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

Milos into semi-finals in Memphis

Milos Raonic defeats Olivier Rochus to advance to the semi-finals of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships in Memphis for a second straight year.

Update: Milos will play Becker in the semi-final, starting at 4 PM, and Jurgen Melzer awaits him in the final if he's successful.

Catch Milos #Raonic in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships semifinals, live on Sportsnet ONE at 4 p.m. ET. today

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 25, 2012

Milos played well for most of the first set, and only needed one break to put it away. His service games were not as much of a blowout as most might have expected against Olivier Rochus in the set, but still, the closest we got got to a break was a deuce point, which Milos put away with a couple of monster serves.

The set was characterized by the power of Raonic keeping Rochus running around the baseline almost continuously. Though Rochus did very well to defend and stretch for those inside-out forehands, he didn't earn any of those critical break points that Raonic so rarely provides opportunities for. As far as I could tell, Milos was taking it easy during the match, and as far as I could tell, he hadn't broken a sweat.

Both players started with holds again in the second set, with Milos having a little of an easier time. In the fifth game though, Milos earned a double break point and, on an error by Rochus, he converted the first one to take the lead in the second set.

With Rochus serving at 3-5, it looked as if Raonic wanted to let the game go and just serve for the match in the following game...

In the next game, though, Raonic started with forehand pushed wide, a very unforced error. He then hit another unforced error on the forehand down the line. Rochus then made an awesome return on a blistering serve, followed by a wicked get to put it down the line. He picked the corner on the next point to earn the break back. For the second straight game, Milos was looking much different than what we're accustomed to seeing in the past 2 weeks.

In the following game, Rochus' level was obviously elevated, but Milos started to step it back up as well with a great forehand down the line. Rochus did hang on to hold though, and Milos had to serve to send the set to a tiebreak.

He started this endeavour by winning a couple of points after having to make second serves, then an ace at 145 mph to make it 40-0 and a second straight ace to get a tiebreak.

The tiebreak began with an unreturnable serve by Rochus. He then put a backhand slice return wide and suffered an ace to serve down 1-2. He then threw a ball into the net on a bad error where it looked like he tried to take it too soon. A winner by Milos earned him a 4-1 lead, though Rochus came back with some precise, powerful hits to get one of the mini-breaks back.

Milos served an ace to protect his 1 mini-break lead, then won another break on the next point, but missed the first match point. He finished in style with his 26th ace on a second serve in the next point though.

Milos will face the winner of the match that's already underway between Ben Becker and Lukasz Kubot.  I must say that I like Milos' chances against either in the semis.  If he were to advance to the final, his potential opponents are Radek Stepanek and Jurgen Melzer, who will contest their semi-final tomorrow starting at noon Eastern (11 AM local).  Milos' semi-final will start at 3 PM local time, which will be 4 PM Eastern.

Sportsnet ONE will have coverage starting at 1 PM EST tomorrow for the semi-finals, so Milos' semi-final match win Benjamin Becker at 4 PM EST should be airing live.

Unfortunately, I don't see any indication of live streaming online anymore from Sportsnet.  This is a real bummer.

--wacb

Raonic Through To Quarter Finals In Memphis

Milos Raonic defeated Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) in the 2nd round at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, 6-4 6-4. The match lasted just 73 minutes.

Raonic got off to the best possible start, winning the first three points of the match to earn himself a string of break points. The single break proved to be the difference in the first set, and Milos had to save a break point to maintain the lead and put the set away. The second set played out much in the same way. Raonic got the necessary break despite Stakhovsky's best efforts to throw the Canadian a few curveballs.

It wasn't exactly a stellar performance from Milos on his serve tonight. The first serve percentage was a little low, although he only lost two points when he got his first serve in. Points won on second serve will have to improve if Raonic wants to contend for the title on Sunday.

Olivier Rochus (BEL) awaits Raonic in the quarter-finals. Rochus, currently ranked No.51, defeated Ryan Harrison and Alex Bogomolov Jr. on his way to the quarters. This will be their first meeting and the match is scheduled for Friday evening, not before 7PM CST. According to this tweet, the Raonic vs Rochus match will be shown on tape delay starting at 11PM EST:

Tennis Scheduling Change cont'd - Regions Morgan 2nd Qtr finals scheduled to be at 4 am ET tonight will now be moved earlier to 11:30 pm ET

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 24, 2012

-multi

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: