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

[ruerooo]

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.

See, I don't see this. Every year, I see him improve something.

As the comms commented on at IW, between last year and this when he was doing his hip rehab, he also took time to put on some muscle weight in order to reinforce strength around those gangly joints and improve movement.

And I saw his USO match against MAndy as well as their SF last night, so I felt like I was able to see differences if there were going to be any. The first thing I saw was that ruthless backhand -- that was a groundstroke that was almost completely absent here in New York. I'm actually a little startled he was able to improve that that quickly.

The other huge difference I've seen between then and now, made evident not only in his semi but through this tournament, was mental. I'm an amateur photog of sorts, and I have some shots of the frustration that was evident on his face in his match with MAndy here. In this tournament, it feels like we've seen the complete opposite -- we've seen him fight for the point, go to the net, not be afraid to use his entire arsenal of shots, not give up, not be intimidated, not beat himself.

I think just based on what we've seen coupled with how young he is, there's still vast room for further improvement.

[kishnabe]

Originally Posted by Mainad

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!

No one said Raonic is more talented than Murray. Murray is aggresive and plays well during that time when it wasn't the slams.

When he got to the finals and a few semis....he played poor. Now he got the cahones in the bof5.

Now it Raonic turn to show some balls at the next HC slam.

[mattennis]

I don't know if Raonic will ever win a Slam but I'm sure he'll get into the top-10 very soon.

I think he's heading the right path in his tennis game. He needs to be a bit quicker at the net but he is already a very good volleyer (by todays standard).

[tistrapukcipeht]

Originally Posted by The Bawss

Just becausey he beat LOLrray doesn't mean he is going to break through. Bogomolov and Young beat LOLrray too, are they about to break through?

Not that, but Murray had been breezing through the draw easily and Murray played well.

It's also that nobody else has the serve Raonic has, which can get the job done against any player, even against Djokovic and Murray the best returners.

Come on, dude, Bogomolov (who is He??) and Donald Young?? Since when they even belong a talk where great players belong, these 2 have nothing that Raonic has.

[kaku]

Raonic will definitely win slams but it will be when the top 4 decline

[tistrapukcipeht]

Originally Posted by 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.

Exactly, He goes for it and He decides the result.

Originally Posted by 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.

Serve is the only thing raonic has in common with the other 2, everything else Raonic is better, and soon he will be in the top 10, He is maturing and once He gets to the level that He is comfortable and still can beat guys outside top 4 easily, it will be scary.

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.

He can still move a lot better and more efficiently, his return right now is awful for the level He plays, backhand can be a lot better and the hard work and mental fortitude is there, so that equals winning.

I'm comparing him and his chances to other up and comer guys, all others have much less game than Raonic.

[cc0509]

Originally Posted by kaku

Raonic will definitely win slams but it will be when the top 4 decline

The top four have declined, or at least Federer and to a lesser extent Nadal have. We need a new young gun to break through already, it is time.

[NadalAgassi]

It will be hard anytime soon since he would need to likely beat 3 of the top 4 in a row. The only one of the top 4 he has beaten at this point is Murray, and even he lost to easily when they met when it mattered in a slam. Still it would be nice to see. The first key is for him to get into the top 8 so he doesnt have that tough of matches until the quarters of a slam. Then go from there. Since he definitely isnt winning the Australian or French (is never winning the French of course, lol) he has until Wimbledon next year to do that, so plenty of time to take the first step to setting himself up.

[Down_the_line]

No he isn't, because, according to romeo888, he's one of the top 5 mentally weakest players in history.

Seriously though, I hope he does break through. He needs to round out his game, though.

[pound cat]

Originally Posted by Down_the_line

No he isn't, because, according to romeo888, he's one of the top 5 mentally weakest players in history.

Seriously though, I hope he does break through. He needs to round out his game, though.

Round out his game? Did you watch the Murray Tokyo semi?

The commentators talked about his speed on court, his net game. his brilliant bh, and his aggression. He could do no wrong. Wacth a couple of youtube highlights and see for yourself.

[rofl_copter3]

Ferrer is more likely to win one that raonic... Honestly raonic will have the same problems Isner faces unless he learns to play some defense and increase his ground stroke consistancy

[Clarky21]

If he's going to do it he's going to have to beat Fed and Cvac,and I just do not see that happening right now,especially when it comes to beating Cvac. He is also going to have to prove he can beat the top 3 in a slam,which is a lot more difficult to do than beating them in best of 3. Those guys are going to be his biggest obstacles. He has the ability to beat everyone else.

[Sid_Vicious]

Tomic needs to get his head in the game. He is almost 2 years younger than Raonic yet he has managed to reach the QFs of a slam unlike Raonic. I was impressed at how nicely he was getting under Djokovic's skin during the 2011 Wimbledon QF, since then he has been mugging it up.

[Smasher08]

Originally Posted by Clarky21

If he's going to do it he's going to have to beat Fed and Cvac,and I just do not see that happening right now,especially when it comes to beating Cvac.

Um, has he even played Gumby yet? As for his h2h with Fed, it's nothing to be sneezed at when you consider the fact that he's been taking sets off of FedEx.

In any event, Gumby has declined half a notch from the player he was in 2011. Federer is deservedly the world #1, but hangs on to it by a whisker. Nadal's knees may never recover sufficiently to let him play like he did even just four months ago.

The Big 4 won't be around forever, and the Canadian Cannon sure seems to have a lot of upside.

[dangalak]

Originally Posted by Sid_Vicious

Tomic needs to get his head in the game. He is almost 2 years younger than Raonic yet he has managed to reach the QFs of a slam unlike Raonic. I was impressed at how nicely he was getting under Djokovic's skin during the 2011 Wimbledon QF, since then he has been mugging it up.

Tomic has a strange style. He is a junkballer who is slow around the court. His forehand can create no spin, which is why Roddick was easily approaching that side with slice approaches.

His only chance to really break through would be to get a good serve and be super aggressive.

[Tony48]

Beating Murray is an indication of absolutely nothing

Having said that, he's a great player who is consistently making a bigger name for himself, but he's still got more work to do before I consider him a slam contender.

[winstonplum]

No one breaks through until they become spectacular movers like the top four. And Raonic has to shrink about three inches, because that extra height, while helping his serve, hurts his movement.

[Rozroz]

judging by the final atm he's back to his old self.
no way he could survive 5 setters like that.

[The Bawss]

I know Raonic and Nishikori aren't even in the same talent universe but still, Raonic shouldn't be in the process of eating a bagel is he "is about to break through".

[syc23]

ON TODAY'S FINAL RESULT:

DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!!!!

1,000,000 LOLs.