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

Milos in Cincy – Western & Southern Open Preview

UPDATE on how to watch tonight's match (thanks Tomaso):

https://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/235471587321737217

Milos Raonic to face 2012 Rogers Cup Masters 1000 finalist, Richard Gasquet, in first round of Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati

Fresh off an excellent result in last week's rain-ridden Masters 1000 tournament in Toronto, Richard Gasquet is set to meet Milos Raonic, who was almost his semi-final opponent last week.

The match is set to take place not before 7 pm local (Eastern Daylight Time) on the Grandstand Court.  This court is televised, so you can probably easily find a live stream of the tennis using your favorite search engine.

Both players entered the top-20 as a result of their success in Toronto at the Rogers Cup, Milos for the first time, and as for Gasquet, though he's dipped in and out of the top-20 many times, he hasn't been ranked as high as his current #13 position since August of 2011 (he was actually as high as #11 in July 2011).  A QF result or better would mean another gain in points for Gasquet, who hasn't been in the top-10 since July 2008.

As for Milos, he will continue to work toward his own ranking.  Though making it to the top-16 before the US Open is not out of reach, it would be hard work.  A semi-final result will almost certainly be required for such a seeding heading into the US Open, but the most likely opponents he would meet along the way would be Gasquet, Simon (je suis tres desole, Robert), Berdych, and Ferrer, in that order.  Top-seeded Roger Federer would be the most likely opponent in the semi-final, as he and Djokovic battle it out in Cincy to see who will be #1 heading into the US Open (read more in the ATP article here).

N.B.: It's very nice to see Roger Federer's name on the right part of the draw!  My favorite thing about Djokovic's quarter of he draw is that we will very likely see a rematch of the Toronto semi-final with 7th-seeded Janko Tipsarevic, this time in the QFs.  I think Tipsarevic deserved a better result than what the scoreline read in Toronto, and it looks like he'll get his chance.  Both of these top Serbian players are extreme competitors, but also know how to get along well in the locker rooms, the evidence would suggest.  This pic was tweeted by Janko Tipsarevic during the rain delay late on that Saturday evening (their match finished just before midnight): click to enlarge

http://instagr.am/p/ONY2lwAHMp/

https://twitter.com/TipsarevicJanko/status/234457683418288128

--wacb

Ambitious schedule tomorrow for Rogers Cup

New Schedule and Order Of Play

So, tournament organizers have planned to do the 3rd round (R16) tomorrow morning, and the QF round in the evening.  Milos will be playing either John Isner or Philipp Kohlschreiber, who will have just playing their 3rd Round match a few hours earlier.  Milos hasn't played either player.

On the doubles side, Raonic/Troicki handed a walk-over to Paes/Melzer.  I couldn't find any reasons for the withdrawal, but I figure Milos is planning to focus on singles play, and Troicki is escaping the rain...

Click on this screenshot of the new OoP to access the schedule of play at RogersCup.com.  For us fans, either watching in the stands or on CBC or Sportsnet on TV or streaming (see the bright green "Live Streaming" link at RogersCup.com), it promises to be quite a day.  For the players, having to play both matches in one day will probably be tough, but I think they rested well enough today : ).

The Weather

Now for the very bad news.  While this schedule sounds great and would put the tournament back on track, the weather looks no better for the rest of the tournament.  Here's what Environment Canada is predicting:

Tonight

Periods of rain ending overnight then cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm this evening and overnight. Amount 5 to 10 mm. Low 17.

 

Friday

Cloudy. 60 percent chance of showers in the morning. Periods of rain beginning near noon. Risk of a thunderstorm in the morning and afternoon. Amount 10 to 20 mm. Wind becoming northeast 20 km/h late in the morning. High 21.

 

Friday night

A few showers ending after midnight then cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers. Risk of a thunderstorm in the evening and overnight. Low 18.

 

Saturday

Showers. High 21.

 

Sunday

Cloudy with 30 percent chance of showers. Low 16. High 25.

source: http://www.weatheroffice.gc.ca/city/pages/on-64_metric_e.html

This definitely puts the tournament in a tricky spot.

I look forward to all this rain getting overwith during the thunderstorms tonight, and waking up to a sunny GTA!

--wacb

Next Up: Sam Querrey

After his 80 second finale versus Giraldo today, Milos will face Sam Querrey tomorrow on Court 1, at about noon EDT.  They've never met in official play, but I think Milos knows what he has to do to win.  In an interview earlier today, Milos discussed his win and his upcoming match with Sam Querrey.  http://watch.tsn.ca/tennis/clip710424#clip710424    -- wacb

Wimbledon Draw

The draw for Wimbledon has been announced. Milos Raonic is seeded No.21 and will face Santiago Giraldo (COL) in the first round.

Santiago defeated Raonic in Davis Cup play in 2010, but a lot has changed in the last two years. Also, Santiago has never advanced past the first round in Wimbledon. It's not an easy first round opponent for Raonic (Santiago is ranked No.45), but you have to like his chances on the grass.

In the second round, Milos could face either Sam Querry or fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil. A possible third round opponent could be Marin Cilic, who is seeded No.16. Raonic is in Andy Murray's quarter of the draw (they could meet in the fourth round) and they're in the same half as Rafael Nadal. You can read more about the draw for Raonic here.

Could this be the year that Raonic makes a statement at Wimby? It's a tough looking draw, that's for sure. But Pete Sampras says that Milos is "a dark horse at Wimbledon." Live coverage starts Monday morning at 6:30AM ET on TSN.

Raonic v. Federer Redux… Again

Roger Federer defeated Florian Mayer earlier today in straight sets in Halle, Germany. This means that he will face Milos Raonic in the third round tomorrow.

This will be their third meeting and the first to be played on grass. Raonic has lost to Federer twice this year in tight three set matches in Madrid and Indian Wells. They will be the third match up on Centre Court on Friday, and Sportsnet ONE will have live coverage:

We have received confirmation that @Sportsnet ONE will air #Raonic vs #Federer live tomorrow from Halle at 10 am ET. Tune in!

—Tennis Canada (@Tennis_Canada) June 14, 2012

A Quick Update

Milos is through to the third round in Halle after edging out Petzschner in two tight sets and rolling over Zhang in the second round. His next opponent will most likely be Roger Federer.

The Davis Cup tie against South Africa will be held in Montreal at Uniprix Stadium from September 14-16.

Daniel Nestor, Vasek Pospisil, Milos Raonic & Aleksandra Wozniak will represent Canada at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Raonic and Wozniak will play singles while Nestor and Pospisil will team up for doubles.

Milos in Halle

Milos Raonic has drawn Philipp Petzschner (GER) in the first round of the ATP 250 tournament in Halle. They are scheduled to play last on Center Court.

Petzschner defeated Raonic in Halle last year, but Milos has won their last two meetings. The German has been sliding in the rankings in the last few months while Milos was able to reach a career high of No.21 just a few weeks ago. Clearly all of the momentum will be with Raonic heading into match, but Petzschner should not be underestimated on grass. He showed some tremendous skill at the net when he defeated Raonic last year. No doubt he will be bringing his best game in front of the home German crowd.

Looking at the draw, Raonic could face Roger Federer in the third round. Who wouldn't want to see that match before Wimbledon?!

In the meantime, there is still the matter of deciding the French Open winner. Just when it looked like Nadal was going to roll over Djokovic today, Novak ran off eight straight games to force a fourth set. Nadal was finally able to hold serve before the match was suspended due to rain, but he's still down a break in the fourth. I won't beat around the bush: I'm a Nadal fan. I want him to beat Novak in the finals of the French and restore order to the Universe. This is the final many fans wanted last year when Djokovic went into Roland Garros undefeated. Federer put an end to the Serbian's unbelievable run, only to lose to Nadal in the final.

Perhaps it will play to Nadal's advantage that the match was suspended. We shall see tomorrow morning:

French Open Final Will continue tomorrow at 7am ETon TSN.

— Greg McIsaac (@TSN_PR) June 10, 2012

Raonic to focus on Singles at 2012 Olympics in London; Nestor to partner with Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil

Canada's Daniel Nestor, co-ranked #1 in the world with partner Max Mirnyi, has reportedly chosen Vasek Pospisil as his doubles partner for the upcoming 2012 Olympics in London.  Apparently, it was decided that "Raonic might not be able to give as strong a commitment to doubles" given his potential in the singles competition.

Here is the a link to the article at The Record : http://www.therecord.com/sports/article/732772--nestor-to-play-doubles-with-pospisil-at-olympics

Thanks to Tomaso for letting us know when he heard the news!

--wacb