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

Davis Cup results from Montréal and Thailand Open next week…

DAVIS CUP and BKK — [Sept.17] All ended well in Montreal, despite disappointing attendance — what happened there, Montreal fans?? Did you not learn from us in Vancouver?? — and the doubles loss. I think Milos played well against a “risen to the occasion” Stoltz, and better against Van der Merwe. As usual Milos’ after-match comments were right-on, though I think he was a bit hard on himself in saying he “waited for Stolz to lose” — this was no Sam Querrey; Milos did not let Stolz into the match at any time. And once Milos was up a set-and-break against Van der Merwe it was nice to see him trying out some not-quite-match-ready shots and plays; that’s the time to do it!

But I’m glad that Milos is making “do not wait for the other guy to lose” a mantra; getting into that habit will hopefully pay off when he’s up against top-30 and top-10 players. And I’m guessing that Galo Blanco included that line in the copious notes he was taking during the Friday match. I did notice that Galo did not feel the need to take notes on Sunday: and just enjoyed the match, along with the rest of the team and with Canadian tennis fans.

Next up is Bangkok. Draw is not out yet, but I’m putting in my wish-list: I would like to see Milos play Tipsarevic, but in the FINAL; so hopefully Milos will be on Gasquet’s side of the draw; will be a test for Milos, but one I think he can pass. That will put Simon on Tipsarevic’s side; I think I would prefer to see Troicki and Verdasco on that side as well. Which would put either Chardy or Nieminen in Milos’ quarter. Players in the mix for second round [Milos will have a first-round bye] include Tomic, Dimitrov, Karlovic and Monfils. Personally I would prefer Karlovic, since a) he’s often compared to Milos as another “big server” and b) his current ATP ranking is 90.

{submitted by Tomaso (thanks) }

Andy Murray defeats Milos Raonic – September 3rd, US Open 2012

Update: Match starts at 7:30 on Ashe, Williams sisters bumped to Armstrong for their doubles match.

http://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/242740545145942016

The Milos Raonic Canada Fan Blog on Twitter @MilosRaonicBlog

So, when I'm able, I tweet and retweet interesting stuff about Milos and tennis. Also, during matches I'm able to watch (I do have to do actual work sometimes...) I'l add my own 2 cents about what's going on.

I usually tweet something when I create a post on the site of any significance (as solely determined by me).

So, if you want, follow me @MilosRaonicBlog !

http://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/242720376218611712

Milos Raonic will take on Andy Murray tonight under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the 4th round match we've been waiting for...

Raonic's Post-Match Press:

After his win on Saturday versus James Blake (USA), Raonic had this to say:

Murray's Post-Match Press:

Andy Murray had this to say bout his win over Feliciano Lopez of Spain, and the much-anticipated 4th-round match with Milos:

Bonus... A try-out of a "Google+ hangout" by US Open, a Q & A between Milos and fans:

History

Of course, Raonic and Murray have met once before on tour, and Milos' victory in the Barcelona Quarter-Finals in April, earlier this year, is his biggest win to date (in terms of rankings) and was very exciting.

Read the comprehensive "Canada Fan Blog" post from that match here (remember when multi was talking about the "claymentum"): http://milosraonic.ca/blog/2012/04/27/milos-rolls-into-semis-in-barcelona/

It wouldn't be fair to post a highlight reel from that match in Barcelona, so here's the whole thing for your enjoyment... it deserves to be watched again (found it in English on YouTube!):

The Canadian Press wrote a nice article, worth a read from the Globe and Mail: "Raonic’s confidence high before U.S. Open fourth-round match against Murray"

How can we watch

Unfortunately, for Canadians looking to watch Milos, it can be frustrating.  If you happened to be an American and wanted to watch all of Raonic's matches in their glorious entirety, it would be easy, just slide on over to USOpen.org and pick which court you want to watch.  In Canada, TSN (really, Bell) owns all the rights, so USOpen.org is blocked.  TSN chooses only to stream certain matches, on certain courts, and won't stream the Milos match, apparently, if it will partly be shown during their regular coverage.  This is extremely annoying, since even though there are cameras on so many courts, you have no legitimate way to watch them as Canadians.  That sucks, and I encourage you to inform TSN of your frustrations somehow...

Anyways, to pretend to be an American on the Internet, you can use Tomaso's method he posted in an earler thread (assuming USOpen.org hasn't blocked the IPs):

Tomaso
September 1st, 2012 - 17:58

Not sure what’s happening right now [Saturday, Sept 1 11am EDT] but just in case “technical means” are necessary to view today’s online (and perhaps for future reference) one option is Hotspotshield > http://download.cnet.com/hotspot-shield/?tag=mncol;1 http://download.cnet.com/Sandboxie/3000-2144_4-10371434.html < and always run Hotspotshield from inside a sandboxed browser.

Tomaso
September 1st, 2012 - 18:03

Sorry: links above ran together, messed up second half of message. You may also want to install Sandboxie >> http://download.cnet.com/Sandboxie/3000-2144_4-10371434.html << and always run Hotspotshield from inside a sandboxed browser. If you install Hotspotshield you will want to choose NOT to install its toolbar, during installation. And only run Hotspotshield when you need it. It's ad-supported, but you can X-close ads.

wacb
September 1st, 2012 - 21:06

Thank-you Tomaso! There are paid VPN/Proxy services too for those who don’t want the ads. I hear StrongVPN and HideMyAss are good ones…

The other option is to google “live stream sports” or some similar search strings to find a live stream. Of course, take precautions to isolate your browser, as Tomaso suggests, when you’re dealing with sites which have “poor” reputations…

--wacb

Raonic def. Blake on Grandstand Saturday, 3rd match after 11PM

http://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/242045750941470720

---

TSN will be airing the match during their regular TV coverage tomorrow.  Raonic versus Blake will be the 3rd match after 11AM on Grandstand.

http://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/241698434992730112

http://twitter.com/Tennis_Canada/status/241655151339900928

http://twitter.com/ivokarlovic/status/241591146395074560

http://twitter.com/galo_blanco/status/241534824110768129

--wacb

Raonic def. Mathieu at US Open, will play in 3rd round this weekend

Raonic ousted Paul-Henri Mathieu today with a scoreline of 7-5, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in 2 hours and 10 minutes.  The match was a fairly routine win for Milos, he did face a break point late in the first set, but took care of it quickly:

http://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/241275344617885697

You can have a look at my comments while tweeting as @MilosRaonicBlog during the match, butin general, Raonic moved well, hit well, and served well.  He played aggressively to create break opportunities and followed up with conversions.  He took to the net numerous times, usually successfully.  Mathieu was outmatched today.

Here are some stats.  Note number of aces and first serve points won.

stats from USOpen.org

Click here for the short article from TSN.ca

Thanks again to TSN for streaming it online at http://www.tsn.ca/live/usopentennis/ . I hope they keep up the online so we can keep track even if we're not sitting in front of our TV sets (saves us the trouble of using technical means to pretend to be Americans on the internet for the USOpen.org coverage)!

It looks increasingly like it will be James Blake waiting for Raonic in the third round, as he's currently up 2 sets to love against Granollers on Louis Armstrong Stadium.  The 3rd round will be played on Saturday and Sunday for the Men's draw, with Milos most likely playing on Saturday.  No timings yet, but I'll keep you posted here and on twitter at @MilosRaonicBlog.

--wacb

Raonic to play Mathieu Thurs at ~2 pm EDT (on TSN.ca) EDIT: Maybe 3:30 PM?

UPDATE: I guess it will be a little later.  Jack Sock's match versus Cipolla is in the beginning of the 2nd set.

https://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/241236635289788419

TSN2 will be airing Raonic's match again, as well as TSN.ca (where it will be streamed live over the internet).  Head on over to TSN.ca/tennis at around 2PM and check it out.  Thanks TSN for covering it and for putting it on the 'net for us to see!

https://twitter.com/Tennis_Canada/status/240890481679147008

https://twitter.com/Tennis_Canada/status/240967841346641920

--wacb

Raonic def. Giraldo in 5 sets

I was not able to watch the match today (I sometimes need to take time out from being a tennis fan to actually work!).  I have it on good authority that the match went down like so:

Milos got a break at love to go up 4-2 in the first set and held on to the break to take that set 6-3.

At the end of the second set, with Milos serving at 4-5, he let the set get away from him with a poor service game.  They were tied at a set apiece.

I'm told another poor service game gave Giraldo a break in the third set, which he was able to hold on to, now up 2 sets to 1.  To put it as I was told: "maaan double faults goin e'rywhere. Giraldo goes up a break in the third. --multi"

In the fourth, Raonic and Giraldo broke each other, but after they got back on serve, Milos broke again, forcing a deciding set.

In the first service game of the fifth set, Milos had to save a break point.  Not a good sign going into a 5th set.  He was able to hang on and hold though (surprise, surprise).  Raonic broke Giraldo in the final game, to win the fifth and deciding set at 6-4.

It was a shkey game for sure, probably not pretty to watch.  We all know Milos is capable of such a better showing, and I look forward to improvements as we go through the rounds here at the US Open.

No timing yet, but Tennis Canada is reporting that Milos will be playing on Thursday for his second round match against Paul-Henri Mathieu (weather permitting), since his half of the draw won't play on Friday.

Paul-Henri Mathieu has 4 titles since turning pro in 1999 (9 years before Raonic).  Mathieu, the 128th-ranked Frenchman, beat Igor Andreev (ranked 100th) in 5 sets in their first round matchup, having to come back from a 2 set deficit by winning the 3rd and 4th sets in tiebreakers, then winning the fifth 6-1.  Milos has yet to meet Mathieu in a match on the tour.

Report from ATP World Tour: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/08/35/US-Open-Tuesday-Berdych-Holds-Off-Goffin.aspx

Here's some info from the twitter-verse today, with links to some pics and a video interview with Milos Raonic, following his first round win today:

http://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/240544721418731520

http://twitter.com/Tennis_Canada/status/240523102155591680

http://twitter.com/Tennis_Canada/status/240530525125758976

One fan had this advice for Milos (comment from the previous post):

Tennis Fan
August 28th, 2012 - 16:12

Raonic, great to see you pull that out of the fire. In your last few matches you were standing closer to the baseline and doing well. This match you faded further and further back which made the chore of winning increasing difficult. You have to stand closer to the court … you are putting yourself in poor positioning by standing so far back. I have criticized this before of your game and is probably the biggest issue confronting your success. You have to consciously make yourself play more aggressively by standing forward and then the success will come. I think your getting closer now. good luck at the US open this week (and NEXT!)

TOM simply mentioned it was a character builder.  I tend to agree that this can be motivational - as Milos will expect more from himself than the perfermance he gave this morning.  I suspect he did not like the feeling of being down 2 sets to 1 against a player he should be beating...

--wacb

Milos Raonic up first, 11AM EDT, on Court 11 on Tuesday, August 28th

Milos will play Santiago Giraldo of Columbia on Court 11 tomorrow, starting at 11AM Eastern.  The match will be aired live on TSN2, as tweeted by Tennis Canada (see below).  Of course, the schedule may change due to rain...  Order of play here: http://www.usopen.org/en_US/scores/schedule/schedule8.html

Giraldo will hope to do better than the straight-sets loss he suffered to Raonic in the first round of Wimbledon earlier this year (of which the last 80 seconds had to be played the day after the match began, due to rain delay).

http://twitter.com/Tennis_Canada/status/240243854798897153

--wacb

The 2012 US Open Draw for Milos

Milos Raonic to meet Santiago Giraldo in the first round, potential match with Andy Murray in the fourth round.

Draw is out; Milos is in the second quarter, with Murray. His “on paper” path to R16: (with ATP rankings)
1. S. Giraldo (47) 2. I. Andreev (97) 3. M. Granollers (25) 4. A. Murray (4)

Not bad, overall: a “par” performance will take Milos to R16, for 180 points, and a probable ATP ranking of 15. If he can get past Andy Murray, he’ll meet Roger Federer, which of course we would all love to see.

Raonic into the top 16 in ATP rankings, means he avoids top-16 opponents for first 3 rounds

The new rankings are in:

It was close... he's 10 points ahead of Gilles Simon and 5 points behind the Dolgo.  Raonic is in the top-16, which is quite a good place to be 2 weeks before a grandslam tournament.  Since the "seeds will be based on the August 20 rankings" (link), Raonic will not have to face anyone seeded within the top 16 until the 4th round (R16) of the US Open.  There will be a top-8 player in Raonic's section of the draw that would be his 4th round opponent should they win their matches in the first three rounds.  If that particular top-8 player doesn't make it to the 4th round, even the 4th round opponent will be outside the top-16.

for the record, 17th would have been fine (which is where Milos would be had Simon not lost early in Cincinnati) since at least Raphael Nadal has indicated he won't be playing in the US Open, freeing up his seeding position and bumping those below him up 1...

http://twitter.com/MilosRaonicBlog/status/237379617483288576

--WACB

Raonic .vs. Wawrinka…

1st set:

On the first service game from Wawrinka, both players were tentative, he had to save a break point before he won the game. The next game was a little sloppy from both players as well, but Milos pulled it off. 1-1.

In the following game, some errors for both players, but they got to deuce. Milos got another break point and Wawrinka dbl faulted to go down a break early in the match.

In the next game Milos was still shakey. In fact, both players still seemed nervous. Milos was able to hold though with some big power shots.

A big, easy hold for Raonic followed, pounding the ball from the baseline on serve and the shot following the serve, as necessary.

A few errors from Wawrinka, again, seeming nervous, gave Raonic dbl break pt. He lost the first one by sending a forehand long, but Wawrinka played a very poor point on the next rally. With Milos on the defence, the point turned around when Milos read the play well and Wawrinka didn't quite read it so well... Wawrinka tried to salvage with a volley at the net from his feet, but wasn't able to. Raonic up two breaks of serve.

Raonic played very well in the next game. He seemed to dominate every aspect of the game, serving, forehand, volleys, even defence on the baseline. He picked corners on big power forehands, winning easily. 6-2 in the first set.

2nd set:

Wawrinka was still uneasy. His first service game of the second set went to deuce. The ump made a good call to replay the point that was played at deuce when someone in the crowd heckled Wawrinka during the serve. Wawrinka had words with the spectator, and during the changeover, the ump assured him it was taken care of. Wawrinka was able to hang on to win the game.

141 mph ace from Raonic to start the next game, which seemed to wake up the crowd a bit. He's still on fire. After getting to 40-0, he lost a couple of points on errors, 40-30. Another ace put away the game though, 1-1.

Wawrinka started ok in the next game, but some errors crept in and it went to deuce. Some good volleys and a forehand down the line on a quick change of direction by Stan won him the game though. Still on serve, though Wawrinks

139 mph ace to start the next service game from Raonic! Then two aces up the middle, he's only lost 1 pt on a first serve to this point! The final attempt at an ace went just long, but an error in the rally that followed from Wawrinka ended a quick game in Milos' favour.

Wawrinka served well in the next game, with a couple of good forehands and an ace to top It off. 3-2 for Wawrinka, still on serve.

A quick, easy service game followed from Raonic. He's now won 19 of 20 pts when he gets the first serve in.

Wawrinka held the next game, as did Milos (including another 2nd serve ace). 4-4, 2nd set.

Stanislas held again, rather routinely. He seems to have loosened up lately, and the games are flowing a little better, with a few more rallies. Still though, Milos is dominating in aces, 1st and 2nd service pts won, winners, etc. 5-4 for Wawrinka, Milos to serve.

Ace, but a couple of errors, and it's 30-30. A great point follows, with Wawrinka working hard to cover the court extrememly well, but makes an unfortunate error on the next point after Milos put the volley in the path of his famous backhand. Milos holds. 5-5.

Wawrinka did well to hold on the next game, hitting some nice shots and exposing Milos' backhand a little. He hit another ace to close out the game. A mediocre game from Milos and Stan followed, but Milos held, here comes a tiebreak.

Milos hit a weak shot into the net on Wawrinka's first service pt. He then hit one long in a rally, but put in a good 2nd serve that Wawrinka wasn't able to keep within the white lines. Milos constructed a good point to follow though, getting his mini-break back. 2-2. Another long rally, and Wawrinka hit one that looked to be just long, though his challenge reversed the decision and they replayed the point. Another decent rally was played, and then Wawrinka hit a ball long enough that hawk-eye couldn't save him. Milos up a mini-break. A good hold from Raonic on the next point, but Wawrinka passed him on the next pt. Back on serve.

Wawrinka hit another ace, very competitive to end this 2nd set. An error from Milos gave him another mini-hold, and we're still on serve. Milos committed an error on a rally following his 2nd serve. 4 consecutive pts for Wawrinka following Milos' 4 pt streak. Now Wawrinka has 2 set pts. He sends the rtn of serve long on the first one, but on the next pt, after his second serve, he picked the corner on a powerful forehand. 1 set each now, 3rd set to follow. Wow, Wawrinka picked the right time to start outplaying Raonic!

3rd set:

A quick, easy hold for Raonic to start, apparently not shaken by the momentary surge from Wawrinka that allowed him to go up that mini-break. A hold from Wawrinka, but Milos, for the first time in the match, dropped his level of play during his service game for long enough to give the first break opportunity to Wawrinka. He converted on an error from Milos. A bad overhand smash miss, a bad forehand miss into the net, and all of a sudden an hour and a quarter of dominance gives way to a break for Wawrinka.

Raonic tried to turn it up in the next game to get it back, getting to 30-30, but he put in a couple of errors trying to outpower Wawrinka as he'd done in the first couple of sets. Wawrinka holds, then Milos was on his way to a hold, until an error and double fault brought it to deuce. He made us nervous on a fault on his first serve, but the 2nd serve that Stan couldn't return made up for it. His next serve was also a zinger, allowing him to barely hold on to hold Wawrinka to a one break advantage.

Wawrinka put in his best game of the match on his service game. He held at love.

Continuing his form into the next game, Wawrinka showed some of the skill that he used to get into the top 10 earlier in his career. It seems like he's starting to figure out how to return Milos' first and second serves (hopefully he keeps it to himself!). No free points and he had to work hard for it, but Milos gets the hold. 4-3 for Wawrinka, who will serve to stay on top in the 3rd set...

Milos came out hungry again in the next game. Outlasting Wawrinka on the first point, and constructing a good point on the 2nd before putting an attempted winner into the net cord. He wasn't able to rtn Wawrinka's next serve. 30-15 for Wawrinka. Stan tried to go behind Milos on the next rally, but Milos read the play and held his ground during the shot, and Stan forced it wide. The next rally was slow, and Wawrinka put in a sloppy forehand error, unusual for him so far in the 3rd set. Brk pt for Raonic. Wawrinka required a 2nd serve, but he impressed with a great forehand error. Deuce. As the longest rally of the match ensues on the next point, we get the feeling this game means a lot to both players... Wawrinka sends a shot long, and it's adv Raonic, brk pt. He put a shot into the net though, going back to deuce. Wawrinka did well to construct and win the next couple of points, holding, but just barely. Best tennis if the match thus far! Raonic serves to stay in the tournament...

Starting with a first serve ace at 134 mph and some big power on the next point, Milos sped to 30-0. Another of his famous 3-shot rallies (incl his serve, of course) put him up 40-0. His next similar attempt went into the net though and he dbl faulted pretty badly on the next pt to make it 40-30. He pounded an ace next though, out wide. 5-4 for Wawrinka, who has an opportunity to serve out the match after the changeover...

Wawrinka opened up with a big point, pounding a shot down the line at 100 mph. Another big powerful shot across the court put him up 30-0. He threw in an ace next, 40-0. He missed an overhand attempt on a defensive lob from Milos, 40-15. Wawrinka held on to win the match.

Kudos for Wawrinka to play so well after being down in that 2nd set tiebreak. Not only did he raise his level to win that tiebreak, but he kept up the level for enough of the 3rd set to get a break and hang onto it to the end. A great, entertaining match, showing exquisite quality from both players! Bravo!

--wacb