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

Raonic retires due to injury

Milos Raonic was forced to retire from his match against Gilles Muller (LUX) at Wimbledon today due to an injury sustained after slipping on court.

After going up an early break and serving at 2-1 in the opening set, Raonic took a nasty spill on the grass and didn't bounce back up right away. This was actually the second time Raonic had fallen during the short-lived contest. This one looked like the kind of fall that could end a match, and judging by how long Raonic stayed on the ground that wasn't outside the realm of possibility. It took a few minutes for the trainer to come out and assess Milos before he even tried to stand up. Something appeared to be wrong as Raonic walked gingerly toward his chair. During the medical timeout Raonic appeared to take a pill, most likely a painkiller or anti-inflammatory. He also had his right thigh taped up before heading back on court.

All did not look well. Whenever Raonic didn't hit an ace or an unreturnable serve, he seemed to wince in pain as he chased down the ball. But Milos was able to get the hold despite the injury. It was obvious after Muller's next service game that Milos would not be able to continue. After just 24 minutes of play, Raonic retired at 3-2 in the first set.

Retiring was no doubt the right thing to do to prevent exacerbating the injury. I was surprised Milos was even able to play two games after hitting the ground, since those kinds of slips often result in serious hip/groin and knee injuries. This is the worst possible way to bow out of a tournament, and we all hope Raonic has a speedy recovery.

I'll update this post as more information becomes available.

UPDATE: From what I've been able to gather, Raonic has a hip injury for which he is receiving an MRI at a local hospital.

UPDATE AGAIN: Here is what Raonic has to say about his injury:

"I knew right away. I didn't think I could even lift my leg. It was a pretty sharp pain," Raonic said. "But as time passed, with the treatment, I was able to walk a bit."

Raonic, the 31st seed, saw the trainer again during the break and called it quits while leading the set 3-2. He spent just 23 minutes on court and went to a hospital for an MRI."I don't know anything," Raonic said. "It's too soon for a diagnosis on what it is. But it's something pretty deep in the hip.

"It's around both the inside and outside of the hip. A minor pull on the inside, but on the outside, it's [related to] the joint."

"I haven't had too many injuries, so I can't really tell, I don't know my body that well," Raonic added. "I'm really in the dark. "It could be just a minor bruising that could get better in a few days. Or it could be something more serious."

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/sports/moresports/story/2011/06/22/sp-raonic.html#ixzz1Q2qklVtc

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Raonic through to second round at Wimbledon

Milos Raonic defeated Marc Gicquel (FRA) in straight sets today, 6-3  7-6(3)  6-3. That match took just 96 minutes.

Fabio Fognini pulled out of the main draw before his first round match with Raonic, so Marc Gicquel was awarded a spot in the main draw as a Lucky Loser. But he was a little unlucky to come up against the big serving Canadian, who was on fire throughout most of the match.

EDIT: See video of the match here and a video of what Milos had to say after the match here.

Here are the stats:

The serve wasn't the only aspect of Raonic's game that was working well today. The 25 aces certainly kept Gicquel at bay for most of the match, but the 1st serve points won by Milos was also key. Gicquel had only one chance to break, and it came at a crucial time in the second set. Had Gicquel converted that break point, he would have won the set and changed the entire trajectory of the match. But as is so often the case, Milos hauled out a huge serve to erase the break chance and won the second set tiebreak rather comfortably. Raonic then rode the early break in the third to victory, displaying some sound technique at the net and using the slice to great effect. Milos also didn't hesitate to serve-and-volley, recognizing that winning points on the grass involves more than just coming out on top in the baseline rallies.

Overall, it was a very promising performance by Milos and Wimbledon is taking notice. It was a quick match with few hiccups for Raonic, which will no doubt give him a lot of confidence heading into the second round. We're one step closer to the possible meeting with Nadal in the third round. Raonic will face Gilles Muller (LUX) in the second round, who defeated Tommy Haas (GER) in four sets today. Muller is ranked 98 in the world, and the two have yet to meet at the ATP level.

Hopefully the other Canadians can build on the strong showing from the Missile today.

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Raonic loses to Petzschner in Halle but advances to the doubles final with Robin Haase

Philipp Petzschner (GER) defeated Milos Raonic in three sets at the Gerry Weber Open, 6-3  6(6)-7  6-3.

With the crowd behind him, Petzschner seemed to make everything in the first set. Milos was having a less than stellar performance on his serve, but he only faced one break point throughout the opening set. Unfortunately, Petzschner converted the point and put the set away in less than 30 minutes.

Raonic began to turn things around in the second set. He started to earn more free points off his serve, and was able to work his way into Petzschner's service games a little more frequently. Milos had multiple opportunities to break but the set ultimately had to be decided in a tiebreak. Petzschner jumped out to a 5-2 in the breaker before Raonic battled back and won it. The German was not pleased.

All the first serves in the world couldn't have prevented Petzschner from getting the early break in the third, who strung a few amazing points together to open up a 0-40 lead on Milos' first service game. From there, the German denied Raonic any chance of getting back on serve by continuing to serve well and put points away by approaching the net. The serve-volley technique was working for Petzschner, who always seemed to have an answer whenever Milos tried to pass him.

For his first ATP tour grass court event, Milos has shown a lot of potential. It is easy to forget just how inexperienced the Canadian is at this level, especially when we have such high expectations for him. Against most players, the serve alone would have been more than enough to get the job done today, but Petzschner was simply too good on too many points. More on the match here.  Video recap from gerryweber-open.de here.

Of course, Raonic is still in the doubles draw in Halle, and his semi-final match with Haase is scheduled for later today.

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Milos Raonic & Robin Haase advance to finals with defeat of Aussie duo of Lleyton Hewitt & Peter Luczak 6(6)-7, 7-6(4), 10-5

With Raonic and Hewitt both having lost in their singles quarter-final matches earlier in the day, they battled with their doubles partners, Haase and Luczak respectively, to avoid a second loss.  While the Australians were able to win the first set tiebreak, the Dutch & Canadian duo stepped it up in the second half of the game to win with a final score of 6(6)-7, 7-6(4), 10-5.

from ATPWorldTour.com

Raonic & Haase will play in the finals on Sunday versus the winner of the other semi-final to be played on Saturday between the team of Rohan Bopann of India and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and the home-team German hopefuls of Christopher Kas and Philipp Kohlschreiber.  Of course, Kohlschreiber will play his semi-final singles match tomorrow as well... in fact the German fans will have a lot to cheer for tomorrow, with a German in all the semi-final matches on the order of play for the day.

- WACB

Milos Raonic and Robin Haase advance to Doubles Semi-Final in Halle

Raonic / Haase defeated Meffert / Zverev 6-3, 6-4 at Gerry Weber Open

Milos Raonic continued his success on the grass this morning with a straight-sets doubles victory in Halle alongside Dutch partner Robin Haase, 6-3, 6-4.

The match wasn't televised as far as I could find, but from the stats it looks like Raonic and Haase played a slightly more solid game than their German opponents in every regard.

from ATPWorldTour.com

Milos Raonic and Robin Haase to face Aussie hopefuls Hewitt & Luczak in Semi-Final match in Halle

The Dutch & Canadian duo moves on to face the Aussie team of Lleyton Hewitt and Peter Luczak in the semi-finals.  EDIT: Raonic & Haase will play Hewitt & Luczak on Friday, 10 June, at 10:30 am Eastern Time (4:30 pm CEST) on Court 2 in Halle. Milos will have played his singles quarter-final match about 5 hours earlier that morning, so he will be warmed up and loose, but depending on how the match goes, he may also be tired...

- WACB

Raonic def. Kamke in straights

Milos Raonic defeated Tobias Kamke (GER) in straight sets at the Gerry Weber Open today, 7-6(2) 6-3.

Milos hit an ace on his very first serve of the match, setting the pace early on for his service games. Everything was going the way of the server in the opening set, with most games being completely one-sided. Raonic had a slight opening of 0-30 at one point, but Kamke promptly served his way out of trouble. A tiebreak seemed inevitable until Kamke earned a break point chance with Milos serving at 5-6. The German's hopes for stealing the set before the tiebreak were quickly dashed by a bombing serve from Raonic. A few terrific volleys tipped the breaker in Raonic's favour, winning it 7-2 without losing a point on his serve.

The match tightened up after the first set. The points became longer and more contested, and both players began showing more variety during the rallies. Raonic got his first chance to break on Kamke's second service game. After a relatively lengthy rally, Raonic came to the net forcing Kamke to hit a topspin lob. It landed long, and Milos got the first break of the match to take a 3-1 lead in the second. Raonic looked great serving out the match at 5-3, holding at love to take the match and secure a spot in the quarter-finals.

While the sheer dominance on serve was a major factor for Raonic, he also displayed some skills at the net when coming in behind heavy forehands and serves. Milos made some nice volleys at key points throughout the match, and he often used the backhand slice very effectively to break the rhythm of the baseline rallies. In short, everything seems to be working for Milos on the grass.

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UPDATE: Milos will face Philipp Petzschner (GER) in the quarter-finals in Halle. That match isn't scheduled for tomorrow, but Raonic will be playing doubles with Robin Haase on Court 2 while the other half of the singles draw is being sorted out on Center Court.

Raonic through to second round in Halle

Milos Raonic defeated Pablo Andujar (ESP) in straight sets at the Gerry Weber Open today, 6-3 6-1.

As you would expect, Milos came out serving very effectively on the grass. He hit seven aces in the first set, and didn't face a single break point. Raonic took the lead late in the set, and got a second break to take the first set 6-3.

After holding to start the second, Raonic broke Andujar right away to go up 2-0. Milos backed this up by holding at love in the following game. It looked like the wheels were falling off for Andujar. Milos would take the set 6-1 after getting another break and racking up another five aces, bringing the match total to 12. I think it is safe to say that Milos is happy to be off the clay and playing on a surface that is more complimentary to his style and serving strengths.  Match stats from ATPWorldTour.com:

Raonic will face Tobias Kamke of Germany in the second round. The two have yet to meet at the ATP level, but Kamke defeated Milos at the Granby National Bank Challenger tournament last year.

In other news, Daniel Nestor has reportedly stated that he would like to play doubles with Milos Raonic at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Needless to say, that's a very exciting prospect. After all, Nestor himself just won the men's doubles title at the French Open with Max Mirnyi. We likely would have seen the two team up in Davis Cup play earlier this year, but Nestor had to pull out due to injury.

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