Raonic vs. Haas - who will win?

[InvisibleSoul]

Was impressed with Raonic's return of serve. He hit a lot of clean return winners.

[tipsytennis]

Good match, definitely deserved the win. Played well. Maybe it's time for Haas to hang up his racket and retire soon? haha, he was looking old tonight.

[Rock Strongo]

Looks like Raonic is starting to become a true all-courter. He's got it all now it seems.

He's still not the honey badger-type like Joachim Johansson was. But great to see someone being able to blast away everywhere though.

[Marius_Hancu]

@Marius_Hancu twitting @milosraonic Congrats! The intelligent, controlled, long game. Power isn't everything. Suffocate the opponents with placement. Yes.

[kishnabe]

Originally Posted by Marius_Hancu

@Marius_Hancu twitting @milosraonic Congrats! The intelligent, controlled, long game. Power isn't everything. Suffocate the opponents with placement. Yes.

Do you think his ROS and Backhand are actual permanent improvements......he was hitting those shots perfectly in the SF and today?

[Zildite]

Another title without being broken for Milos, adding to Chennai 2012.
This time he only faced one break point for the entire tournament

[Gut Check]

Originally Posted by kishnabe

Do you think his ROS and Backhand are actual permanent improvements......he was hitting those shots perfectly in the SF and today?

Both BH and BH ROS were also very good in the Davis Cup tie clincher versus GGL (I was there in Vancouver) Forehand was still so-so. I didn't see his first match versus Ramos that was a bit tighter.

He doesn't need to win matches from the baseline. He just needs to minimize losses from the back, which then should give him some break opportunities on a regular basis. He seems to be getting of the tiebreaker doldrums. Time will tell whether that's a trend or a blip.

[Ellipses]

Originally Posted by kishnabe

Do you think his ROS and Backhand are actual permanent improvements......he was hitting those shots perfectly in the SF and today?

Maybe not permanent, but if he's slowly showing that he's improving and if he can bring out that ROS and backhand for even a small percentage of games this year (say, 20%) then he'll break the top 10, easy.

[Chanwan]

Originally Posted by Ellipses

Maybe not permanent, but if he's slowly showing that he's improving and if he can bring out that ROS and backhand for even a small percentage of games this year (say, 20%) then he'll break the top 10, easy.

with 25 % he's top five with that hold game - easier said than done though

[faranell]

serving machines are a boring disgrace.

[Marius_Hancu]

Originally Posted by kishnabe

Do you think his ROS and Backhand are actual permanent improvements......?he was hitting those shots perfectly in the SF and today

Only time will tell ... but this was a thinking man's game, as opposed to the AO, at which point I would have suggested a change in coaching.

[Relinquis]

Originally Posted by tipsytennis

Good match, definitely deserved the win. Played well. Maybe it's time for Haas to hang up his racket and retire soon? haha, he was looking old tonight.

Haas took out half of america's young tennis talent in this tournament alone (Isner and S. Johnson). Had he played the other Americans he would have straight set'ed them as well. By your rationale the US should give up on men's tennis... hang up their sticks.

Milos was just better today and Haas didn't get a good read on Roanic's serve in the first set resulting in a lot of easy aces. It happens. Well done to Milos having backed up his solid serving with a much improved ground game*, but Haas played very well. Didn't look old at all in terms of his movement and ball striking.


* Perhaps other big servers should follow Milos' lead and train on red clay in Spain or South America to get a good ground game.

[stringertom]

Poor Milosh...get your breakout trophy in San Jose, back it up twice and what's the reward? Bye Bye SAP! Hope he has continued success somewhere else in mid-February.

[Relinquis]

He should try to play Dubai. Fast courts there would suit him.

[President]

Very impressed with Raonic, he is now definitely a better player than Isner and solid top 10 material. Backhand and movement looking a lot better!

[romeo8880]

Lots of improvement from Raonic. Let's see if he can sustain his level!

[vernonbc]

Originally Posted by President

Very impressed with Raonic, he is now definitely a better player than Isner and solid top 10 material. Backhand and movement looking a lot better!

This kid is very very very determined. Very very very. And he's very very smart.

With all the work he's put in to work on and improve the areas that he was deficient in plus with his attitude, the sky's the limit...not just Top 10.

[veroniquem]

San Jose is about the only event he's winning though... let's see if that ever changes. I'm not sure I agree with "sky is the limit". Outside of his serve, he hasn't shown that much game so far. One can hope he finishes the year in top 10 at least, which is definitely not a given. (He didn't last year). I'm also intrigued by the "very, very smart" comment. Are you basing this on interviews? I haven't noticed that superior intelligence on the court yet. But of course he's young and has plenty of time for improvement.

[Chanwan]

Originally Posted by veroniquem

San Jose is about the only event he's winning though... let's see if that ever changes. I'm not sure I agree with "sky is the limit". Outside of his serve, he hasn't shown that much game so far. One can hope he finishes the year in top 10 at least, which is definitely not a given. (He didn't last year). I'm also intrigued by the "very, very smart" comment. Are you basing this on interviews? I haven't noticed that superior intelligence on the court yet. But of course he's young and has plenty of time for improvement.

If he can get his return game up from around 15 % (the past two years) to 20+, he's def. top 10. If he can get it around 25 %, we have a big five.
Sampras was around 90-91 % in hold games and 27 % in return games in his good years.
Raonic is 93 % in hold. With anything about 20+ he's a dangerous man.

And from the looks of it this week, he knows that that is where he needs to improve.

[veroniquem]

I know but he always looks great in San Jose. He has to break through in other events, preferably not a 250. Memphis would be the perfect place to start