Wildcard tennis sensation Milos Raonic of Canada defeated Marsel Ilhan of Turkey in an easy two sets at the BNP Paribas Open 2011. The match, a first round encounter, lasted an hour and 24 minutes. It was staged at the Indian Wells Tennis Gardens in Indian Wells, California. The BNP Paribas Open, commonly known as the Indian Wells Masters, is the first ATP 1000 Masters event of the tennis calendar.
Raonic, who received a wildcard entry into the tournament, has been making massive waves in the world of tennis recently. The immensely talented Canadian is just 20 years old and has climbed more than a hundred places in the ATP world rankings since the start of the year. He currently sits at no.37 in the South African Airways ATP singles World rankings, and has a win-loss record of 14-3 so far this year. He won his first ATP title in San Jose this season and followed that win up with a final appearance at his first ever ATP 500 event, the Memphis Open. His opponent, Ilhan, is ranked 120 in the world at 23 years of age and has so far only played in three tour level matches this year, all of which he lost.
The contest started off with Raonic dominating the proceedings. The Canadian's serve, usually his most potent weapon, was not at its best in this set. He could only land in 47 per cent of his first serves, compared to a better 60 per cent that his opponent managed. However, the prodigy managed to convert every single first serve he delivered into a point. He also outclassed his opponent on the return and won half the points Ilhan served on. This allowed him 4 chances to break, two of which he converted to take the set 6-2.
The second set was a little closer than the first one. Raonic's serve was still misfiring, and by now his conversion rate on the serve had fallen. This set, he only managed to convert 79 per cent of his first serves into points. His opponent was not very far behind, with 68 per cent correct first serves and 64 per cent of the points off that serve going to him. The Canadian suffered a rare break of serve in this part of the match, but immediately broke back to take the set into tiebreak. The tiebreak saw him gather his wits and he sailed through to the next round easily, winning the decider 7-4.
In the next round, Raonic faces Mardy Fish of America. Fish is seeded 13th here, and shall be looking to have a good home tournament. Raonic must, however, perform at this major to once and for all book his place in tennis' next generation of superstars.
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