Milos Raonic is the 26th seed here at the Sony Ericsson Open but in the coming years you just might see the number next to his name drop to a single digit.
The intelligent Canadian is showing all the signs of becoming a top ATP player, and also making all the right sounds.
“My inspirations and aspirations are to be one of the best players in the world. They are to be competing consistently for titles like this. And if you see how consistently the top guys do it, they’re in the semis pretty much every week. If you want to win a title like this, you have to beat at least one or two of them. You have to be good enough to beat these guys. You’re not going to squeeze by them in the draw. They’re going to be there, especially in the big events.”
You get the sense Raonic welcomes the chance to mix it up with the big dogs, there is not a hint of fear or doubt in his demeanor. “That’s where I want to be. It’s the kind of events I want to be winning. It’s the kind of events I want to be contending for. I’m going to do the work I need to do to be in that position.”
Raonic will attempt to capture a big scalp in the third round – that of Andy Murray. When asked if he needs to do anything differently in his game to combat the multi-dimensional Murray, Raonic replied, “Obviously, I have to serve well, take care of my serve. That’s my job against everybody I play. I’m fortunate enough that I have the type of game style where it is to impose and dictate. So I don’t feel like I need to change too much. I feel I just need to clean up a few things, hopefully do them well, and I know if I do that I will have my opprtunities.”
…to annihilate Andy Murray and advance to the fourth round of the Sony Ericsson Open, and another chance to play the type of tennis to challenge and bust his way into the exclusive elite level of the ATP.
Notes: I watched much of Raonic’s victory over Arnaud Clement in the second round. He was in danger on numerous occasion, having lost his serve at love while attempting to seal the first set. Then Clement hung tough in the tiebreak but not once did Raonic show any doubts or negativity, even when the pesky Clement got it to 6-6 with some eye-brow raising shots, one that Clement had raise his own brow about, taking a penetrating forehand off the baseline for a perfect counter punch. Raonic simply responded by upping his game and attacking more aggressively the backhand corner of Clement with some deadly strikes. When the set was completed, there was no reaction at all, it’s like he knew all along this was the result he would obtain, no matter what.
More notes: Going to watch Federer practice on court 4 at noon, yesterday Roger hit with Gasquet, I was told.
Coming in this morning I saw Lisicki doing warm up drills with catching bouncing balls on each side from close, then footwork shadow points emphasizing stepping forward and using her body weight. This was behind the stadium where fans walked by just a few steps away from her and her coach. A few yards away Dominika Cibulkova was doing similar warm up drills. Lisicki is playing Peng on Court 2, she’s up 5-4 but at deuce serving for the set. Cibulkova is playing doubles with Jankovic vs. Shvedova/Voskoboeva on court 7.
Spotted Lindsay Davenport walking up the stadium steps by Gate F with Ted Robinson.
Mitch · March 25, 2012 at 2:31 am
Any idea what happened with the Anderson/Raonic doubles match? Saw that they retired and I really hope Raonic is fit to play Murray.