Milos Raonic beats Fernando Verdasco to clinch SAP Open title
Milos Raonic of Canada defeated Fernando Verdasco of Spain in straight sets to claim the SAP Open title in San Jose today. The world no. 84 caused a huge upset with his victory over the top seeded Spaniard, who was also the defending champion at the event. This is the Canadian’s first ATP tour victory, which came in his first appearance in a final. Raonic has been making waves in the world of tennis recently and despite the ranking mismatch, most observers expected an exciting final.
The match lasted almost two hours and finished with a score of 7-6, 7-6. The contest saw both players serve immaculately and neither conceded any breaks of serve. In fact, the entire match just saw one break point, which was successfully defended by eventual winner, Raonic.
Prior to the final, both players had seen a perfect tournament. Neither had dropped a set and both had only lost one game on serve. The Canadian led the tournament in the number of 45 aces served, while his opponent led the number of service games won, with a whopping 98 per cent of total games held. The youngster was only a percentage point behind, having held 97 per cent of the games he had served in. He also led the scoreboard in the total percentage of first serve points won, with a remarkable 87 per cent of points going his way.
True to expectations, the final was a battle from the first serve. Neither player gave an inch. Raonic landed in 66 percent of his first serves and won 92 per cent of them. His opponent replied equally well and landing 77 percent of his first serves and winning 81 percent of those serves. The set thus ground through hold after hold to a tie break. Raonic, as a first time finalist, might’ve been expected to crumble under the pressure but in a brilliant display of focus, he came back from 2-6 down and won 6 straight points to take the tie-break 8-6.
The second set was similarly hard-fought. Raonic served six aces but for the first time in the tournament was outshone on that count as his opponent rained down seven in reply. The young man’s game had begun to settle though, as he brought up his first serve percentage to 72. His conversion rate dropped to 84 though and in a reversal of the first set stats his opponent leveled out things with 67 percent serves in and 86 per cent of them won. The only opportunity to break in the match came to Verdasco in this set but it was easily defended. Another tie-break thus ensued and this time Raonic seized control from the beginning. Dropping no points on serve, he grabbed the mini-break to cruise to victory 7-5.
The two set score does not really represent the epic contest too well. Any other day, this might as well have been a 5 setter. But Milos Raonic’s amazing composure saw the match close in straight sets and that very composure has rewarded Raonic with his maiden title. While his showing at the Australian Open had already won him fans, this title gives him the credentials any top tennis player needs. With his youth and amazing talent, fans can expect this young man to do very well on the tour.
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