Milos Raonic downs Mardy Fish to move to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open
World number 37 Milos Raonic of Canada upset world number 15 Mardy Fish of USA in straight sets 7-5, 6-4 in the second round at the BNP Paribas Open. The Canadian took just over 2 hours to oust his opponent.
Raonic broke Fish in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead in the first set. He held his next service game at love to win the opening set 7-5.
The Canadian hit 4 aces and 46 per cent of the first serves in the first set. On the other hand, Fish managed to hit just a single ace and 45 per cent of the first serves. Raonic capitalized on the only break point he received
in the opening set.
In the second set, both players held their serves in the first six games to level the score at 3-3. Raonic broke his opponent in the 7th game to take a 4-3 lead. Serving to win the match at 5-4, the Canadian faced 3
break points. However, he saved all three of them and held his serve to win the set 6-4.
Raonic fired 6 aces and 2 double faults in the second set. He hit 71 per cent of the first serves, winning 70 per cent of the points on them. In comparison, Fish hit 59 per cent of first serves and won 81 per cent of the points
on them.
The 20-year-old is in great form this season. The Canadian started the season as the 153rd ranked player in the South African Airways ATP Rankings. He jumped 116 places in the rankings to feature as the 37th ranked
player at this championship.
Raonic surprised everyone at the Australian Open as the youngster, playing the first grand slam of the year as a qualifier, upset world number 24 Michael Llodra and world number 10 Mikhail Youzhny in the second and third round
respectively. However, he lost to world number 7 David Ferrer in four sets 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, 4-6 in the third round.
The right handed won his first title of the career at the SAP Open, where he defeated world number 9 Fernando Verdasco of Spain in straight sets 7-6(6), 7-6(5) in the final.
The Canadian will face world number 152 Ryan Harrison of USA in the third round. The American, a wild card entrant at this championship, upset world number 25 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(4) in the
second round.
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