Milos Raonic downs Radek Stepanek in the first round – Rakuten Japan Open 2012
Sixth seed, Milos Raonic of Canada, clinched his 40th match win of the year by beating the former world number eight, Radek Stepanek, in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
in Tokyo.
The Canadian needed one hour and 23 minutes to undo his rival in a one sided encounter.
Raonic managed to take lead straightaway, stinging a break in the very first game and winning his following serve to attain a 2-0 lead. The Canadian contender maintained his lead till the end, closing it 6-4.
The 21-year-old banged in a couple of aces and committed the same number of double faults in the first set. The Thornhill, Canada resident kept his first serve percentage at 66 and converted 18 of the 23 of them into points.
Raonic and Stepanek made a stable start in the second set, as none of the two players dropped his serve in the first four games and the score was taken to 2-2. The rising star from Canada hit a blow to Stepanek in the fifth and
consolidated on it to go up 4-2. Raonic did not allow the Czech national to bounce back, capturing it 6-4.
The Canadian player bombarded eight aces and 65 percent of the first serves, winning 14 of the 17 points on them. The right-hander did not provide any break opportunity to Stepanek and availed one of the two he created for himself
in the second set.
Raonic was satisfied with his performance, as he said during the post match press conference, "It was a good start for me, it was a chance to correct a few things that I didn't like about the way I finished in Bangkok (last week).
This is a good sign for me. In the next round I hope to keep doing what I've been doing today. I need to play my game and stay aggressive. I want to play on my terms out there as much as possible."
The Canadian number one will take on 32nd ranked player from Serbia, Viktor Troicki, in the second round.
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