Raonic, clearly the next guy to break through and win a slam.

[sureshs]

Milos Rao is fantastic to watch because of his serve, and is a sportsman tennis need not be ashamed of (height and power).

[LBR1]

Key thing, he solved his biggest problem, passivity under pressure.
How many guys struggle with their issues year in and never adjust?

How long did it take Murray to get some cahones? Milos was a beast
and I can assure you the top 10 are quivvering in their Nikes.

He didn't rely on passive rallies waiting for the other guy to make a mistake,
and I hope he keeps that going. Whether he could do that consistantly
through 5 sets for two weeks is another story. I hope so. If he can,
then i can certainly contend.

[ruerooo]

Originally Posted by Mainad

Bear in mind that Del Potro won a Slam without ever winning a Masters title so it's not impossible that Raonic could do the same but I agree he needs to have a strong showing in the lead up events. He has an excellent chance to take his first 500 title in Tokyo tomorrow which will be a good start for him.

None of his other titles were 500s? San Jose I think is a 250, but ... ?

[ruerooo]

Originally Posted by sureshs

Milos Rao is fantastic to watch because of his serve, and is a sportsman tennis need not be ashamed of (height and power).

Why would "height and power" be something that would make fans of the sport more or less "ashamed" of a player?

BrATomic has both, and I'm regularly embarrassed that he's in the sport.



I like Milos because
- he works hard
- he fights
- when he has trouble with something he learns, and adjusts.

[tacou]

Guy bets Murray in a 500 and we are talking slams again?

50% of the Raonic threads are about him winning slams, the other 50% compare him to Isner/Karlovic.

Raonic is so much better than his peers because he has a weapon already. His serve is one of the best ever. However, he might not develop a ground game around it. There's no way of knowing.

I saw him play in Newport this summer, lost very comfortably to Ben Becker. His slam results so far have not indicated anything special.

[merwy]

You know what the problem is that I have with Raonic? I think he has a solid game and all, with the strong serve and steady baseline game. His serve will win him his service games. And his blunt and somewhat sluggish game is offensive enough to get a break in most sets and otherwise he can just play a tiebreak, which he also does well in because of his serve.

But I just don't see much room for improvement. I feel like.. this is it, you know? This is all we're going to see from him. He isn't going to suddenly change his technique and play like Federer or Djokovic, he will keep his clumsy technique and good serve. What is he going to improve? Serve harder? His movement might be improvable, but he will always keep moving uncomfortably because of his length. Same with Isner and Karlovic.

Nevertheless, he might get some Grand Slams here and there. If he keeps serving great throughout the tournament he might win it. And after the top 4 retires, he has time to win something big.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by ruerooo

Why would "height and power" be something that would make fans of the sport more or less "ashamed" of a player?

Because they give tennis a wimpy image

[Tennisguy3000]

It was nice to see his improved movement, shot making & touch... I hope to see him win a slam

[dangalak]

Originally Posted by merwy

You know what the problem is that I have with Raonic? I think he has a solid game and all, with the strong serve and steady baseline game. His serve will win him his service games. And his blunt and somewhat sluggish game is offensive enough to get a break in most sets and otherwise he can just play a tiebreak, which he also does well in because of his serve.

But I just don't see much room for improvement. I feel like.. this is it, you know? This is all we're going to see from him. He isn't going to suddenly change his technique and play like Federer or Djokovic, he will keep his clumsy technique and good serve. What is he going to improve? Serve harder? His movement might be improvable, but he will always keep moving uncomfortably because of his length. Same with Isner and Karlovic.

Nevertheless, he might get some Grand Slams here and there. If he keeps serving great throughout the tournament he might win it. And after the top 4 retires, he has time to win something big.

[Prisoner of Birth]

Originally Posted by tistrapukcipeht

I don't see anybody else besides him, no one else has enough game at a relatively comfort level (big serve gets it done) to beat the top guys.

Fed, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray and Del Potro have won, only guy besides these in prospect is Raonic, young enough with huge game and still can get a lot better.

What do you guys think?

I like watching him play. Wouldn't mind him getting one.

[norbac]

Let's see him make the Quarters of a Slam first. I would actually like to see him do well, looks like a real nice guy and even though I'm usually not into watching big serving games, I really don't mind watching Milos.

[Gut Check]

Originally Posted by merwy

But I just don't see much room for improvement. I feel like.. this is it, you know? This is all we're going to see from him. He isn't going to suddenly change his technique and play like Federer or Djokovic, he will keep his clumsy technique and good serve. What is he going to improve? Serve harder? His movement might be improvable, but he will always keep moving uncomfortably because of his length. Same with Isner and Karlovic.

He always gets lumped in with Karlovic and Isner in discussions about awkward movement, but he's really only in that group because of the quality of his serve. Physically, it's more appropriate to group him with players like Del Potro and Berdych. Unlikely Raonic's ground game will ever improve to the level of Berdych, mush less Del Potro, but it doesn't necessarily have to. Raonic has a bigger serve than either of them, and a willingness to go to the net.

In terms of areas for improvement, he could use a marginal bump in movement and endurance (those will come if he puts continues to put in the work like it seems he is doing already) but after that it's all between the ears. The top players always say that at a certain point in the rankings after which they all have significant abilities, it's a mental game more than anything else, especially on the key points. Raonic demonstrates many positive mental qualities already. Far beyond the other players in his generation, which is why he's already compiling a good record and the others mostly are not.

Who is to say whether Raonic can continue developing the mental side? If he can, he'll come across some big opportunities in his career. If he doesn't then you are probably correct his big results will be more spotty.

[Mainad]

Originally Posted by LBR1

How long did it take Murray to get some cahones?

By the time he was the same age as Raonic is now ie. 21 years and 9 months, Murray had already won 10 titles including 2 Masters and a 500 and had just appeared in his first Slam final, beating the world #1 Nadal to get there!

[Mainad]

Originally Posted by ruerooo

None of his other titles were 500s? San Jose I think is a 250, but ... ?

He currently has 3 titles, all 250s: 2011 & 2012 San Jose and 2012 Chennai. The biggest tournament finals he has made so far are 2011 and 2012 Memphis and 2012 Tokyo, all 500s.

[smoledman]

500 != slams.

[cc0509]

Originally Posted by merwy

But I just don't see much room for improvement. I feel like.. this is it, you know? This is all we're going to see from him. He isn't going to suddenly change his technique and play like Federer or Djokovic, he will keep his clumsy technique and good serve. What is he going to improve? Serve harder? His movement might be improvable, but he will always keep moving uncomfortably because of his length. Same with Isner and Karlovic.

Nevertheless, he might get some Grand Slams here and there. If he keeps serving great throughout the tournament he might win it. And after the top 4 retires, he has time to win something big.

I think you may be incorrect here. If you saw the match between Raonic and Murray in Tokyo you would have seen that Milos has improved in key areas such as his backhand, net play and ROS. He also was able to hang in there under pressure and not fold mentally as he has in the past in big match moments. He is much better than Isner and Karlovic imo.

I think he may have the goods to go all the way, we will have to see. Watch, now he will probably lose to Nishikori in the final.

[merwy]

Originally Posted by dangalak

I didn't mean steady in that he doesn't make many mistakes. But he does have a solid baseline game plan. He doesn't go into long Ferrer-like rallies, but plays a high-risk game and apparently it's good enough to get some breaks in here and there. Which is all that he needs to win the match if he wins all of his serve games.

[PeteD]

Originally Posted by merwy

You know what the problem is that I have with Raonic? I think he has a solid game and all, with the strong serve and steady baseline game. His serve will win him his service games. And his blunt and somewhat sluggish game is offensive enough to get a break in most sets and otherwise he can just play a tiebreak, which he also does well in because of his serve.

But I just don't see much room for improvement. I feel like.. this is it, you know? This is all we're going to see from him. He isn't going to suddenly change his technique and play like Federer or Djokovic, he will keep his clumsy technique and good serve. What is he going to improve? Serve harder? His movement might be improvable, but he will always keep moving uncomfortably because of his length. Same with Isner and Karlovic.

Nevertheless, he might get some Grand Slams here and there. If he keeps serving great throughout the tournament he might win it. And after the top 4 retires, he has time to win something big.

Watch a tape of the Tipsarevic match. Milos could improve by not dumping forehands into the middle of the net on putaway shots.

[ruerooo]

Originally Posted by sureshs

Because they give tennis a wimpy image

Right.

Ferru is #5 in the world, and a co-owner of the Valencia 500, but he's 5'9", so he's a "wimp". Okay.

I see we're not doing "logic and reason" today.

[Russeljones]

Originally Posted by AnotherTennisProdigy

Second, actually.

Well he should be proclaimed GOAT on the spot then.