AP
An historic moment. Milos Raonic becomes the first Canadian man to win an ATP title with his 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) upset defeat of defending champion Fernando Verdasco at the SAP Open since Greg Rusedski won Seoul in 1995. And he did it in his first final
“It’s been amazing," the 20-year-old, who rises to No. 59 in the rankings today, said after the match. “I came here and had probably my best week. I can’t stop smiling. I’m happy about it and I hope I can keep it going more than six weeks into the full year schedule and see where I am at the end of the year.”
The match was mostly a serve-fest. The rallies that ensued were split pretty evenly by both players. But the turning point of the all-tiebreak affair came when Verdasco led 6-2 in the first set breaker and found a way to lose the next 6 points and the set. I don't recall what happened on the first 3 set points, but at 6-5 and serving in the ad court, Verdasco chose not to hit his swinging serve that had been winning easy points for him all match, choosing to serve up the T instead. Raonic blocked back a timid return short and Verdasco's forehand landed 10 feet wide. When they switched ends at 6-6, you could sense defeat for Verdasco and victory for Raonic.
Still, I always expected the veteran to pull out the match in three sets. Surely, a first-time finalist playing on his 8th tour level event is going to find a way to lose his way and the defending champion would pounce. But that wasn't to be. Raonic kept his composure throughout, didn't let a thing distract him, and on his first match point, struck a service winner out wide to claim victory.
These two are drawn to meet in the first-round of Memphis this week. Imagine that.
AP
Raonic receives a bottle of Canadien maple syrup and a San Jose Sharks jersey after the match.
0 comments:
Post a Comment