Milos Raonic cruises past Tatsuma Ito to reach round two – London Olympics 2012
Canadian number one, Milos Raonic, trashed the Japanese contender, Tatsuma Ito, in straight sets at the London Olympics 2012 on Monday. He jolted down a 6-3, 6-4 victory against the world number 68 in his first Olympics appearance, eventually securing a
spot in the second round at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London.
Raonic displayed superb tennis skills to oust the Japanese star in their second battle against each other at Games of the x*x Olympiads. They last fought each other at the Malaysian Open two years ago and after recording this victory, the Canadian not only
improved to a 2-0 record in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series against Ito but also powered into the round of 32.
“Today, I was very focused, but there were a few things I didn’t do well,” Raonic stated in an interview after winning the match. “But there are a few things that can be fixed for the next match. I was forcing myself to move a bit more. After I got the first
break at the start of the first and second sets, I let up a bit, but I’ll need to stay on top of my game tomorrow.
The 21-year-old enthusiastically entered the London grass courts. He drew the coveted break in the fourth game and leaped to a 4-1 lead. Raonic then held his remaining serves with poise and pulled out the opener by winning six games to three.
The 23rd ranked Canadian kept momentum rolling in the following set. He smoothly bagged his entire serves without facing much trouble and got the breakthrough in the ninth game, eventually registering a 6-4 score line.
The booming Canadian reflected about his next match-up on the grass courts where he played for only few weeks:
“We play so few weeks of the year on grass, so I need to learn. I need to understand things might not be pretty, but the main goal is to win.”
Raonic will square off against the fifth seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France. The French top bounced back to overpower Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci in a three-set thriller to set up this battle. Tsonga penned down a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-4 score line against Bellucci
to earn the fame.
The Spanish star, Feliciano Lopez, also stole the show later that day. He summed up a 6-7(5), 6-2, 9-7 victory against Russia’s Dmitry Tursunov to progress.
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