Players to bid for the 2012 Australian Open; Part One: Milos Raonic - Tennis Special
Fast rising Canadian youngster, Milos Raonic, is bidding for this year Australian Open, first of the four Grand Slam event taking place on the hard courts in Melbourne, Australia. The 25th ranked opened this season with an epic start, as he cruised at the Chennai ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 series event and grabbed his second career title. Raonic was seeded fourth in the tournament and he breezed past his opponents in straight sets to set-up a date with the top seed Janko Tipsarevic in the final round. En route to finals, he shocked the world number 10, Nicolas Almagro, in the last four round.
"Guys like Milos are special players," said the world number nine, Tipsarevic, after the title-round.
"It is only my second title," said Raonic. "It is an awesome feeling. My serve is a big factor in my game... in 99 per cent of my matches. My job is to take care of my serve."
The Canadian started his 2011 season standing at number 156 in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings and exited from the qualifiers in Chennai last year. However, he blasted his skills at the Melbourne Grand Slam 2011 where he reached the fourth round through qualifiers. He went on a six match unbeaten run but was eventually halted by the Spanish number two, David Ferrer. He trashed 22nd seed Michael Llodra and the 10th seed Mikhail Youzhny en route to the round of sixteen.
His impressive run was seen at the San Jose ATP event in February where the Canadian breezed to lift his maiden career title. He got a walkover win against second seed Gael Monfils and stunned the top seed, Fernando Verdasco, in the title-round. Raonic’s exceptional run of form continued in the next tournament, Regions Morgan Keegan Championships, he played. He upset second seeded Verdasco in the opening round and shocked fourth seed Mardy Fish en route to the title-round. He gave tough time to a former world number one and the top seed, Andy Roddick, in the final but was eventually ousted in the end.
According to Roddick, “He's as exciting of a talent as we've seen in a while. You won't surprise me if he's Top 10 sooner than later.”
After earning this success, the 21-year-old Canadian climbed the ATP rankings from the world number 84 to the world number 37. His form dipped afterwards when the clay court season started as Raonic made a third round showing at the Barcelona ATP and Indian Wells and Monte Carlo Masters 1000 events.
Raonic found his rhythm again at the Estoril Open where he made a semi-final berth. He topped Gilles Simon but was forced to retire against Verdasco due to a low back injury. His injuries led him to a four match losing streak including the opening round at the French Open.
The high flying Canadian confidently entered the grass season and reached the final eight of the Gerry Weber Open (lost to German Philipp Petzschner) before playing the third Grand Slam, Wimbledon Championships. He eased past a French lucky loser, Marc Gicquel in the opening round before ruling out of the tournament due to a hip injury in the second round. He made another semi-final showing at the If Stockholm Open in October (lost to Monfils) before starting this season.
Currently ranked 25th in the ATP rankings, Raonic is bidding to break his last year record at the Australian Open and is aiming for his first Major title. He needs to play his original game and focus on his serves to overpower his rivals.
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