Milos Raonic triumphs over Igor Andreev; advances at the Estoril Open
Fifth seeded Canadian Milos Raonic edged past Russian Igor Andreev in straight sets on Tuesday. He registered a 6-4, 6-4 win over the 27-year-old Russian to advance into the second round of the 2011 Estoril Open in Oeiras, Portugal.
The rising star Raonic showed exceptional skills in his opening round match at Estoril Court Central and earned revenge of his lost against the Russian at Kuala Lumpur last year by a straight set victory. After dumping Andreev
in one hour and twenty-five minutes, he levelled the head-to-head series against the Russian by 1-1.
The booming Canadian has climbed up the rankings at his career best at 27. He is in his top form this season as he recently won the title at San Jose. Raonic then reached the final at Memphis before losing to top seeded American
Andy Roddick. He reached the third round at Barcelona before entering this tournament in full of confidence.
20-year-old stormed into the first set and held his opening serve with an ace to level the scores at 1-1. Raonic then held his remaining serves comfortably and broke the Russian’s serve in the fifth game without conceding a point
to eventually seal the set with a 6-4 win.
He produced an acceptable first serve share of 60 percent as compared to slightly higher of Andreev’s 63 percent and earned an amazing 78 percent win on it. The Canadian also saved the only breakpoint faced and smacked three aces
in the set.
Raonic carried his winning ways into the second set and held his opening serve when the Russian pushed the backhand over the line. He then held his entire serves through quick forehands and backhands and found the coveted break
in the fifth game to clinch with a similar score line again.
The Canadian had a much lower first serve share this time but he earned a convincing 73 percent win on it.
"I feel good, I'm happy I could play this well so early in the event," said Raonic. "Igor is a tremendous player on clay. I squeezed through the tough situations and handled them well. This is a start and something to build up
for rest of week."
He will next face Portuguese qualifier Joao Sousa.
"That will be tough for many reasons: the player, the atmosphere, the home crowd, which can all only help (Sousa) ...," said Raonic. "I need to find a way to win and stay mature about it all. I'm feeling better and better on clay,
playing better with each match.”
The Portuguese was leading 5-2 in the third set when his fellow countryman Gastao Elias retired due to an injury to reach this spot.
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