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

Vote for Milos: Canadian Athlete of the Year 2013

Another Win for Milos!  >> http://www.sportsnet.ca/tennis/raonic-named-sportsnets-athlete-of-the-year/  <<

Here's a reasonably balanced review of Milos' 2013 season, including a few bits that might be worth discussing with his coach:

>> http://www.tennisnow.com/News/2013-in-Review-Milos-Raonic.aspx   <<

Milos Raonic: first-ever Canadian to crack top-ten, led our Canadian Davis Cup team to the Semi-Finals for the first time.

Vote here:  http://www.sportsnet.ca/more/vote-now-canadian-athlete-of-the-year-2013/    <<

Milos with Filip Peliwo at the World Tour Finals, London

Milos named Tennis Canada Male Player of the Year 2013

>> http://www.tenniscanada.com/index.php?title=RAONIC-NAMED-2013-TENNIS-CANADA-MALE-PLAYER-OF-THE-YEAR&pid=5173  <<

 

Photo:  Austin Nunn via Twitter

 

Paris 1000

Update, 31 Oct:

Milos goes down in straights- a tight first set and subsequent tie-break: Berdych wins 7-6(13), 6-4. I didn't see it, but Kyle has commented that he "imploded", must have been near the end of the second set. Anyone have anything to add?

All in all, Milos had a good run near the end of the season, but probably bit off more than he could chew in retrospect. His last ditch effort to make the tour finals was unsuccessful after all, but man did he try.

In the match today he had 18 aces but 5 fouble faults. In the first set he saw 3 break points and faced none himself. He was unable to convert. He did not have a chance to break in the second set, but Berdych converted one of his total of 3 chances. While his first serve % was 68% in the first set, it dropped below 50% in the second set...

Looking forward to 2014!

Tebbutt's take: http://www.tenniscanada.com/index.php?title=TEBBUTT:-RAONIC-OUT-IN-PARIS&pid=5112

[Nice pic of Milos at net with Berdych at end, and good details about Milos' "underhand ace" to finish the match with Haase.]

Hallowe'en schedule!

The 3rd round match between Milos Raonic vs. Thomas Berdych will take place on Court 1, not before 4:30pm local (11:30am Eastern). As the Frenchmen and top-4 clog up Centre Stage, top-10ers like Raonic, Berdych and del Po are relegated to Court 1 for the day (though Almagro/Wawrinka did break that mold- they played first on Centre Court today, with Wawrinka winning 6-3, 6-2).

Update: October 30th:

Milos wins 6-3, 6-4. Gotta like how Haase was only able to win 3% (1/31) first serve pts. He won 6 of Milos' 16 second serve pts. Robin Haase had no break point opportunities while Raonic was able to break twice in five total chances. Total points were 58-41 for Milos Raonic.

Update, 29 Oct:

Milos is up versus Robin Haase not before 8:30pm local, or 3:30pm Eastern. He's following Federer (not before 7:30pm), the Main Event on Court Central - it's as if they were thinking about us Canadians at home when they scheduled it : ). Hopefully folks don't have to work late tomorrow!

Tues, Oct 29:

Update: Pospisil gets a break. He just started against Andujar after Monfils was forced to withdraw after suffering an injury during practice yesterday. Full, long article here:

http://www.tennisearth.com/m/news/tennisNews/Vasek-Pospisil-vs-Pablo-Andujar-2013-Paris-Masters-Round-1-Preview-869854.htm

Monday, October 28th:

Pospisil is up tomorrow (Tuesday) against Monfils on Centre Court. Raonic is not scheduled, but Djokovic is up as the final match on Centre Court so the 2nd round is starting tomorrow... Milos'll probably play on Wednesday.

Pospisil's match is 2nd up on the main court, starting around 1pm local (8am Eastern).

Sat, Oct 26th:

#ANYTHINGisPOSPISIL

Vashy is up against Feds now in Basel semi. Down a break in the 1st set, and potentially about to go down another... [...but the match did not continue on in its FedEXpected way; see Comments for more.]

From Sam yesterday:

"Paris draw has been announced. Only way for Milos to make the World Tour finals without someone else withdrawing is to make the finals and get a little help with 2 of Gasquet, Tsonga, Wawrinka and Federer not going deep into the tournament. His draw is ideal in my opinion. First Round bye, second round istomin/qualifier, third round berdych/pospisil/monfils, quarters ferrer/simon, semis nadal/tsonga

Berdych is a guy that Milos has been able to beat, Ferrer I believe is the most beatable on this surface out of the top 4 seeds, and Nadal typically has not been as dominant at the end of season tournaments. Obviously a tough ask to make the final but a good season none the less particularly the second half.

As for Pospisil, who's made the semis this week in Basel, he gets a tough first round opponent in Monfils and should he get through that a rematch of his big Rogers Cup victory over Berdych. I would love to see a Milos/Vasek R16 showdown to finish one of their seasons off in Paris, but of course Vasek has Federer to worry about tomorrow first."

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Stockholm 250

Oct. 17th:

Next up for Milos will be QF vs Benoit Paire, "not before 6:30pm" local time tomorrow; i.e. approx. 12:30 noon ET, 9:30 PT.  [UPDATE: Looks like it will be on Sportsnet: on the live-schedule, e.g. for taping/viewing, not on web.] Paire  is currently ranked #25, near his career high of #24, and has had a couple of notable upsets in the last six months (Wawrinka and Simon) but has lost a half-dozen times to players ranked #50+.  Oddsmakers favour Milos at about 4 to 1; but Paire can be dangerous. Head-to-head: http://www.atpworldtour.com/Players/Head-To-Head.aspx?pId=PD31&oId=R975   <<

Oct 16th:

[From Daniel:  Raonic d Johansson 6-2 7-6(3)]  More decisive than the score might appear:  Milos faced no break points, had 7 break points in the second set (five in the fourth game!) but was just not able to convert. A serving duel, which Milos won without really being challenged.  >> http://www.tenniscanada.com/index.php?title=RAONIC-REACHES-QUARTER-FINALS-AT-STOCKHOLM&pid=5074   <<

---

Raonic vs. Johansson will be "no later than" 8pm tomorrow (Thursday) in Stockholm, Sweden. (2pm Eastern EDT Time, 3:30pm in Newfoundland - they're 6 hours ahead of Toronto/Montréal time)

Obviously no previous matches between these two, their careers haven't overlapped until this return to the ATP tour for Johansson, the former top-10 Swedish tennis pro.

Funny article from Sportsnet: "Raonic could upset at ATP Tour world (sic) finals", Oct 14th:

"...guys like Nadal and Djokovic will be shaking in their boots if they are drawn against Milos and his gargantuan serve indoors.". --http://www.sportsnet.ca/tennis/raonic-could-upset-at-atp-tour-world-finals/

Oct 15th:

Looks like Alejandro Falla will face Swedish qualifier Joachim Johansson for the chance to face Milos Raonic in the 2nd rnd.

It would be interesting if Milos were to face Johansson, who is making a “one-off” return to tennis for this tournament in his home country. Johansson made it as high as #9 in the world in early 2005 after making it to the SF of the US Open in 2004. He retired from Tennis a few years later, in early 2008, due to a nagging shoulder injury.

What’s more interesting still is the playing style (from Wikipedia): “He held the record for most aces served in one match as he aced Andre Agassi 51 times in the 4th round of the 2005 Australian Open (though he still lost the match in four sets). In the post-match press conference, Johansson said he felt he could have served better.”

Falla has faced Raonic once before, in Barcelona, 2012. Milos won that bout in straights, though the 2nd set required a tiebreak and he didn’t make a lot of first serves (see the blog post for a trip down memory lane: http://milosraonic.ca/blog/2012/04/23/raonic-off-to-winning-start-in-barcelona/ )

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Milos has taken a spot in Stockholm this week, trying to earn a few extra points before going on to the final tournaments of the year. Qualifying for ATP World Tour Finals is still a long shot, but not impossible. At the very least he should be able to hold on to the alternate spot.

Raonic will get a bye in the first round then face either Alejandro Falla or a qualifier. He is seeded against [6]Benoit Paire in his quarter of the draw, and the seeds he could face in the semi-finals are Grigor Dimitrov and Kevin Anderson.

Seeds on the other half of the draw include David Ferrer, Ernests Gulbis, Jerzy Janowicz, and Ivan Dodig.

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Shanghai Masters 1000

Oct 9th:

Milos' next match will be versus Stanislas Wawrinka. He'll be on Grandstand (a televised court) not before 6AM Eastern Time, but maybe as late as 8AM Eastern Time. Stan has beaten Milos in their only previous meeting at Cincy 2012. Stan's been playing well lately so it will be a challenging match... if only we didn't have to be at work in the morning : ).

Raonic gets past Verdasco 7-6(1), 3-6, 6-3 to reach the Rd of 16 in Shanghai where he will meet Wawrinka tomorrow. #CdnTennis

— Tennis Canada (@Tennis_Canada) October 9, 2013

Oct 8th: After dismissing qualifier Michal Przysiezny, Raonic's next challenge is Fernando Verdasco, who he'll play in the last match on "Union Pay Court 3". I don't think this one will be televised. A few hours before that, Pospisil will take on Monfils on the same court. Pospisil, having given Milos a chance at the Tour Finals by knocking out Gasquet today, will hopefully build on this big "not-in-Canada" win... And if Milos actually makes it to the tour finals, perhaps he'll thank Vasek by paying for his tickets to go watch...

When chair ump tells Przysiezny to speed up play on his own serve, he responds, "(Raonic's service) games are one minute, so ..." #truth

— Stephanie Myles (@exposbabe) October 8, 2013

As ever, effective serving from #Raonic as he stays in the hunt for three ATP finals in as many weeks in Asia. #ATP pic.twitter.com/514lXZQkCG

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) October 8, 2013

Despite help from his countryman, Raonic still can't pass Gasquet for No. 9 in WTF race this wk unless he makes SFs. Not over tho.

— Stephanie Myles (@exposbabe) October 8, 2013

Oct 7th: Still on the Asian swing, Milos plays this week in Shanghai, starting at 8AM Eastern Time Tuesday (tomorrow, not before 8PM in Shanghai, Tues, 8 Oct). The time difference between Eastern Time here in Canada and Shangai is 12 hours, so subtract 10 and a half hours to get Newfoundland Time : ).

Raonic will face Qualifier Michal Przysiezny of Poland.

Also in action tomorrow is Vasek Pospisil, who will take on Richard Gasquet around 4am Eeastern, tomorrow.

Aside: I thought this was a funny picture that TennisTV.com used for last week's final... reminded me of Seinfeld (not the "another game for Milos skit, either):

Posted by wacb from WordPress for BlackBerry.

Tokyo 500

Oct 6th: As JasonX noted below, Milos was the better player. He had better stats on the match (for the most part, there was that whole "break points converted" and mini-break points converted" stat), playing very well, consistently, throughout. It's not too often someone goes an entire tournament without being broken until the last few minutes of the final... Either way, his play further confirmed that he belongs up there with the likes of Tsonga, del Potro, and the others who are biting at the heels of the top four.

Del Potro defeats Raonic, 7-6(5), 7-5.

Smile boys! Juan Martin Del Potro and Milos Raonic strike a pose ahead of the #ATP Tokyo final pic.twitter.com/Ln6RiFRw4M

— TennisTV (@TennisTV) October 6, 2013

Milos Raonic loses in final of Japan Open - http://t.co/xIwRwo4MzH pic.twitter.com/gRVtB85nGh

— Gullpress (@Gullpress) October 6, 2013

Oct 5th: In about 3 and a half hours Milos Raonic will take on Juan-Martin del Potro in the final in Tokyo. Their last meeting was the controversial Toronto match where Milos' foot touched the net before the second bounce on a big point, but Layani didn't see it. There was some backlash after the replay showed, with many thinking Milos should have called the fault on himself.

Milos eventually won that hard court match, making it to the all-Canadian semi-final with Pospisil then to the Final with Nadal (another possible rematch, in Beijing next week).

Oct. 4th: Semi-final tonight, Milos vs  Ivan Dodig on Sportsnet ONE 11pm ET, 8pm PT. Dodig won their only two previous encounters: a 3-setter on clay in Barcelona in 2011, then on grass this year at Eastbourne; so he's shown that he can win, if Milos is not playing well. On the other hand, I think we have reason to anticipate that Dodig will be facing a new and improved Milos Raonic tonight.

#RakutenOpen Raonic quiere entrar al masters como sea, por eso no deja pasar ninguna bola pic.twitter.com/Fh9F4eCiZ6

— 4superficies (@4superficies) October 4, 2013

#ATP #Tokyo #RakutenOpen: # Milos Raonic ke semifinal, menang 63 63 atas Lukas Lacko. (Eurosport) pic.twitter.com/dtSrFWubbX

— Tennis Update INA (@TennisUpdateINA) October 4, 2013

And how many pictures on my phone look like this:

Haven't we all tried to catch the serve on our phone cameras??? RT: "@superNICKELBACK RAONICさんのサーブは219kmでました pic.twitter.com/gSRmkLTeRy"

— MilosRaonic Fan Blog (@MilosRaonicBlog) October 5, 2013

Oct 2nd:      Talk about a silver platter - here's a recap of the rest of today's action/intel from Tokyo à la Tomaso:

Tsonga is out: lost to I.Dodig 6-4 7-6(5). Anderson is out: Lost to Lucky Loser Lukas Lacko, who replaced LLodra. Chardy squeaked by Chiudinelli in a 3rd set tiebreak 6-6(6). Bottom line: Milos not only is now the top-dog in his half of the draw, he's THE ONLY SEED LEFT! Next up: Chardy; after that QF - LL L.Lacko or Qualifier Roger-Vasselin; after that SF - Nieminen or Dodig. And after that, the Final. This is looking like a big opportunity. Let's go, Milos!!

Also, here's Milos' post-win interview from the Thailand final:

Milos' press conference after winning Thailand Open 🙂 http://t.co/NS1t57rbFs

— Ciera (@baby_federer) September 29, 2013

Oct 1st:

Milos Raonic defeated Japanese wildcard Go Soeda 6-4, 7-6(0). Milos hit 24 aces (to Go's 3) and had a 95% first serves won percentage coupled with 61% on the second serve. Soeda did not have any break point opportunities and, as can be seen by the 2nd set tie-break score, it seems Milos had good control of the match.

While this match was not televised or streamed anywhere, his next match should be. He should play on 4 Oct (the day session that day will start in the evening on 3 Oct, Eastern Time). Milos won the match in Tokyo on Wednesday afternoon (about 12:30) before it even turned Wednesday, Eastern Time, in North America. Milos' opponent for 2nd rnd will be decided in a later match... del Potro is currently taking to the stage at centre court versus Carlos Berlocq.

How do I know which one is Raonic or Soeda? #Tokyo pic.twitter.com/a5zdVW1lAB

— Tennis Updates (@tennis_updates) October 2, 2013

Here are pics of a lucky fan's souvenirs from Thailand:

Signature of u >> Milos Raonic in Thailand Open 2013. While I'm waiting u go back. @milosraonic pic.twitter.com/AxauPelxIu

— Wipawan (@NuyIeie) October 1, 2013

Sep 30th:

Raonic will take on Japanese wildcard Go Soeda in the first round of the Rakuten Open (Japan Open Tennis Championships). He is not scheduled for tomorrow, 1 Oct, so he will play on 2 Oct (Wednesday). Japan Time is 13 hours ahead of Eastern Time, so the day session on Wed starts 10pm on Tues Eastern Time...

Milos has faced Soeda once before, in the semifinals of a Challenger event in Granby, Quebec, Canada, in 2010. Raonic won in 3 sets (3rd set was a tiebreak). Soeda, ranked 113 on the tour currently, will likely not be able to provide as much resistance this time around...

Milos, in the bottom half of the draw of 32, would face either Jeremy Chardy or Marco Chiudinelli, the Swiss qualifier, in the 2nd round. Looking ahead, he'd likely meet Anderson in the QFs, then Tsonga (who beat Monfils today) in the SFs. First seed/wildcard Juan-Martin del Potro heads up the top half of the draw, alongside Almoagro, Tipsarevic, and home-town favourite/defending champion, Kei Nishikori.

Posted by wacb from WordPress for BlackBerry.

Bangkok: Thailand Open 250

Sept 29th:

Sept. 28:

Milos stepped it up at the big points, breaking Gasquet late in 2nd and 3rd sets to set right the recent US Open loss that stole so many potential points (Milos would've beaten Ferrer too)!!!

"@Tennis_Canada: The Raonic v Berdych Thailand Open final will be shown live on Sportsnet ONE at 4 am ET. #Sleepisfortheweak #CdnTennis #goMilos"

Set your alarms folks.

Sept. 27:  No "getting away with it" today: Milos put on a stunning display of how he can serve when he's firing on all cylinders, and backed it up with some great groundstrokes, lobs -- you-name-it. After the match commentator Robbie Koenig tweeted, "That was THE best serving display of 2013!" Nothing wrong with Lopez' play today, but he still managed to win only 8 points total off Milos' serve. An amazing 81% of service points won, based on 86% first serves in, including 19 aces, led to this 6-4 6-3 win. Tomorrow's SF match vs Richard Gasquet will take place approx. 3pm BKK time: Sportsnet ONE 4am ET, 1am PT. Also on tape-delay at 9:30am ET -- thanks TT.

>>  http://www.sportsnet.ca/tennis/raonic-cruises-into-thailand-open-semifinal/   << Sep 26th: Milos got away with it today, though it was very close throughout almost the entire match. Not an impressive performance, but good enough to avenge the Washington loss to Matosevic a couple of months ago. I had a feeling from the length of the recording when I sat down late today to watch it that it was going to be a grind... Raonic is up last on Centre Court tomorrow, Fri, 27 Sep. He follows the Youzhny/Gasquet match which starts at 7:30pm local time (subtract 11hrs for Eastern Time, their match starts at 8:30am ET). This means Milos' match will take place around 11am ET. It looks like Sportsnet ONE plans to cover the day and evening sessions, importantly, listing coverage from 8:30am (start of Gasquet/Youzhny) to 12:30pm. Milos will be facing Feliciano Lopez in this Quarter-Final match-up, a friend who he had to face in the round of 32 at this year's US Open (winning in 4 sets after dropping the first set in the tiebreak). The conditions will be a little different but will likely favour Raonic even more. Sept. 25: Milos will play Matosevic third-up (about 3:30pm BKK time? 6:30am ET?) on Centre Court Thursday, Sept. 26. Meanwhile, a disappointing loss for Vasek: down in two tie-breaks to Delbonis. But Genie upset 6th-seed Jelena Jankovic 7-5 6-2 to make it to QF where she'll meet Venus Williams. UPDATE: Sportsnet's schedule (http://www.sportsnet.ca/schedule/) says they're playing ATP Thailand coverage from 1 AM to 5 AM, so it looks like we only get the first 4 hours. Hopefully that will be extended now that we know when Milos plays... Or perhaps they'll switch it to another channel that's showing re-runs of sports commentary. Sept. 24: Indoor hardcourt should be good for Milos who is seeded third behind Berdych and Gasquet and has a first-round bye. But he'll face a challenge second round from a strong Marinko Matosevic, who beat Milos in straight sets in their last meeting, in Washington, and who won his first round match 6-1 6-1. Meanwhile, other Canadians are doing well. At the Kuala Lumpur 250, after a slow start, 7th seeded (!) Vasek Pospisil defeated V. Hanescu 1-6 6-1 6-3; he'll face F. Delbonis in the second round. And in Tokyo our Genie Bouchard, after defeating Monica Puig in the first round 6-0 6-4, upset 9th-seed Sloane Stephens 5-7 7-6(7) 6-3. Genie will crack top-40 next week!  

Davis Cup Semi-Final – Canada vs. Serbia, Belgrade

Sep 14th: This says it all:

@VasekPospisil and the "chief" get it done 10-8 in the 5th!!! Come on!!!!!!!!! #boomstick #CdnTennis #GoCanada

— Jesse Levine (@jesselevine7) September 14, 2013

How awesome is Daniel Nestor? 21 years ago he started competing in the Davis Cup. Pospisil was two-yrs-old. Raonic was still a one-yr-old.

— Caroline Cameron (@SNCaroline) September 14, 2013

Unless Raonic can pull off a Miracle on Clay, this one will come down to Posipisil vs. Tipsarevic for a spot in the #DavisCup finals.

— Beyond The Baseline (@SI_BTBaseline) September 14, 2013

Sunday Davis Cup schedule: 8 am ET (Sportsnet), Raonic-Djokovic, then Pospisil-Tipsarevic. A Canadian win, and the world final is in Canada.

— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) September 14, 2013

Sep 13th: Milos Raonic let the match go to 5 sets, including giving Tipsarevic match points up 6-5 in the 5th, before taking that final set 10-8. Perhaps it was just to add to the excitement... Perhaps because it was Friday the 13th.

Here's a good pic of Milos' excitement after the match:

http://pic.twitter.com/2tDnIINNBu

http://www.twitter.com/NewBalanceCan/status/378625782559424512

Tom Tebbutt's Thursday posting with plenty of pics and comments regarding Team Canada and happenings at the arena in Belgrade:

http://www.tenniscanada.com/index.php?title=TEBBUTT:-NO-MORE-GUESSING&pid=4981

Update, Sept 12th:

Tweet from ArashMadani, looks like Djokovic is confirmed:

"BREAKING: Novak Djokovic just told me he has informed Serbia Tennis that he'll play Friday. Debate is over. "My country needs me," he said.

— Arash Madani (@ArashMadani) September 12, 2013"

The first day's action will be Djokovic versus Pospisil, then Tipsarevic vs. Raonic. Then, Saturday will have the Bozoljac/Zimonjic versus Nestor/Pospisil, followed by reverse singles on Sunday.

It's a tough ask for Pospisil, these 3 matches are big, emotionally intense 5-setters. From what we've seen though, I have a feeling his adrenaline can carry him through it.

Of course, Canada will be behind our team, though the distances involved make it unlikely that many Canadians will make the trip to see it. But, as Sportsnet reminds us, Nestor and Raonic were born in the former Yugoslavia (Nestor born right in Belgrade) and Pospisil and Dancevic have family connections as well (as their surnames suggest).

"And while it’s the Serbians with home-court advantage, the Canadians won’t exactly feel out of place, as each team member has a family connection to the region." --http://www.sportsnet.ca/tennis/cameron-canada-in-new-territory-at-davis-cup/

Visit DavisCup.com for info on official live online streaming and other updates and news.

#GoCanada !!!!!

Update, Sept 11th:

Looks like Novak Djokovic will be avail for the Davis Cup tie's first day. Here's a report from Tom Tebbutt from Belgrade:

Tebbutt: Reassessing Novak's Part

Here's a neat article about Yvon Gilbert, the string-maestro for Canada's Davis Cup team and the Rogers Cup:

http://m.680news.com/2013/09/11/gilbert-pulled-strings-to-help-canada-advance-davis-cup-semifinal-against-serbia/

---

First off, here's a sneak peek from the twitter-verse of Milos practicing on the clay in Belgrade:

http://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/377281573269569536

Looks like a new "uniform" for Davis Cup. Same large white maple leaf in upper left chest. Looks sharp. Sharp enough to win.

And an update from Tom Tebbutt:  http://www.tenniscanada.com/index.php?title=TEBBUTT:-THE-BIG-HYPOTHETICAL&pid=4970  <<

US OPEN 2013

September 2nd:

39 aces, over a hundred winners, 207 total points won to Gasquet's 195, about four and a half grueling, humid hours, but Milos Raonic was eliminated from the US Open by a scoreline of 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(9), 7-5 for Richard Gasquet. Gutwrenching to watch. Apparently this was the longest match of this year's US Open so far...

On to Serbia for Davis Cup! If we thought this was intense.....

August 31st:

Milos is scheduled to play Richard Gasquet 3rd up on Louis Armstrong court. There is a ladies match and a doubles match before him, and they start at 11am EDT, so his match will probably start between 2 and 3 pm Eastern...

Milos Raonic def. Feliciano Lopez:

More of the same, come on round of 16!

"@NewBalanceCan: On to the Rd of 16 for #TeamNB's @milosraonic at the #USOpen after beating Lopez 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4. Will face winner of Gasquet v Tursunov."

August 31st, again:

Some tweets to share with you regarding Milos' ongoing match with Feli Lopez (below). Currently a set a piece with Milos up an early break in the 3rd set.

"@SocialKeenan: Crowd on 17 seems 70-30 Milos-Feli and Davis Cup atmosphere! #teamcanada @MilosRaonicBlog @milosraonic @usopen #usopen #raonic"

"@SocialKeenan: This is awesome. Feli's camp has changed locations because they don't want to sit behind us! @usopen Go Milos! @MilosRaonicBlog"

August 31st:

Milos Raonic vs. Feliciano Lopez is 2nd on Court 17 following a Women's singles match. He'll probably start around 1pm EDT or a little before that.

Nestor continues to impress on the eve of Canada's Davis Cup tournament, winning Mixed and Men's doubles yesterday. He and Pospisil have the day off before facing the Bryan Brothers tomorrow. Here's an excerpt from a quick interview Tom Tebbutt was able to get with the doubles championship yesterday:

"Tom: Do you think that the whole idea of possibly playing the Bryans in the next round made you tight in the first set?

Daniel: No, where the heck do you get this stuff from? What the heck does that have to do with anything?

Security guy: (To Tom) Excuse me…back off.

Daniel: (interceding on my part). It’s okay.

Tom: (to the security guard) He does that to me all the time, don’t worry.

Daniel: Bad question, that’s why I got mad. Forget that question.

Tom: Obviously Vasek (in his singles) had a chance to play Nadal and he was sort of thinking ahead and it’s the same sort of thing.

Daniel: Vasek playing Nadal is a little different than me playing the Bryans after 50 times. 

Tom: How do feel about you two playing against them?

Daniel: I think Vasek’s playing great – so why not? Obviously we have to play our best match but nothing’s impossible. "

----full text: Tebbutt: Roger and Joe diMaggio

August 30th:

Check out Tennis Canada's Tom Tebbutt's post about Canadians in action yesterday:

"There have been a few sketchy performances by Milos Raonic over the past few weeks, but he was reassuringly solid in defeating Pablo Andujar 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 in the second round of the US Open on Thursday night.

When it was put to him after his two hour and two-minute win on the Grandstand that it was indeed a “real Raonic match,” – he agreed."

Tebbutt: A Real Raonic Match

August 29th, update:

Milos played great today, aggression, consistency, confidence, precision on those shots down the line, combined with the most powerful serves at the US Open. 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 for Milos in just over 2 hrs, very encouraging.

Nestor and Pospisil won their first-round doubles match today as well, also encouraging; their first Major match-win and excellent Davis Cup practice!

Here's a story from TSN, but best to check out Tom Tebbutt's report, which he's promised first thing in the morning:

http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=430736

THURSDAY US OPEN BLOG - will be up first thing in a.m. Friday EDT. Milos pics and all the Canadians. Bon soir from NYC.

— Tom_Tebbutt (@tomtebbutt) August 30, 2013

August 29th:

Milos is up last on Grandstand today versus Pablo Andujar. It will likely be shown. On TSN or TSN2, so keep your eyes peeled... Andujar and Raonic have played once before on the ATP tour, on grass in Halle in 2011. Milos won that one 6-3, 6-1.

August 27th:

Milos Raonic v. Thomas Fabbiano will be televised on TSN (though I wouldn't be surprised if it moves to TSN2 or TSN.ca at some point, especially if it's a long one. The rain didn't let up, so Pospisil will try to win that match after giving up chances to serve it out- reminds me of what happened when watching the score ticker in Cincinnati unfortunately...

from Sam:

Good start for Canadian tennis. Fichman put up a fight against the finalist from Toronto and lost in the third set. Dancevic through to the second round after a win over Robin Haase in 4 sets. Bouchard through after a slow start winning after being down a set and a break. Pospisil a little tight trying to serve out the 3rd set twice before losing in a tiebreak. Now down 4-0 in the fourth looking to bounce back in the fifth tomorrow if the rain doesn't let up tonight.

Up tomorrow at 11:00 is Milos against Thomas Fabbiano. I don't anticipate much trouble in that match for him hopefully he can finish it quick and with a healthy shoulder. Fabbiano has yet to win a match at the ATP level.

Aleksandra Wozniak also in action later on in the day. Up against Vesna Dolonc who's ranked 90th.

There's going to be quite a bit of rain over night. Hopefully it finishes and doesn't affect play tomorrow so all of the matches can get in.

August 22:  [from Daniel]

Milos I’d have to say has gotten the best Draw possible.

Milos potential Round of 16 Opponent would be Richard Gasquet; His potential 3rd Round Opponent would be Feliciano Lopez. [2nd round, Andujar? ATP#55, 1st round, Qualifier.]

Milos US Open Quarter

[8]Gasquet v Russell, Qualifier v Qualifier, Struff v Rufin, Bedene v [32]Tursunov, [23]Lopez v Qualifier, De Schepper v Klahn, Andujar v De Bakker, Qualifier v [10]Raonic

[14]Janowicz v Qualifier, Sock v Qualifier, Andrey Kuznetsov v Sela, Cuevas v [18]Tipsarevic, [30]Gulbis v Haider-Maurer, Qualifier v Qualifier, Bautista-Agut v Bellucci ,Qualifier v [4]Ferrer

Can Milos make the most of the Opportunity and reach his 1st GS Quarterfinal?

------------------------------------------------------------

Here are our top 16 seeds for the US Open at Flushing Meadows in 2013, with Milos nestled nicely in there:

1. Novak Djokovic, Serbia

2. Rafael Nadal, Spain

3. Andy Murray, Britain

4. David Ferrer, Spain

5. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic

6. Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina

7. Roger Federer, Switzerland

8. Richard Gasquet, France

9. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland

10. Milos Raonic, Canada

11. Kei Nishikori, Japan

12. Tommy Haas, Germany

13. John Isner, United States

14. Jerzy Janowicz, Poland

15. Nicolas Almagro, Spain

16. Fabio Fognini, Italy

--Will

Posted by wacb from WordPress for BlackBerry.

Cincinnati, early rounds – Masters 1000 – Western and Southern Open

John Isner def Milos Raonic, 7-6(5), 6-4:

It was a fairly straight-forward match. Milos dropped his game during the 1st set tiebreak long enough to lose the 1st set, then played very well to go up a break in the second, before dropping his game long enough to lose that break and then to go down a break to Isner. Isner served out the match in his usual style and so ends Milos' Cincinnati run.

Next up is the US Open, where he'll probably be seeded 10th or 11th or so - we'll see how the rankings shake out. I don't think there's any way he could drop out of the top 12, which means he'll likely face someone seeded 5-8 in the round of 16, before meeting a 1-4 seed in the QFs. Long way to go before that though, we'll see how that road looks when the draw comes out.

Milos Raonic versus John Isner, now starting on Court 3 in Cincinnati (1:45pm EDT):

Watch Milos Raonic take on John Isner in the third round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati: http://t.co/FLstm7vUcX

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) August 15, 2013

There's no hawkeye on that court. But check this out on the big screen. Kinda cheesy, show's that Milos has hit the big time:

Check out this 1 minute New Balance commercial featuring Milos Raonic: http://t.co/zJZwqIMgRe

— milos raonic news (@MilosRaonicNews) August 15, 2013

Quick Update: Milos won in straights, fairly easy going, was in control the whole time. The Battle of the Serve starts tomorrow, rematch of Rogers Cup 2012 match that ousted Milos during his homecoming. Luckily, Pospisil took care of Isner to avoid the same fate. Let's see if Raonic can do a little better at Cincy 2013.

Quick Update:

So close!!! Vasek Pospisil goes down to David Goffin in 2nd round of Cincinnati Masters 1000. 5-7, 6-1, 6-7(6). #CdnTennis @VasekPospisil

— MilosRaonic Fan Blog (@MilosRaonicBlog) August 14, 2013

Pospisil can't convert multiple match points & falls 8-6 in a third set tiebreak to Goffin at #CincyTennis. #CdnTennis

— Tennis Canada (@Tennis_Canada) August 14, 2013

Update, August 14th:

See the comments below (click here) for some post-match commentary.

Timings for Canadian players today (2nd round, in chronological order):

Vasek Pospisil is up first on Court 6 versus David Goffin (a qualifier).  The match starts at 11am Eastern (1100h EDT).  There's no video coverage.

Eugenie Bouchard has a date with Serena Williams as the second match on the Center Court.  It is listed as not before 1pm Eastern (1300h EDT) but it might be later if the Youzhny/Murray match runs long...

Milos Raonic is up third on the Grandstand court versus Janko Tipsarevic.  The preceding match starts at 1pm Eastern (1300h EDT) (Isner/Gasquet), so Milos' match will likely be 3pm Eastern (1500h EDT).  There is video coverage of this court, but the order of play notes that there is a "Possible Court Change", so if the two preceding matches run long it may be moved to a non-video court.  Not sure whether Sportsnet will show this coverage online or on SN1 or SN360, etc...

Daniel Nestor plays alongside Robert Lindstedt versus Lipsky/Gonzalez as the final match on the Grandstand court following a women's match.  The ladies start not before 7pm Eastern (1900h EDT) so Nestor will be on around 8:30pm Eastern (2030h EDT).

order of play from cincytennis.com: OP_(2)

Galo Blanco News

I didn't know, but JaxonX tipped us off that Galo Blanco is now coaching Jurgen Melzer.  Here's a copy of the Sportsnet.ca article, which also talks about the emotional side of the break-up between Raonic and Blanco (article link).  The article mentioned that Raonic planned to play alongside Melzer in double in Cincinnati, but the Order of Play shows Mardy Fish, noted as "[PR]" before his name.  Does anyone know what "[PR]" means in front of a players name? 

Melzer said he was "very happy" to have Blanco in his corner, calling it a "fresh start".  (adapted from an article from an article written in German at zeit.de)

One more thing...

I'd like to share what someone sent via  the site's contact form following the Montreal final:

To: Site Owner & Admin

From:
Doreen ---------
----------@rogers.com

Message:
It may have been a clinic today but you made us proud.
Lots of class in your interviews. You're my new Gretzky!

Sent from (ip address): 174.114.--.---
(-----.cpe.net.cable.rogers.com)
Date/Time: August 11, 2013 10:14 pm

---

Tomorrow (Tues, Aug 13th) Milos will play the evening session on the Grandstand Court in Cincinnati. Vasek Pospisil is 3rd up on Court 7. Eugenie Bouchard, the other Canadian we're keeping our eye on, played today and defeated Monica Puig 6-3, 6-4, making it to the 2nd round of two Masters 1000s in a row.

Milos Raonic will face Jack Sock at 7pm (1700) EDT, and it should be available to be televised, so hopefully Sportsnet chooses to show it. The Center Court will have the likes of Sharapova, followed by Roger Federer, starting at 7pm. Pospisil's match won't be televised, but he'll have a tough task against Gilles Simon. He has entered the tournament on a special exemption due to his recent success in Montréal.

Sock has already defeated Raonic once this year, knocking Milos out of Memphis in the round of 32. That's been the only meeting of the two on tour so far... Jack Sock, an American, is a couple of years younger than Raonic and the two young stars carry much of the hope for future tennis greatness in their countries. Jack Sock gained entry to the W&S Open via a Wild Card.

If Pospisil wins tomorrow, he'll face qualifier David Goffin, and further success will likely mean a Davis Cup semi-final preview versusu Djokovic. Raonic would move on to face Tipsarevic if he wins tomorrow (another upcoming Davis Cup tie preview), followed by a likely 3rd round match with Richard Gasquet.

Eugenie Bouchard will face Serena Williams in the 2nd round. Ouch. I expect we'll see another match similar to Nadal vs. Raonic- might be painful to watch.

Draws, Schedules, and other stuff is available at cincytennis.com

http://mobile.cincytennis.com/draws.html

Posted by wacb from WordPress for BlackBerry.

Good comment from Sam I'd like to share: Nadal really is on a level of his own at this time with Djokovic slightly behind him I believe. Would have liked to see a bit of a closer match but hopefully Milos does take some positives of out this and learn from it in the future. In his post match interviews he seemed pretty happy despite the tough loss which is promising and it looks like he has gained some confidence that he can carry through the remainder of the season.

Vasek has an interesting first round matchup against Gilles Simon who hasn't been sharp of late. If Vasek can carry over his form from the last few weeks I think he can pull out a win.

Milos has a rematch with Jack Sock in round one who beat him in the first round back in Memphis. Should be better prepared this time around assuming there's no hangover from reaching his first ATP 1000 final.

Both matches I assume will be on Tuesday as they are not on the schedule for tomorrow.

Both Milos and Vasek are drawn into Djokovic's quarter so maybe if we are lucky we can have a preview of Davis Cup for both players and even if they do come out on the wrong side they can take some notes of how to better approach that matchup in the Davis Cup.

Rafa Nadal gives Raonic a “clinic” in Rogers Cup Final at Montréal

Milos Raonic, the first player born in the 1990s to be in the ATP top ten, went down 6-2, 6-2 today to Rafael Nadal.  I'm sure you've all watched it, so I'll just put up a pic (a few other good ones on the CBC.ca article it came from).

And this tweet was great:

... this one was pretty good too:

Cincinnati is up next!

--wacb