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

Milos Raonic dismisses Carlos Berlocq in the 2nd round of Indian Wells

First Set

Milos started off the match with a bang, winning the first two game at love.  He eventually did go up another break before surrendering one of them at 5-2, eventually serving out the match on his next service game and winning the first set 6-4.

Second Set

The second set seemed destined to start like the first, with Milos putting away the first game on Carlos' serve comfortably.  In the next game though, Berlocq went up 0-40 to have three break points.  Milos saved them all before challenging a fault called on an over-rule by the chair ump.  Hawk-eye showed it was in by the slimmest measurable amount, and though the umpire and Carlos Berlocq agreed that the ball looked out, the rules are very clear that Hawk-eye wins in a challenge situation.  Berlocq seemed to melt down after that successful challenge, and Milos pit away that game and dominated the next.

Serving for the set at 5-2, Milos again faced a couple of break points before bringing it back to deuce.  He did do it right this time and put away the match, even if he did have to re-serve an ace after Berlocq finally got a challenge right!  6-4, 6-2, Milos wins convincingly with 19 aces in 1 hr 16 mins.

Next up... Newcomer of the year versus the greatest there has ever been

Roger Federer just finished his match against Denis Kudla with a similar scoreline, 6-4, 6-1.  The much anticipated match-up between Federer and Raonic will probably occur on Tuesday night.  I'll update when a more precise time is available, this is a match I'm sure you will not want to miss...

-wacb

Live ATP Tennis Streaming on Sportsnet.ca? I emailed them…

After not seeing any info anywhere on why Sportsnet has stopped their online streaming of ATP Tennis since Milos' Chennai title win earlier this year, I decided to contact them through their website:

I will post whatever reply I get.

--wacb

Seeds fail to sprout in Milos’ half of the draw in the first round at Memphis

The path to a second straight final in Memphis is looking much better for Milos Raonic.

Our 4th seed Canuck started the tournament in Memphis on the same half of the draw as 2nd-seeded Andy Roddick, 5th-seeded Alex Bolgomolov Jr., and 6th-seeded Julien Benneteau.

As we watch (around 11PM Eeastern via the score-ticker, as this round isn't televised or streaming) Milos take the first set 6-2, I'm realizing that all the seeds listed above have already been eliminated by X. Malisse, O. Rochus, and Phil Petzschner respectively.

Milos is the only seeded player left in his half of the draw.

On the other side of the draw: Bernard Tomic, the 8th seed, was defeated by Ivan Dodig, but 1st-seeded John Isner, 3rd-seeded Radek Stepanek, and 7th-seeded Kevin Anderson remain, as they were successful in their first round bouts.

--wacb

UPDATE: Milos Raonic will face Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) in the 2nd round tonight. He is scheduled to play after Isner / Young, which begins at 7:00PM CST.

Sportsnet ONE will have live coverage of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships starting tonight at 7PM EST. It is unclear if it will be streamed online at Sportsnet.ca.

Milos Raonic to play Kevin Anderson on Friday Afternoon

It'll be around 7PM Eastern time on Friday when Milos takes the stage at the HP Pavilion in San Jose at the SAP Open Quarterfinals.  It is the final match of the morning session, which is scheduled for not earlier than 4PM local time.

His opponent will be Kevin Anderson of South Africa.  The two have never met on the tour, and they are closely matched in the rankings (currently Milos is 3 spots ahead of Anderson at #32).

Still no word on anyone televising the action.  Veetle.com was an excellent streamer last year when they provided every match in HD for free, it's unfortunate their partnership with the SAP Open isn't happening this year.  Right now, the only way for us Canadians to watch is less legal internet streams or paying exhorbident amounts for the ATP World Tour official streaming site.  The semi-finals will be on Tennis Channel though, if you have that in your cable package.

A treat to watch...

Here's an interview Milos did on Tuesday.  It's kind of a treat, since they discuss what could be "one of the most important things to happen in [Milos'] life" (it's not what you'd expect).  Also, Milos' Valentine for 2012 is revealed!

Let's hope we see a little of this tomorrow:

Milos Raonic at SAP Open 2011 - photo courtesy SAP Sponserships - http://www.SAPsponsorships.com

--wacb

Raonic .vs. Hewitt at Rod Laver Arena @ ~4:30 AM on 21 Jan

Unfortunately for us in North America (but great for everyone on the other side of the world) Milos Raonic centre-stage on Rod Laver versus former #1, Grand Slam Winner, and home team favorite Lleyton Hewitt, will start at around 4:30 AM Eastern (EST).  His match follows Serena Williams' 3rd round match-up, which starts at 3AM EST (7PM local) - Day (AO day 6 schedule).

TSN has confirmed that they will be covering the action live on Rod Laver starting at 3AM EST (their schedule) on the main TSN channel.  It is doubtful that this match will be streamed online at TSN.ca since they usually only cover the outside show courts and not matches from Rod Laver Arena.  More to follow later on the matchup...

--wacb

Milos Raonic on Court 3 versus Petzschner tonight/tomorrow

Milos Raonic will be on Court 3 for the first match of the day session at 11AM local time.  While the main ESPN/TSN coverage will probably be on the Sharapova match, the "bonus courts" online on whichever website has the rights in your country (TSN.ca/tennis in Canada) should show this court.  It all starts at 7PM Eastern Time (EST) tonight as confirmed by TSN's post on that page:

Day 4 Coverage (TSN.ca)

Catch live bonus streaming coverage on TSN.ca featuring Canada's Milos Raonic against Philipp Petzschner, tonight at 7pm et/4pm pt.

source: http://tsn.ca/tennis/

There will also be an encore showing on TSN2 at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt.

According to Tennis Canada (@Tennis_Canada) via a tweet, they will also have a stream for Dubois' match, which will be on the same time on Court 8.  Nestor and Mariono will also be up first in doubles action in the daytime session in Melbourne, but on courts 19 and 21 respectively, so no coverage there.  Wozniak will also play her 2nd round match today, but it will be the third match on court 18.

--wacb

Fish def. Raonic 6-1, 6-2 – Tsonga up next for Milos…

Mardy Fish has just defeated Milos Raonic in the first round of the AAMI Classic in Kooyong, Australia.  The final score was 6-1, 6-2.  I dozed off during the Tsonga match after a long day (had a 6AM flight this morning from Newfoundland) to wake up to Fish's victory speech, where he praised Raonic and said he was going to "make a lot of money out here".

We get a preview of a potential Davis Cup match-up in February in Vancouver as Tsonga will be Raonic's next opponent in the consolidation round.  Jo-Wilfred Tsonga also lost today, defeated by Jurgen Melzer 6-4, 6-3.  The wind and conditions on court did not suit Tsonga well.  As I was able to watch most of his match, it was evident his high ball toss was affected, as well as his ability to hit the lines precisely.  He seemed very frustrated with the up-to-70km/h winds.  I imagine Milos suffered similarly with his style of play.

As Roddick starts his serve in the first game of his match versus Monfils with ace as I write, I'm wondering if he can keep that up against the wind...  The winner of that match will face Tomic in the semi-final, while the loser will face Berdych in the consolidation round.  It seems each of the exhibition matches so far today went opposite to my expectations...

--wacb

AAMI Classic Preview – 6th-seeded Raonic to face Mardy Fish

Milos will be playing in the AAMI Classic this year for the first time.  He is seeded 6th ahead of Bernard Tomic and Jurgen Melzer in the field of 8 invited players.

His first round will see him play Mardy Fish for the chance to move on to a semi-final match-up with the winner of Tsonga/Melzer.  If he should lose, he will play in the consolidation round against the loser of said match.  Of course, Raonic and Fish have some history from last year, where Milos won their two meetings (first in Memphis and then a few weeks later at Indian Wells).  Mardy Fish was ranked 17 and 15 respectively during those tournaments, but both players have improved since then as Mardy Fish is now ranked #8 (1 below his career-high #7 ranking achieved last year) and Milos Raonic is ranked at his career high of #25.  If Raonic is able to defeat Fish again in Melbourne today, this will be highest ranked player he'll have defeated (though it's not an ATP tournament).  Mardy Fish did not play last week in the ATP season opening tournaments.

This warm-up tournament in Kooyong (just outside of Melbourne) is an invitational tournament.  Here are the rules as explained at wikipedia.org:

The AAMI Classic draw includes eight invited Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) players, seeded according to the ATP rankings of the week preceding the tournament. Four first round matches are played, after which the four winners advance to the semifinals, while the four losers are relegated to a play-off draw. The two semifinals of the main draw and of the play-off draw are then played, setting four new matches : the main draw final, to decide of the champion and of the runner-up, the main draw consolation match, to decide of the third and fourth places, the play-off draw final, to decide of the fifth and sixth places, and the play-off draw consolation match, to decide of the seventh and eighth places.

The tournament takes place over four days, with the four first round matches taking place on the first day, the two first round matches of the play-off draw, and one semifinal of the main draw taking place on the second day, the final and the consolation match of the play-off draw, and the second semifinal of the main draw taking place on the third day, and the final and the consolation match of the main draw taking place on the fourth and last day.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AAMI_Classic#Competition_format

Milos is the third match of the day today, preceded by Tsonga/Melzer, then Tomic/Berdych, and followed by the final match of the day between Monfils and Roddick.  All these first-round matches play through in one session, starting at 11AM local time, which is about 1.5 hours ago (7PM Eastern) but play has been suspended due to rain.  A quick check of the weather forecast reveals they should expect up to 5mm of rain, possible hail, and wind averaging up to 50 km/h and then settling down to 30 km/h or so toward the evening.  It doesn't look like it will be a comfortable day as the video shows things blowing around the court and drizzle.

It looks like play is about to start as Tsonga and Melzer are warming up, so if there's no further interruption in play I figure Milos will take to the court around 11PM Eastern Time or shortly after that.  I am looking forward to the Fish/Raonic match given their match record from 2011...

--wacb

Raonic .vs. Sela – Multimedia

Video

aircelchennaiopen.org provided this youtube video on their website, all available at the match results page. The best part is probably the last minute, when Milos get back from a 15-40 defecit in order to win the match with aces, including from his 2nd serve!!!

Images

The official tournament webpage also provided a number of shots of both Dudi Sela and Milos Raonic, I've included the thumbs here that link to the full size pic with info at www.aircelchennaiopen.org .

Perhaps they could have coordinated their outfits for the day, as both players wore the same shirt (with Dudi missing the SAP logo) with black shorts.  The only thing to distinguish them for people in the nosebleed sections (if that venue were big enough for nosebleeds) was Dudi's white ball cap and the massive height difference:

Of all the pics, this might be the best.  I assume it was added because it looks like Milos is licking the tennis ball:

--wacb