failed to dig one up at his feet after he came into the net.  Raonic played some more great defence, obviously doing what he could to put away the set, but Melzer came out with some power to make it 30-30 and then some more great playing from Melzer to get a game point despite Milos' best defensive efforts.  Both players playing their best tennis of the match here in the 10th game.

Milos made it to deuce against Melzer by hitting some power shots side to side before going down the line to beat Melzer.  He had to dig a low ball in the next point though and wasn't able to get it over the net.  He got beaten again by Melzer on the next point.

Raonic came into the next game after winning 18 points on serve in a row, but Melzer tried mixing it up again, aa he's tried a few times already, to throw Milos off.  Milos hit his 11th ace to even it up at 15-15.  Melzer is standing waaay back on the court, almost to the wall, and it seems to be having an effect as he won the next point.  He guessed the wrong way on the next point after trying to mess with Milos serve by moving and bouncing.  Another error by Milos into the net gave Melzer his first break pointand he was able to convert on an error by Milos into the net.  Milos has been broken for the first time in the tournament - and has lost his first point on a first serve in the match.  6-5 Melzer, up a break and ready to try and serve out the set.

Melzer continued to try and get into Milos' head, which is a hard task given Milos' mental composure and discipline.  Milos even tried to hush someone with his finger at his lips after losing the game... trying to keep himself from getting shaky.  Melzer played some more great tennis to earn double set point, putting the first one into the net.  He aced Milos out wide from the Ad court, his favourite lefty serve during the match that's working well for him, to take the set 7-5 at 0:41.

Milos Raonic tells his box to keep quiet in order to keep his mental composure after being broken in the first set against Jurgen Melzer in the Memphis 2012 final. (screenshot from http://www.tennistv.com)

Second Set

Melzer kept taking the ball early, trying to take Milos off guard, but they split the first two points of the opening game of the 2nd set.  Milos hit another error past the baseline to go down 15-30 on the serve, but on his next chance he made it count, with Melzer failing to return it by putting it into the net.  30-30.  Another 2nd serve by Raonic, but his ground-stroke winner attempt was precise this time, hitting the line to get a game point.  After hitting a let he put away an ace to take the first game of the set.

Melzer started out of the gates fast on his first service game of the set... still very comfortable on serve.  1-1 in the second set.

Melzer, still somehow figuring out how to make those quick returns with seemingly little back-swing and warning, continued to make things a little difficult for Milos.  Milos hit one just wide to make it 30-30, still having only lost one point on first serve, the point that cost him the only break of the match.  His next serve was high and wide to beat Melzer, but on a 2nd serve Melzer hit the ball from his spot way behind the baseline to take the next point and make it deuce.  Melzer hit a potential winner just wide on the next point though, but made up for it with a backhand into the corner to being it back to deuce.  Raonic's served saved him again though, as he hit 2 aces to get to Ad and another hold to make it 2-1, still on serve.

Melzer made a couple of errors in the next game, getting a little bit of a look at 15-30.  But Melzer made Milos run to dig and put it away before Milos put away an amazing return of serve to earn a break point.  He did beat Milos at the net to bring it to deuce though, erasing that scare before experiencing it again on a forehand error into the net.  Milos has a second chance to break.  He hit a forehand long though, bringing it back to deuce.  Melzer's next serve went wide though, as Milos confirmed with a challenge,then he got a 3rd break opportunity on a forehand that did paint the line in the back of Melzer's court.  It went back to deuce again though, with Melzer still hitting some great shots.  We got another error from Melzer though, and Milos put a passing shot by him down the line to get the break!  3-1 Raonic, 2nd set.

Milos seemed to get a bit of confidence from this...  he seemed to be trying to put those extra mph on the serve and hit a great drop shot while running in and in a little bit of a hop to beat Melzer.  A couple of errors brought it back to 30-30 though.  Milos hit an ace though, and then hit an unreturnable serve to consolidate his break at 4-1.

Melzer held pretty quickly in the next game.  Milos then hit some massive forehands to beat the ball past Melzer, but then hit a double fault and an ace.. just mixing it up a bit...  Melzer hit another quick return on the next point, catching Milos flat-footed again to take the point and make it 30-30.  Milos had to hit a second serve again and Melzer stood about 40 feet behind the baseline and successfully created an error by Milos.  Milos saved it though with a bullet serve but then hit a double fault...  Again, looks like Melzer's breaking down the mental barrier.  Milos shook his head a couple of times toward his box, and then eventually gave the break back to Melzer with another seemingly simple forehand error.  Back on serve in the 2nd set at 4-3 for Raonic.  I don't like that head-shake...

Melzer took the next hold at love.  Showing amazing confidence compared to the shrugging shoulders of Raonic.  4-4.

Melzer's quick hands let him down in the next game to start, hitting 2 errors.  Some tense net play created another error though, and Milos then put away the game.  5-4 for Milos on serve, let's hope this set ends a little differently.

Milos went up 0-30 in the next game, before hitting a return into the net.  Melzer seemed to be a little phased this time.  He took his time to challenge an overrule by the chair umpire (when Milos had already signalled the same).  He did well on the next point though.  30-30, then a double fault - giving Milos set point.  His first serve was way off, but Milos hit a pretty standard backhand into the net to go to deuce.  Both players are obviously tense, with shots going all over the place.  Milos hit another 2 errors to lose the game and make it 5-5.  The commentator then reminded us it was the 11th game in the first set where Milos lapsed to be broken.  Thanks...

Milos hit his 20th ace during the game to hold at love and put that 11th game away.  6-5 Milos on serve.  Let's hope that mental hardness stays now for Milos...

So Melzer steps up to serve to stay in the match, starting with an ace out wide.  He missed his next serve attempt down the line though, but Milos missed the second serve, as the ball dropped before the net.  Milos missed the next return as well, hitting a backhand wide.  He seemed to have that shrugged shoulder look again as he hesitated to come in on a dropshot to send the set to a tiebreak decider.

Some mini-holds for the first 4 points of the match, then Milos hit a let followed by a bullet that Melzer couldn't hit back.  3-2 for Milos, on serve in the tiebreak.

Melzer held his next 2 points as well, and continued to move back and forth, bouncing up and down, to get into Milos' head and force a second serve followed by another forehand error into the net.  Milos punished the next forehand though, but he's still down a mini-break.

Milos hit a forehand wide down the line to give Melzer two match points, before hitting another forehand into the net - giving Melzer the match and the Regions Morgan Keegan Championship.

So instead of Milos winning his fourth title, it's Melzer getting his fourth.  It was not a great game for Milos as far as his standards go so far this year, and Melzer stepped it up just enough to capitalize on that and win 7-5, 7-6(4).

--wacb

Milos Raonic defeats Benjamin Becker – game by game

Milos Raonic defeats Benjamin Becker, 6-4, 6-4, in Memphis at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships semi-finals.  My "game-by-game" recap, written as the match progressed, follows...

Update - Match Time: 12 min

The game started with a bit of a scare, with Becker running away with the first game on his serve, and Milos going down 15-30 on his serve in the next. Milos did hold on the second game of the match, but he only made 2 first serves on 7 points in the game.

The third game showed a few unforced errors by Raonic, so Becker went up 40-15 before he made an unforced error and then suffered Milos coming into the net to go to deuce. An ace by Becker and some good play coming toward the net gave him the eventual hold though. Becker's up 2-1, still on serve in the first set.

Match Time: 0:14

Milos showed us some more of what we've been seeing on his service game. He put it away quickly at love.

0:18

Becker answered back with a fairly comfortable service game himself.

0:22

Milos answered back with a hold at 30.

0:25

Becker answered back with a good hold himself. Becker is playing surprisingly well for being in his first semi-final since 2010.

0:29

Milos answered back with a good game himself though... Pounding in a couple more aces.

0:32

At 15-15, Becker had his first double fault, which gave Raonic his first real lead on a Becker service game. The longest rally of the match followed, and Milos earned his first break point.

0:33

Becker made a similar error into the next point, giving Milos that much needed break and a chance to serve for the set at 5-4. Becker's been playing well, but, as the commentator mentioned, a momentary lapse on your serve when playing against Milos is magnified, since you know it'll be hard to get back. Milos has only been broken once in the tourney so far (yesterday versus Rochus).

0:36

Milos hammered 2 aces and a serve that Becker was ALMOST able to return. On the next point, Becker guessed the wrong way and the game that sealed the set was won without even having to get in a rally.

0:45

Becker was probably affected by the loss of a set where he kept up with his opponent so well.  Milos broke Becker in the first game of the second set at love, and put away the next game quite easily.

Update at Match Time 0:48, 3:28 PM local time (Central Time)

A couple of errors by Raonic allowed Becker to take the next game, after only winning a couple of points in the first two games.

0:52

Milos showed us his impressive versatility in the next game, winning handily and in style.

0:56

Becker started the next game with some very good tennis to take the first point.  He then followed up after a good rally with a good passing shot to go up 30-0.  Milos pushed the next return of serve long.  Becker made a couple of errors following that though, before finally winning the game on a wicked forehand.

Match Time - 1 hour

Milos sent a second serve long, but he did get the point since Becker decided not to challenge.  We only knew afterwards when we got to see hawk-eye.  I wonder if there's a way to see stats on how often line judges are wrong when there is no challenge...

1:02

Becker got his first point on a point where Milos made his first serve with a wicked passing forehand.  He missed his next attempt at a similar forehand though to give Milos the game.  Milos up a set and a break in the second set (6-4, 4-2).

1:04

Becker won the next game at love very quickly with some great serving.  Again, playing very well, but those small, momentary lapses on his serve seem to have cost him an otherwise very well played game.  It has to be daunting to consider how hard it is to get a break back against Milos!  Rochus was able to do it yesterday, can Becker hope to do the same?  4-3 for Raonic in the second set with his serve coming up.

1:08

Becker won his second point on a Raonic first serve to start the next game, but a very good volley game Milos the next point, before he put away aces #12 and #13.  His 14th ace hit Becker in the back as he was turning to avoid it.  Milos takes the game to go up 5-3.

1:10

Becker did lapse again on the next game, including his 3rd double fault.  Milos put a shot wide when trying to go down the line to earn a match point to make it 30-30.  Milos put another one long on the next point, and then did very well to chase down a drop shot despite pushing just wide across the net.  5-4 for Milos as he gets ready to serve out the match.

Match Time: 1:15

Raonic has to hit a second serve on the first point of the 10th game of the second set, but put away a wicked inside-out forehand followed by an ace to go up 30-0.  An amazing serve that Becker barely returned gave an oppourtunity to punish a forehand, which he did, and what looked to be a 15th ace turned out not to be after a successful challenge by Becker.  Raonic was probably a little unsettled by this, so it's understandable that he double faulted on that point before hitting another bullet of a serve that Becker was unable to return.

Game, set, and match Raonic in 1 hr and 15 min.

19 conseutive sets, 9 consecutive games won by Milos.  Melzer will need to muster up something special tomorrow to stop Raonic...  looking forward to it!  Canadian tennis history... can Milos, the only one to win multiple titles this year, add a third?  I think yes.

--wacb

Milos into semi-finals in Memphis

Milos Raonic defeats Olivier Rochus to advance to the semi-finals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis for a second straight year.

Update: Milos will play Becker in the semi-final, starting at 4 PM, and Jurgen Melzer awaits him in the final if he's successful.

Catch Milos #Raonic in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships semifinals, live on Sportsnet ONE at 4 p.m. ET. today

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 25, 2012

Milos played well for most of the first set, and only needed one break to put it away. His service games were not as much of a blowout as most might have expected against Olivier Rochus in the set, but still, the closest we got got to a break was a deuce point, which Milos put away with a couple of monster serves.

The set was characterized by the power of Raonic keeping Rochus running around the baseline almost continuously. Though Rochus did very well to defend and stretch for those inside-out forehands, he didn't earn any of those critical break points that Raonic so rarely provides opportunities for. As far as I could tell, Milos was taking it easy during the match, and as far as I could tell, he hadn't broken a sweat.

Both players started with holds again in the second set, with Milos having a little of an easier time. In the fifth game though, Milos earned a double break point and, on an error by Rochus, he converted the first one to take the lead in the second set.

With Rochus serving at 3-5, it looked as if Raonic wanted to let the game go and just serve for the match in the following game...

In the next game, though, Raonic started with forehand pushed wide, a very unforced error. He then hit another unforced error on the forehand down the line. Rochus then made an awesome return on a blistering serve, followed by a wicked get to put it down the line. He picked the corner on the next point to earn the break back. For the second straight game, Milos was looking much different than what we're accustomed to seeing in the past 2 weeks.

In the following game, Rochus' level was obviously elevated, but Milos started to step it back up as well with a great forehand down the line. Rochus did hang on to hold though, and Milos had to serve to send the set to a tiebreak.

He started this endeavour by winning a couple of points after having to make second serves, then an ace at 145 mph to make it 40-0 and a second straight ace to get a tiebreak.

The tiebreak began with an unreturnable serve by Rochus. He then put a backhand slice return wide and suffered an ace to serve down 1-2. He then threw a ball into the net on a bad error where it looked like he tried to take it too soon. A winner by Milos earned him a 4-1 lead, though Rochus came back with some precise, powerful hits to get one of the mini-breaks back.

Milos served an ace to protect his 1 mini-break lead, then won another break on the next point, but missed the first match point. He finished in style with his 26th ace on a second serve in the next point though.

Milos will face the winner of the match that's already underway between Ben Becker and Lukasz Kubot.  I must say that I like Milos' chances against either in the semis.  If he were to advance to the final, his potential opponents are Radek Stepanek and Jurgen Melzer, who will contest their semi-final tomorrow starting at noon Eastern (11 AM local).  Milos' semi-final will start at 3 PM local time, which will be 4 PM Eastern.

Sportsnet ONE will have coverage starting at 1 PM EST tomorrow for the semi-finals, so Milos' semi-final match win Benjamin Becker at 4 PM EST should be airing live.

Unfortunately, I don't see any indication of live streaming online anymore from Sportsnet.  This is a real bummer.

--wacb

Raonic Through To Quarter Finals In Memphis

Milos Raonic defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) in the 2nd round at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, 6-4 6-4. The match lasted just 73 minutes.

Raonic got off to the best possible start, winning the first three points of the match to earn himself a string of break points. The single break proved to be the difference in the first set, and Milos had to save a break point to maintain the lead and put the set away. The second set played out much in the same way. Raonic got the necessary break despite Stakhovsky's best efforts to throw the Canadian a few curveballs.

It wasn't exactly a stellar performance from Milos on his serve tonight. The first serve percentage was a little low, although he only lost two points when he got his first serve in. Points won on second serve will have to improve if Raonic wants to contend for the title on Sunday.

Olivier Rochus (BEL) awaits Raonic in the quarter-finals. Rochus, currently ranked No.51, defeated Ryan Harrison and Alex Bogomolov Jr. on his way to the quarters. This will be their first meeting and the match is scheduled for Friday evening, not before 7PM CST. According to this tweet, the Raonic vs Rochus match will be shown on tape delay starting at 11PM EST:

Tennis Scheduling Change cont'd - Regions Morgan 2nd Qtr finals scheduled to be at 4 am ET tonight will now be moved earlier to 11:30 pm ET

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 24, 2012

-multi