Are Nishikori and Dimitrov already superior players than Raonic?

[Amelie Mauresmo]

Milos Raonic is number nine in the world and in Canada he gets a lot of press. However, the Canadian media are rarely critical. If you look closely at Milos results he is consistent BUT he is also not improving. There is no extraordinary performance from Milos other than perhaps beating Murray in Indian Wells. Yet Milos is 0-9 against the rest of the big four. Meanwhile, Nishikori and Dimitrov are improving dramatically and I believe they will pass Milos in the rankings soon. Milos has not had the big results like Kei or Grigor yet. Milos lost again in the QF round against Carlos Berlocq. Meanwhile, Nishikori and Dimitrov both have won multiple titles this year. Also, Nishikori and Dimitrov have won ATP 500 titles while Milos is 0-4 in ATP 500 finals. Milos might be ranked higher but it seems to me that Kei and Grigor are going to pass him in the rankings very soon. Kei also beat Federer for the second time in Miami and reached the semifinals there. Although Milos is ranked higher I think Kei and Grigor are going to be better they have superior movement and athleticism than him. Milos has the power and he is trying to be more aggressive but he still has not come up with the big wins yet.

 

[Chanwan]

Not sure about Kei, but I def. expect Dimi to have a better career than Milos. And yes, Milos has plateaued. I had much higher hopes for him 2-3 years back. But his flaws are either not fixable or he's not good enough at fixing them.

 

[WalterWhite]

Kei is a better player than Raonic…Raonic is starting to be another John Isner, just counting on his serve.

 

[stringertom]

Nishikori has 5 titles and a QF slam best result but yet to crack top 10. Raonic has the same count on titles, a R16 best slam result and is top 10. Pretty much a wash.

Dimitrov falls below in titles and rankings but has the most recent best slam result, QF @AO'14.

Will they become better players? Yes and most definitely yes for Dimitrov.

I thought the Ljub job would have sorted out the delicate workings of the Raonicmobile but the mechanic needs a bit more tinkering before any checkered flags at the finish line.

 

[Terenigma]

Raonic is criminally underated on this forum. Dimitrov has yet to really prove himself at the top level and Raonic is a better player than Nishikori imo. So he has a serve that wins him some easy points. You still need to be talented to serve that well, that consistantly.

Raonic has had more consistant results than both players at slams and altho he hasnt made a QF yet, He has been gradually getting better each year and he is around the same age. Nishikori has been around for longer and has still yet to make a serious impact. I dont understand how either player can be seen as progressing faster or becoming a better player than Raonic when he is already doing better than both of them and has the same room for improvement that they have.

 

[movdqa]

Nishikori has had injury problems but he's definitely mentally tougher than Raonic. It seems like Raonic's issues are in his head as he's pretty talented.

 

[NADALRECORD]

Raonic is criminally underated on this forum.

He's just not likeable.

 

[stringertom]

Nishikori has had injury problems but he's definitely mentally tougher than Raonic. It seems like Raonic's issues are in his head as he's pretty talented.

I think his issues are at the other extremity...not a smooth mover and reaction isn't great on ROS. Consequently, he relies on winning too many TBs. Going in to the USO last year, he was just 12-11 in TBs, quite weaker than the other big serve/no return giant Isner.

 

[SoBad]

Raonic is poor man's Karlovic, while Dimitrov and Nishikori have everything it takes to win multiple slams. Dimitrov comprises the Sampras authority combined with Safin talent, while Nishikori shadows the great Rafa Nadal.

 

[cc0509]

Raonic is poor man's Karlovic, while Dimitrov and Nishikori have everything it takes to win multiple slams. Dimitrov comprises the Sampras authority combined with Safin talent, while Nishikori shadows the great Rafa Nadal.

There is so much wrong with this statement it is not even funny.

Dimitrov comprises the Sampras authority? :shock:

Safin is mega overrated.

Nishikori shadows the great Nadal? :lol:

Keep dreaming.

 

[Fxanimator1]

Raonic is criminally underated on this forum. Dimitrov has yet to really prove himself at the top level and Raonic is a better player than Nishikori imo. So he has a serve that wins him some easy points. You still need to be talented to serve that well, that consistantly.

Raonic has had more consistant results than both players at slams and altho he hasnt made a QF yet, He has been gradually getting better each year and he is around the same age. Nishikori has been around for longer and has still yet to make a serious impact. I dont understand how either player can be seen as progressing faster or becoming a better player than Raonic when he is already doing better than both of them and has the same room for improvement that they have.

Hasn't Dimitrov already beaten Raonic? He certainly has a more complete game. Raonic is not a very likable player, especially with the cheating thing he did last year in Canada. Also he looks like a school yard "bully". Kai is mentally much better than Raonic as well.

 

[djokovicisananimal]

Raonic is so over rated.

Nishikori and Dimitrov are talented players.

 

[JanowiczJ]

Both are way more talented than Raonic and both will have a much better career than Raonic when it's all said and done.

Raonic just had a top5 weapon on his side that let him become a top10 earlier, but that's it. He's only going down.

 

[djokovicisananimal]

The thing with Raonic is, if he gets his serve broken it's pretty much set lost for him as his return is so bad.

 

[6-1 6-3 6-0]

Overrated, ugly oaf with a giant serve and nothing else. Will win nothing but Mickey Mouse titles against players who haven't figured out how to return his serve. He's just another freak of the ATP tour -- much like Karlovic or Isner. Nobody really likes him, other than to simply point and laugh -- save for the handful of Canadians ready to torch Daniel Nestor in the hopes that Raonic will make something of himself.

 

[Fedfer]

I think that Dimitrov will have a better career than Raonic, even if the canadian player is improving his game.

 

[West Coast Ace]

Raonic is criminally underated on this forum.

Canadian? What has he done to deserve more respect? He won a bunch of serving contests indoors. His ROS and BH are terrible. Make Roddick look like Borg.

Sorry to be harsh. He seems like a very good guy and quite intelligent.

I think his issues are at the other extremity...not a smooth mover and reaction isn't great on ROS.

The Truth. One of the biggest appeals of the men's game is the athleticism; he doesn't have much. Even his big shot - the serve - while effective is a stitched together mis-mash of moves.

Dimitrov has yet to really prove himself at the top level....

3 titles in 8 months after switching to Rasheed? What's it going to take? Beat Djokovic in Madrid; has given Nadal and Murray good matches.

 

[kishnabe]

Raonic isn't underrated he will have a solid top 20 career....Hopefully he might squeak something big in his late 20's.

Though I see Dimitrov having a better career and Nishikori having similar Career to Raonic.

 

[Ironwood]

Overrated, ugly oaf with a giant serve and nothing else.QUOTE]

Now that's just an ignorant comment! Milos doesn't have the whole package to reach the top 3 or 4, but he's risen to #9 and could hang around the top 10 for a while. If that's as far as he ever gets, what's wrong with having been a top 10er for a brief period. To rise to the top you need at least one big weapon. His first serve is as good as it gets and his second is quite underrated. His mobility is improving as his back hand and his net game is not shabby. He will never have the footwork of Nadal, Fed or Djokovic, but he and Isner can say they are the best of the big guys. We don't want 100 Rafa clones, we want to see a match up of different styles, strokes and physiques...it keeps it interesting. Raonic is a very good player and I enjoy watching him.

 

[InvisibleSoul]

He will never have the footwork of Nadal, Fed or Djokovic, but he and Isner can say they are the best of the big guys.

Except he isn't actually one of the "big guys". Isner is 6'10". Karlovic is 6'11". Janowicz is 6'8". Kevin Anderson is 6'8". Those are the real "big guys".

Raonic is "only" 6'5"... which is the same as Berdych, and shorter than Del Potro's 6'6".

I don't argue that he plays "big guy" tennis though, as in relying heavily on his serve, much more so than many other guys that are taller than him.

 

[monfed]

Doesn't this debate essentially boil down to big serve vs ground game? On a truly quick surface, an onfire Raonic might be unstoppable.

 

[Ironwood]

Except he isn't actually one of the "big guys". Isner is 6'10". Karlovic is 6'11". Janowicz is 6'8". Kevin Anderson is 6'8". Those are the real "big guys".

Raonic is "only" 6'5"... which is the same as Berdych, and shorter than Del Potro's 6'6".

I don't argue that he plays "big guy" tennis though, as in relying heavily on his serve, much more so than many other guys that are taller than him.

Ok, Ok...you're right!. He's not Isner or Karlovic's height...he's on the small end of the big guys. I'm 5'10" and stood close to Milos a couple of years ago, and he sure looked big to me!

 

[Backspin1183]

Nishikori perhaps is. Dimitrov? Hell no!

 

[Midaso240]

Nishikori perhaps is. Dimitrov? Hell no!

I saw them play at the Australian Open 3rd round and it was pretty clear that Dimitrov was the better player

 

[Backspin1183]

I saw them play at the Australian Open 3rd round and it was pretty clear that Dimitrov was the better player

Raonic had just returned from an injury. Milos has 5 ATP titles and been ranked in top ten. If you only look at the head to heads, Dimitrov is yet to take one set from Nishikori.

When the much hyped Bulgarian actually wins more, I'll consider him superior. As of now Milos is ahead of him.

 

[West Coast Ace]

^^^^^ Title said 'superior tennis player' which I'm interpreting to mean overall game, not to date results. And to that end, KN and Grigor are clearly ahead; Raonic has a poor BH and return of serve (for a pro). Movement is very bad.

 

[chjtennis]

According to the ranking, Raonic is the best of his generation. The only way to prove you are better than others in tennis is to win titles and be ranked higher.

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

1- Nishikori
2- Raonic
3- Dimitrov

 

[tipsa...don'tlikehim!]

First one to win a grand slam will be Nishikori.

 

[bubuly]

Nishikori just beat Raonic in Madrid. Dimitrov lost against Berdych.

So we have our answer

 

[chjtennis]

Nishikori just beat Raonic in Madrid. Dimitrov lost against Berdych.

So we have our answer

I'd say clay is Raonic's worst surface and we need to see the whole year first.

 

[tennisdad65]

Nishikori just beat Raonic in Madrid. Dimitrov lost against Berdych.

So we have our answer

Nishikori narrowly beat Raonic by 2 pts each set on clay. Raonic will have an advantage on Hard/Grass/Indoors. Very impressive serving from Nishikori (9 aces vs. 1 double fault). Not too shabby for a guy who is only 5-10..

 

[Backspin1183]

Nishikori narrowly beat Raonic by 2 pts each set on clay. Raonic will have an advantage on Hard/Grass/Indoors. Very impressive serving from Nishikori (9 aces vs. 1 double fault). Not too shabby for a guy who is only 5-10..

Nishikori bageled him on a fast hard court.

 

[Ironwood]

Nishikori bageled him on a fast hard court.

Raonic played that match with a bad ankle. But not to take anything away from Nishikori as, I like his game. If they should ever meet at Wimbledon, my money would clearly be on Raonic!

 

[movdqa]

Wimbledon is best 3/5 - basically more chances for Raonic to mentally crumble.

 

[Bukmeikara]

According to the ranking, Raonic is the best of his generation. The only way to prove you are better than others in tennis is to win titles and be ranked higher.

Numbers never lie but Dimitrov is one year younger and for the past seven months has won 3 titles a feat only matched by Djokovic and Wawrinka. He has a QF at a Slam while Raonic has never been past the fourth round. Grigor had won a title on three different surfaces and his Acapulco one is better than anything that Milos has won. In the next months its quite possible that Dimitrov would perform better on clay and grass than Raonic.

Still right now Nishikori is playing like a solid top 5 and for me he has the lead but Dimitrov improves qiute fast, who would expect that he would be at this position 12 months ago?

 

[Backspin1183]

Nishikori is now 2-0 vs Raonic, and 2-0 vs Dimitrov.

 

[peakofthebounce]

Nishikori is now 2-0 vs Raonic, and 2-0 vs Dimitrov.

That's nice, but all three of them will never win a single Slam between them - you can count on that.

 

[Backspin1183]

That's nice, but all three of them will never win a single Slam between them - you can count on that.

Good luck with your prediction. I think they win.

 

[coolboarder]

Here is what I think of Raonic's match today. He did nothing wrong and it is just that one or two points swing could go other way. They are equal, and is not better than one of both. The first time Nishikori played against Raonic, it was in Japan, his home court advantage from two years ago and Raonic was coached by Galo Blanco so therefore in that match, it has a bagel so Raonic was not the same player from two years ago. I would discard the head to head record until 5 games in and I would be able to judge the match-up better. Just because they played two match between Raonic and Nishikori does not mean that one has an upper hand even Nshikori beat Raonic twice.

I just think that Milos will get better with his returning game as long as he keeps on working the approach on how to play against certain players. He has reached some consistence in his game play and should be able to figure things out for himself to get over the hump. Sometimes in the match, he tend to go for points too early during the ROS, the result is that he made too much unforced errors compared to Nishikori. He has to approach things differently if he wants to beat Nishikori. Once he learns to be patience and at a right moment, he can go for shots and not be rushed. I feel if he is rushed, his UE is high.

I love his service game and I would not change one bit but to add more arsenal and more pattern to add more unpredictability in his already variant service game. It is just that his return game could improve another 5% if he learns to be patience on his shot selections.

 

[chjtennis]

Numbers never lie but Dimitrov is one year younger and for the past seven months has won 3 titles a feat only matched by Djokovic and Wawrinka. He has a QF at a Slam while Raonic has never been past the fourth round. Grigor had won a title on three different surfaces and his Acapulco one is better than anything that Milos has won. In the next months its quite possible that Dimitrov would perform better on clay and grass than Raonic.

Still right now Nishikori is playing like a solid top 5 and for me he has the lead but Dimitrov improves qiute fast, who would expect that he would be at this position 12 months ago?

ATP ranking is a good system. If Dimitrov and Nishikori keeps playing well, they will soon overtake Raonic. In fact, Nishikori can do it in the next match. We will be able to discuss about who's the best after US Open, I think.

 

[chjtennis]

That's nice, but all three of them will never win a single Slam between them - you can count on that.

I think that's a silly comment. In 3 years(or maybe even earlier), they will be the ones winning slams instead of Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic.

 

[JanowiczJ]

I think that's a silly comment. In 3 years(or maybe even earlier), they will be the ones winning slams instead of Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic.

Federer, yep. Nadal and Djokovic will still win Grand Slams after that. Anyways, I believe Milo will never win a slam, not talented enough.

I have a lot of hopes for Nishikori and some for Dimitrov but I believe when the top guns retire (5 years from now) we'll see an emerge of even younger players that are better than those 3. Players molded by the previous generation that'll set the bar even higher.

Nishi, Dimitrov and somehow Raonic will have a 3 year window to win a Slam before the new generation arrives and they go out of prime themselves.

I believe Nishi can change that. He could start winning a slam before Djokovic, Nadal and even Murray(I don't think he's done) finally go downhill but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[Lea]

Feel sorry for Nishi and his injuries - great player. Hope DImi can improve in the following tournaments just like Kei. It will be an exiting Top 10 with those two.

 

[Amelie Mauresmo]

The Canadian media hype for Milos Raonic is overrated. Raonic has YET to reach even a slam QF yet all the other young players have. Nishikori reached the SF in Miami on hard beating Ferrer and Federer. Nishikori beat Ferrer again in Madrid and only lost the final to Nadal because he got injured. I am very impressed by Kei he can win on more than just one surface. Milos does look like a one trick pony he is only good on the hardcourts so far in his career.

 

[Amelie Mauresmo]

Kei is a better player than Raonic…Raonic is starting to be another John Isner, just counting on his serve.

Kei will be number nine in the world next week ahead of Milos Raonic.

 

[West Coast Ace]

Raonic's BH and return of serve are still huge liabilities. Ljubicic seems to be helping - just not sure that it can be enough. So unless the USTA or W really crank up the courts and balls so he could serve his way to a major, I just can't see it.

Dimitrov, definitely. And given Nishikori's improvements, maybe.

 

[Mainad]

IMO Nishikori is now definitely superior to both of them and tomorrow's updated rankings will confirm this!

His form in Barcelona and Madrid (winning the first and almost winning the second) has been just awesome. His current fitness issues are clearly the only obstacle to him going even further. He was 6-2 and 4-3 up against Rafa in Madrid today before fatigue (from yesterday's gruelling semi) and back problems finally kicked in and robbed him of an almost certain victory. Prior to that,I don't think I have ever seen Nadal so nervous and unsure what to do in a claycourt match since his 2011 tussles with Djokovic!

 

[Marius_Hancu]

Somehow I feel that at RG Dimitrov would be longer lasting than the other two.

Will see.

 

[Backspin1183]

Somehow I feel that at RG Dimitrov would be longer lasting than the other two.

Will see.

Dimitrov is more likely to lose early at the French than Kei for sure.