Milos Raonic stomps over Ryan Harrison to reach the title-round – SAP Open 2012
Third seed Milos Raonic eased past the local star, Ryan Harrison, in straight sets at the SAP Open 2012 on Saturday. He jolted down a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over the American teenager to advance into the final showdown at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.
The Canadian brushed off early resilience posed by the 19-year-old and stayed on course to defend his title at this ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event. The contenders previously battled each other at the BNP Paribas Open
in Indian Wells last year where the American rallied past Raonic in a three set thriller. However, after earning this victory the seed not only avenged his loss but also levelled the FedEx ATP Head 2 Head series by 1-1 against Harrison.
“I think I did a really good job taking care of the serve,” said the delighted Canadian. “What I was doing really well was making most of my first serves. But when I missed a few, I was still playing pretty well on the second serves.”
The booming Raonic assertively entered the Californian hard courts and smoothly plucked in entire serves. He sought a break opportunity but squandered it, subsequently dragging the set to a tie-breaker. Raonic uplifted his game in it and pocketed the opener
with a 7-6(4) win.
Raonic kept momentum running into the following set and held his opening serve with poise. The Canadian blocked the only breakpoint he came across to swipe in entire serves and capitalised on two out of four break opportunities to clinch the set with a 6-2
score line.
Overall, the 21-year-old showed top notch performance throughout the match. He was never broken and smashed 20 ferocious aces to prevail. The teenager on the other side of net produced a lower first serve share and could save only three out of five breakpoints
he encountered.
"His serve is obviously one of the best in the game. Indoors, it’s definitely not easier," said Harrison after the semi-final clash. "I was serving pretty good in the first set. I tried to keep a positive posture, and was trying to at least stay in it as
much as I could.”
The Canadian seed will next confront the winner of the match between fifth seeded Julien Benneteau and Uzbekistan competitor, Denis Istomin, to bid his third ATP career title. Raonic won his maiden title in this tournament last season (got the best of Fernando
Verdasco in the final) and his second came at the start of this season in India (Aircel Chennai Open where he upset the top seeded Janko Tipsarevic in the title-round).
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