Raonic Defends SAP Title

[JimF]

Great play by Raonic today defending his title at the SAP Open over Istomin in straights.

All the attention will be on his serve, for good reason. He hit 150 mph in multiple matches this week, including 155 mph. And when you brace yourself for the heater, he throws in wide, short slice -- reliably. Good, all around serve not just pace.

But his game has improved substantially in the last year and Raonic's forehand may be what takes him to the next level. Hitting the forehand with more pace, and moving better to hit it from deep in his backhand corner. This was a fast surface, which obviously favors him. But Raonic has bounced back from hip surgery with a vengeance. Istomin has nothing to be ashamed of, played well this week.

If I picked the right photo, this is of his 150 mph serve today.


Raonic Serve150_SAPFinalFeb19 2124 by james.fawcette, on Flickr

 

[Devilito]

he's returning better than last year and is able to put more pressure on his opponents serve and pick up a few breaks here and there so every match isn't a 7-6 7-6 affair. His transition game has improved and his forehand is bigger and more consistent. Definitely a better player than he was last year and will be a nightmare on tour for anyone outside the top 6

 

[jakemcclain32]

2nd ATP win of the year. Leads everyone.

Congrats to him. Hope he's able to keep it up.

 

[Fifth Set]

This was a fast surface, which obviously favors him.

This is one of the main problems with the Raonic hype. There just aren't that many huge indoor events. I, like many, predicted a top 10 finish after a similarly impressive display last year. Then Milos let me down by checking out the rest of the year.

Yeah yeah, I know he was hurt, has few points to defend, etc. But another part of the problem is that the way the season is structured really hurts Milos. As soon as he picks up some steam, the events head outdoors (where it's harder to serve this big) and then to clay, where it's hard to serve big at all.

If all events were indoors on a fast court with a weak field like San Jose, Raonic would indeed rule the world!

 

[Devilito]

This is one of the main problems with the Raonic hype. There just aren't that many huge indoor events. I, like many, predicted a top 10 finish after a similarly impressive display last year. Then Milos let me down by checking out the rest of the year.

Yeah yeah, I know he was hurt, has few points to defend, etc. But another part of the problem is that the way the season is structured really hurts Milos. As soon as he picks up some steam, the events head outdoors (where it's harder to serve this big) and then to clay, where it's hard to serve big at all.

You' don't listen to anything anyone tells you. Milos is money on any surface the last 6 months of the year. Ironically those were the months he ended up MISSING due to injury. What part of that is not sinking into your head?

 

[vernonbc]

You' don't listen to anything anyone tells you. Milos is money on any surface the last 6 months of the year. Ironically those were the months he ended up MISSING due to injury. What part of that is not sinking into your head?

Don't be rude. Canadians are supposed to be nice so don't blow the image.

Milos didn't MISS the last six months of the year. He missed four months from June to September. In October and November he played as much as he could, in Tokyo (L R16 Nadal); in Shanghai (L R32 Ferrer); in Stockholm (L S Monfils); in Valencia (L R32 Cilic); and Paris (L R64 Benneteau). He had some good wins against Llodra, Baghdatis, Petzschner, and Dimitrov but obviously wasn't back to top speed.

I have no doubt he would have picked up a fair number of points on the North American hard court swing that he missed completely but we'll never know for sure. Hopefully he'll be healthy all of this year and we'll see how he does.

 

[Fifth Set]

You' don't listen to anything anyone tells you. Milos is money on any surface the last 6 months of the year. Ironically those were the months he ended up MISSING due to injury. What part of that is not sinking into your head?

I would love for your conclusions to be true, but I'm afraid that they are totally at odds with reality.

Look more closely at his 2011 in the link below. Milos came out of nowhere to win San Jose and had a great tournament in Memphis. It was all downhill from there, both before his injury and after he came back from it.

Early losses in Indian Wells and Miami. A bunch of first round losses on clay (predictably his worst surface). Then, AFTER his comeback, he did play five tournaments in 2011 in the last few months of the year. Only once did he make it past the second round.

I'm cheering for Milos to make a run for the top 10 this year, but I will leave it to you to make the predictions. I'm not very confident it's going to happen once the competition gets tougher, the matches move outdoors, etc.

http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Milos-Raonic.aspx?t=pa&y=2011&m=s&e=0#

 

[kishnabe]

I would love for your conclusions to be true, but I'm afraid that they are totally at odds with reality.

Look more closely at his 2011 in the link below. Milos came out of nowhere to win San Jose and had a great tournament in Memphis. It was all downhill from there, both before his injury and after he came back from it.

Early losses in Indian Wells and Miami. A bunch of first round losses on clay (predictably his worst surface). Then, AFTER his comeback, he did play five tournaments in 2011 in the last few months of the year. Only once did he make it past the second round.

I'm cheering for Milos to make a run for the top 10 this year, but I will leave it to you to make the predictions. I'm not very confident it's going to happen once the competition gets tougher, the matches move outdoors, etc.


http://www.atpworldtour.com/Tennis/Players/Top-Players/Milos-Raonic.aspx?t=pa&y=2011&m=s&e=0#

Ya what you are saying is true. Hopefully he changes this in IW and Miami. If it doesn't at least there is Paris Masters.....he can do a Llondra.

 

[Fifth Set]

Here's one of the things I feel is UNDER-rated about Milos - his personality is fun. If you saw any of the interviews this week, it seemed like he was almost playful with the crowd.

When asked if he has a special affinity for the Bay Area given how well he has done here, he said, "Yeah, if it wasn't so expensive here I might buy a house!" Got a bunch of LOLs.

 

[vernonbc]

Look more closely at his 2011 in the link below. Milos came out of nowhere to win San Jose and had a great tournament in Memphis. It was all downhill from there, both before his injury and after he came back from it.

Early losses in Indian Wells and Miami. A bunch of first round losses on clay (predictably his worst surface). Then, AFTER his comeback, he did play five tournaments in 2011 in the last few months of the year. Only once did he make it past the second round.

There are very reasonable explanations for how his year went. He did not manage his schedule well, which is not particularly surprising as he had never been in that situation before. When his year started he flew to India and played qualies, flew to Australia and played three rounds of qualies and 4 rounds of 5-setters, flew to S Africa and played two rounds of qualies and two rounds in the tourney, flew to California and played five rounds, flew to Tennessee and played five rounds. That's 24 rounds of tennis in a month and a half with less than one week off plus flying literally right around the world.

He even crazily was going to play the next week but his shoulder was giving him some problems (no wonder!) but he played Davis Cup for Canada the following week in Mexico before flying to Indian Wells. No wonder he was exhausted and wasn't at his best by then. Then on to clay which he had never played an ATP tournament on before and then grass where he was injured.

His comeback after his injury actually went pretty well. There's no shame in losing to Nadal and Ferrer and Monfils. I'll guarantee you that this year with proper rest and training between tournaments and a less grueling schedule he'll do much better. Milos plays very well outdoors. He hasn't been known as an indoor court player even though he's done very well in a couple of indoor tourneys. Hard courts period are his surface and I hope he stays healthy and gets his chance to shine.

 

[The Bawss]

Raonic has now defended a title on hard. Nadal hasn't.

 

[MG1]

^^ lol!!..Technically you are right!!

 

[Marius_Hancu]

funny thing, he lost 5 positions or so in the rankings (he's 35), and might lose more if he doesn't repeat the Memphis final, even though he's the only player to have already won 2 tourneys for the year, I guess

 

[Rock Strongo]

He didn't get broken as well!

Here's the 155 mph serve: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLOUsXu-wwI

 

[Marius_Hancu]

---
Despite winning in San Jose on the weekend, Canadian Milos Raonic fell three places to No. 35 in the new ATP Tour world rankings.

The 21-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., won the same tournament last year.

The schedule works against him in the new rankings. Raonic plays this week in Memphis, where he was runner-up last year. But that tournament was a week earlier in 2011, meaning those points are no longer included in the rankings.

http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=388331
---
Which means a relatively good result in Memphis should move him up, I guess??

 

[Tammo]

So Raonic has a 75% win in finals, and his second of 2012. So far so good. I expect maybe 5 or 6 titles this year form him.

 

[Devilito]

---
Despite winning in San Jose on the weekend, Canadian Milos Raonic fell three places to No. 35 in the new ATP Tour world rankings.

The 21-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., won the same tournament last year.

The schedule works against him in the new rankings. Raonic plays this week in Memphis, where he was runner-up last year. But that tournament was a week earlier in 2011, meaning those points are no longer included in the rankings.

http://www.tsn.ca/tennis/story/?id=388331
---
Which means a relatively good result in Memphis should move him up, I guess??

the rankings aren't really telling the story. If you follow the year end race that's more of a reflection on how players are currently doing and Milos is inside the top 10 right now. If he does well in Memphis it will move him up even more. Not to mention that after Memphis the rest of the year he has almost no meaningful points to defend. If he stays injury free imagine how many points he’s going to rack up then.

 

[pound cat]

the rankings aren't really telling the story. If you follow the year end race that's more of a reflection on how players are currently doing and Milos is inside the top 10 right now. If he does well in Memphis it will move him up even more. Not to mention that after Memphis the rest of the year he has almost no meaningful points to defend. If he stays injury free imagine how many points he’s going to rack up then.

Tom Tebutt..Globe and Mail..explains how success in Memphis would affect his rankings.

Should the third-seeded Raonic get past Gulbis and at least reach the final, his ranking will likely go inside his previous high of No. 25. Should he win the event, possibly facing top seed John Isner in the final, he should reach the top 20.

 

[vernonbc]

Tom Tebutt..Globe and Mail..explains how success in Memphis would affect his rankings.

Should the third-seeded Raonic get past Gulbis and at least reach the final, his ranking will likely go inside his previous high of No. 25. Should he win the event, possibly facing top seed John Isner in the final, he should reach the top 20.

Pound cat, bookmark this link. http://live-tennis.eu/ It's the best tool out there to see who's moving up or down and what their rankings might be.

 

[pound cat]

Pound cat, bookmark this link. http://live-tennis.eu/ It's the best tool out there to see who's moving up or down and what their rankings might be.

Thanks.............

 

[sdont]

Pound cat, bookmark this link. http://live-tennis.eu/ It's the best tool out there to see who's moving up or down and what their rankings might be.

No. It's the "race" to the WTF.

Not really an indication of what the rankings might be next week.

 

[CDNguy87]

No. It's the "race" to the WTF.

Not really an indication of what the rankings might be next week.

Click on the "Live ATP Ranking" tab at the top. The site has the live rankings as well as the live "race".

 

[CDNguy87]

It looks like Raonic may also have a fairly straightforward path to regaining his 300 finalist points from Memphis....all the seeds on his half of the draw are already gone.