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

Raonic Repeats as SAP Open Champion

Milos Raonic won the SAP Open championship today, defeating Denis Istomin in straight sets, 7-6(3) 6-2. He becomes the first male player to win two titles in 2012, and is the first to win the SAP Open in back to back years since Andy Murray in 2006-2007.

The match was almost a replay of yesterday's semi-final between Milos Raonic and Ryan Harrison. The first set was tight with no breaks of serve with Milos winning convincingly in a tiebreak. In the second, Raonic got the early break and eventually broke a again to put the match away. The script was almost exactly the same. The only thing that was different was the person across the net from Raonic.

Although there were no breaks of serve in the first set, Raonic was utterly dominant in the final. There didn't seem to be any way that Istomin was going to break Milos' serve. Not many players would have been able to do so today. It was just a matter of how long Istomin could hold on to his own serve and stay with Raonic. Just like Harrison the day before, he was only able to it for one set.

@milosraonic accepts his trophy after back-to-back @SAPOpen singles championships twitter.com/SAPOpenTennis/…

— 2012 SAP Open (@SAPOpenTennis) February 20, 2012

There are all sorts of ways to break down the match, but there is a crucial stat that I think tells the story: Raonic was 44/48 for total service points won. That's right, he lost just four points on his serve throughout the entire match. Take a minute to let that sink in. It boggles the mind. If Istomin was able to string those four points together in one service game, he might have had a chance.

Not only did Milos win his third ATP Tour title today, but he has also officially become a collector of fine maple syrups. Raonic checked the math and owning more than one bottle of maple syrup means that he has become a collector.

Team Raonic:

.@MilosRaonic poses with #TeamRaonic: His father, trainers & manager after winning the #SAPOpen twitter.com/SAPSponsors/st…

— SAP Sponsorships (@SAPSponsors) February 20, 2012

I hope he likes pancakes. Congrats, Milos!

-multi

... can't forget that maple syrup from "the Country of Canada"!!! (click thumb for bigger pic):

--wacb

Raonic Advances to SAP Open Final

Milos Raonic will have the chance to repeat as the SAP Open champion tomorrow after defeating the up and coming Ryan Harrison (USA) in straight sets, 7-6(4) 6-2. Andy Murray (GBR) was the last player to win the SAP Open in back-to-back years in 2006-2007.

The #SAPOpen final featuring @milosraonic will air LIVE on @Sportsnet ONE at 6pm ET (3pm PT) tomorrow. See you then, #TeamRaonic!

—Tennis Canada (@Tennis_Canada) February 18, 2012

Given that their only previous meeting on the ATP tour ended with Harrison winning in three sets, we expected this to be a highly competitive match. Raonic and Harrison were rivals in the juniors so they know each other quite well by now. The first set was a close affair, with Harrison saving the only break point of the set. The American was serving well, hitting six aces without giving up a double fault. But Raonic was able to pull away in the tiebreak, giving him a perfect 7-0 record in breakers in San Jose. Milos hit a whopping 13 aces in the first set alone.

After taking the opening set, Raonic was able to loosen up and take more chances on the return. It paid off when he got the first break of the match early in the second set. At this point, it didn't appear as though Harrison could come up with the game to challenge Raonic on his serve. The will of Harrison had been broken and Milos was on cruise control. Roanic broke once again to win the match and put Harrison away convincingly.

Milos racked up 20 aces for the match, and he hasn't dropped a set on the way to reaching the finals. He joked after the match that he might have to become a Sharks fan after all the success he's been having in San Jose. On a more serious note, the Canadian admitted that his return of serve is the main aspect of his game that he is looking to improve. There's no doubt that he's already gotten better in that department, but there's always room for improvement. Here's what Raonic had to say after the match:

“I think I did a really good job taking care of the serve,” said the 21 year old. “What I was doing really well was making most of my first serves. But when I missed a few, I was still playing pretty well on the second serves. In the offseason, I didn’t spend too many days working on the serve. It was moreso the return of serve game. And I worked on every aspect, from the baseline to the net. I know when I have time, I try to focus a bit more on the return game and keep improving there." [source: ATP]

With Roddick out of the tournament, Raonic has a great chance to win the championship regardless of who he meets in the final. He will either face Julien Benneteau (FRA) or Denis Istomin (UZB) tomorrow, and their semi-final match will be decided later this evening. Milos has become the first male player in 2012 to reach multiple finals, winning earlier this year in Chennai. His overall record this year is 10-1 with the only loss coming against Lleyton Hewitt at the Australian Open.

Here's a picture of the fastest serve Milos hit during the match today:

.@MilosRaonic's serve read 150 mph during match against @RyanHarrison92 #SAPOpen today! twitter.com/SAPSponsors/st…

— SAP Sponsorships (@SAPSponsors) February 18, 2012

Good luck in the finals, Milos! We hope you get another taste of sweet maple syrupy victory.

-multi

Raonic defeats Anderson, to play Harrison in semis of SAP Open

Milos Raonic defeated Kevin Anderson today 7-5, 7-6(3).  Raonic looked in form throughout the match, with no problems holding his serve.

He will face Ryan Harrison tomorrow in the semifinals, starting at 4:00 PM Eastern, 1 PM local.  The up-and-coming American beat Raonic last year at Indian Wells in 3 sets in the Round of 32.  This has the potential t0 become a Can/US rivalry in Tennis.  Good stuff!

Should he win the semifinal match tomorrow, he would probably face either Andy Roddick or Julien Benneteau in the final.  Their quarterfinal matches have yet to be completed; they're facing Denis Istomin and Steve Darcis respectively in San Jose tonight.

--wacb

Raonic Begins Title Defense in San Jose With Win

Milos Raonic defeated Tobias Kamke (GER) in the second round of the SAP Open last night, 6-2 7-6(7).

It was about 2AM here in Newfoundland when Andy Roddick pushed his match with Denis Kudla to a third set. At that point, I knew I couldn't stay up to watch the Raonic vs Kamke match live. So I can't really comment on how the knee looked, but the stats look promising. Milos broke Kamke twice in the first set and hit seven aces without giving up a single double fault.

Raonic failed to save the lone break point he faced during the second set (the only one he faced during the match), but he was ultimately able to close it out after falling behind in the tiebreak. Milos also hit eleven aces against three double faults in the second set, with a couple of those aces coming at a crucial time in the breaker.

UPDATE ON THE KNEE INJURY - Here, in Raonic's own words, is the official status of the knee issue that kept him from participating in the final day of Davis Cup:

"It was bad luck last week," Raonic told TENNIS.com in San Jose. “After we lost to doubles I went to have an echography [in Vancouver] and I was told I had four-millimeter tear in the tendon and it was month-long recovery. I was told that if I played on Sunday it could completely snap and I’d be out for eight to 12 months. So it was a no-brainer not to play. So I spoke to my doctor in Spain and I came here because I knew the services were really good at the Stanford Medical Clinic. I did an MRI and I was told it was just misplaced fluid instead of a tear and it was just showing tendonitis and I could play through, it won’t get any worse. It was little a disheartening because I was in the dark and I wish I could have played. If I knew I wasn’t taking a risk, I would have played Tsonga. I was sore, but I knew if I could take a pain killer, I could probably have played through the pain." [source: Tennis.com]

Click here to listen to Milos' post-match interview.

According to the schedule, Raonic will not have to play his next match until Friday morning. His third round opponent has yet to be decided. Milos will face either [6] Kevin Anderson (RSA) or Matthew Ebden (AUS), whose match will be decided later this afternoon.

Here is a picture of Raonic signing autographs after the match in his bright yellow shirt (courtesy of @SAPSponsers):

Here is a little Q&A from twitter with Milos conducted the day before his match with Kamke:

France takes lead in Davis Cup tie

The French team of Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra defeated Canadians Milos Raonic and Daniel Nestor in straight sets, 7-6(1) 7-6(2) 6-3. France has a 2-1 lead over Canada in their Davis Cup World Group tie.

Canada's hopes of winning the tie were dealt a serious blow with the loss in the doubles rubber. This now puts tremendous pressure of Milos Raonic in his upcoming match with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Sunday. If Raonic was able to pull out a big win over the No.6 player in the world, then there is still the possibilty of Gael Monfils stepping in for the final rubber. The tie isn't over yet, but it's going to be quite an uphill battle from here on out for Team Canada.

The first two sets of the match were rather close with no breaks of serve. Yet France was able to run away with both tiebreaks to take a two set lead in the rubber. Milos wasn't at his best and was having trouble with the first serve. Nestor and Raonic did well to stay in the match despite their overall low first serve percentage. The French team was just more consistent on the big points, which was most apparent in the tiebreaks.

The first break of serve of the match came early in the third and it went France's way. Canada couldn't get things to swing their way and was unable to get back on serve. All the momentum seemed to be with Benneteau and Llodra who were bolstered by French fans that had more to cheer about than the home crowd. France broke again to win the rubber, disappointing a lot of Canadian fans in the process.

Sunday will be a big day for singles, but it's sudden death for Team Canada. Raonic will certainly be in tough against Tsonga. That match starts at 4:30PM EST and will be live on Sportsnet. The fifth rubber will likely feature Vasek Pospisil and either Julien Benneteau or Gael Monfils. If Tsonga beats Raonic, however, it could be a dead rubber and will be a best-of-three set match instead of best-of-five.

It's crunch time, Canada.

-multi

Canada and France split opening singles rubbers

In the first singles rubber of the Davis Cup World Group tie, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga dismissed Vasek Pospisil in straight sets. Milos Raonic returned the favour against Julien Benneteau, also winning in straight sets.

Canada and France are now tied with one point each heading into Saturday's crucial doubles rubber. This is exactly where Canada wanted to be after the first day. Pospisil was a huge underdog in his match against Tsonga, who is the "number two player outside the top four". The pressure was always going to be on Raonic to come up with the goods and keep things on even terms. With Daniel Nestor playing in the doubles rubber, it is a very real possibility that Canada could have the lead going into the final day of the tie.

Pospisil vs. Tsonga

The young Canadian was simply overmatched. There is little else to say. Pospisil felt his serve let him down in the match, but regardless of how he was serving Tsonga was still a clear favourite. Jo-Wilfried's serve and forehand were as powerful as ever as and he looked to be in top form as he zipped around the court making brilliant returns from very tricky places. Pospisil came up with some big wins to almost single-handedly get Canada to this World Group tie, but he had almost no chance in this match. It ended 6-1 6-3 6-3 in France's favour.

Raonic vs. Benneteau

Milos came out like gangbusters to start this match breaking Benneteau on his first service game. The entire first set was all Raonic. Not to suggest that Benneteau was playing poorly, because he wasn't. He was hitting the ball well and fighting for every point. Raonic was just too much to handle. The Canadian put the first set away easily after getting an insurance break.

Benneteau was able to stay with Raonic throughout most of the second and third sets, but in both cases Milos was able to come up a late break of serve to put the set on his racqeut. In addition to hitting over 20 aces, Raonic was almost unstoppable when he got his first serve in play. He rarely lost a point on it. Benneteau played a squeaky clean match which forced Milos to work extra hard on the return in the latter stages of their rubber. In doing so, Raonic demonstrated just how much effort he has put into his movement and the return of serve. The improvement is clear. Milos won it convincingly in straight sets, 6-2 6-4 7-5. It was quite a performance in front of a very vocal and enthusiastic Canadian crowd.

The doubles rubber will likely be the swing match for the tie. Whatever the outcome, it certainly sets up a huge fourth round singles rubber between Raonic and Tsonga.

-multi

Bonus update Saturday Morning: Here are some thumbnails from the first two rubbers (Day 1) from DavisCup.com (Tsonga, Raonic, Pospisil, and Benneteau).  Click on them to go to the originals (photos by Antoine Couvercelle):

Arash Madani snapped and tweeted a pic of a nice hockey jersey in Vancouver today.  Click on the thumbnail below to see the original tweet and 640 x 480 photo.  (I think he needs a new, higher-tech mobile phone)

Somehow, I'm still a bigger fan of the guy in a similar jersey in this photo:

Milos Raonic accepting a personalized San Jose Sharks hockey Jersey and some good ol' Canadian maple syrup after winning the SAP Open 2011 - photo courtesy SAP Sponserships - http://www.SAPsponsorships.com

Milos will be playing in the SAP Open in San Jose, California again this week, starting off with a first round bye and an exhibition doubles match with John McEnroe, Gael Monfils, and Jack Sock on Monday night.

--wacb

Raonic and Tsonga cruise to victory in Day 1 of France .vs. Canada

Both matches in today's first round Davis Cup tie between France and Canada seemed fairly easy for their respective winners.  Tsonga was on form and was able to dominate Vasek Pospisil in front of a loud, proud Canadian crowd, and Raonic kept them fired up with an impressive victory against Julien Benneteau.

Milos' victory over Benneteau was very impressive.  He was focused and on his game for the entire match.  His first serves were on, his first serve points won were on, and he even finished up with a 2nd serve ace to put away the match.  Here's the stats from DavisCup.com:

from DavisCup.com

The doubles match, which is on tomorrow at 5pm Eastern Time on Sportsnet's regional channels again (but not online unfortunately), will decide who goes into the 3rd day with the lead.  Nestor and Pospisil will be taking on Benneteau and Llodra in the match.  If the veteran Nestor can lead the team to victory tomorrow, Canada will need to win at least one of both matches on Sunday (Raonic vs Tsonga followed by Pospisil vs Benneteau).  If the Canadians lose the doubles, we need both singles wins on Sunday.  Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

My gut feel tells me that we'll be watching a 5th and deciding rubber where Vasek Pospisil will have another chance to bring home the glory for Canada, and this time in front of his hometown crowd!  Hopefully he's successful again.

What do you think of Raonic's chances against Tsonga given how well he played today... leave a comment to let us know!

Go, Canada, Go!!!

--wacb