Milos Raonic struggles past Santiago Giraldo into the second round – US Open 2012
Canadian number one, Milos Raonic, came back from the jaws of defeat to beat the world number 46, Santiago Giraldo of Colombia, in five sets 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday.
The 15th seed took three hours and 25 minutes to undo his lower ranked opponent.
Raonic showed brilliant fighting abilities to clinch his first main draw victory at the Flushing Meadows. The Canadian made his first appearance at the US Open in 2010 but after coming through the qualifying matches, he lost to
Australia’s Carsten Ball in the first round. The Monte-Carlo, Monaco resident did not take part at the final Grand Slam of the season last year.
The Canadian star got a straightforward win in the first set, as he needed a single break of serve to capture it 6-3.
Raonic and Giraldo went on equal terms in the first nine games of the second set, taking the score to 5-4 in the latter’s favour. The Colombian contestant struck at that moment to triumph 6-4.
Giraldo gained confidence and played even better in the third set, as he hit a blow to his Canadian opponent in the fourth game and consolidated on it to attain a 4-1 advantage. The Colombian sustained his lead till the end and
sealed it 6-3.
The contest was slipping from Raonic hands and a huge upset was on the cards, as Giraldo claimed a breakthrough in the opening game of the fourth set and held his following serve to take a 2-0 lead. Though, the Canadian player
showed his class afterwards, as he grabbed six of the following eight games to win 6-4.
Raonic and Giraldo went neck to neck during most of the final set and it looked like the decider would go to a tie-breaker but the Canadian made a late strike to claim it 6-4.
The 21-year-old was not happy with his serve performance, as he committed 15 horrible double faults in the match. He said, "I'm just happy with the outcome and that I managed to sort of make the most of that moment and just find
a way to win. Everything else I've gotta hope gets better in the next round. I don't think I struggled with my serve that much in a long, long time. A lot of double faults, and it wasn't just one double fault per game. When I double faulted, I double faulted
consistently a couple times in a row, so that made my job a lot more difficult and it gave him a little bit more freedom at the same time."
Raonic will need to play better, when he faces French player, Paul-Henri Mathieu, in the second round.
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