John Isner dispatches Milos Raonic in the third round – Rogers Cup 2012
Eighth seeded American, John Isner, defeated the Canadian number one, Milos Raonic, in the third round match of the Rogers Cup, hard court tennis championship held in Toronto. The 16th seed lost the
match despite of his home-ground advantage and American rallied past him with a straight sets score of 7-6(9), 6-4 at the Rexall Centre.
The Thornhill native’s setback deprived him from making a historic run to advance in the quarter-finals of the tournament. He was extremely disappointed with his error-ridden performance, assisting the American tennis ace
to seal victory comprehensively in the end.
At the conclusion of the match, Raonic said, “I’m frustrated with myself, not because I played poorly in Toronto. I think I’m pretty low on experience in many parts of tennis, to playing at home, to playing with different
kinds of pressure. The thing is I’m going to take this match and try to learn as much as I can from it.”
Raonic initially struggled hard to build up some pace but managed to hold his initial serve in the opener. Later, his performance suffered serious decline and he started to concede double-faults later in the set. The opener
lasted for a total of 55 minutes and ended up in a tie-breaker due the Canadian’s careless game play. He fought well in the decider but Isner prevailed to claim the first set at 7-6(9).
The second set of the match followed the same lines but Isner proved to be more powerful and breezed past Raonic with ease. Indeed, the match between the game’s biggest servers proved to be a battle worth watching. The Canadian
secured a 13-8 lead in the aces and maintained an aggressive game plan throughout. However, this was the only key advantage that he had over the American professional, who captured 91 percent of his first serve points during the match.
In a post match press conference Isner told the media, "I was at a bit of an advantage because he hadn't played in a few days. I knew eventually that I would cross paths with Milos. I knew the match was going to be close.
Fortunately, he sort of let me back into that first set."
Ranked 24th in the ATP World Tour Rankings, Raonic still is hopeful for a bright tennis career ahead. He can easily pick up pace and improve his rank in the coming tournaments. Fortunately, he received
bye from the initial match of the event and after Andy Murray’s sudden withdrawal from the championship gave him a walkover through the third round.
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