Raonic/Troicki edge past Fish/Knowles in the first round – Rogers Cup 2012
Canadian-Serbian pair of Milos Raonic and Viktor Troicki defeated the American-Bahaman duo of Mardy Fish and Mark Knowles 7-5, 2-6, 10-8 in the first round of Rogers Cup in Toronto. The Canadian-Serbian tandem took one hour and
seven minutes to claim a hard fought victory.
Raonic/Troicki and Fish/Knowles broke each other once in the first 10 games and squared off the score at 5-5. The Canadian-Serbian combination held their serve in the 11th and struck in the 12th to seal it
7-5.
Raonic and Troicki banged in seven aces and committed a couple of double faults in the first set. The Canadian-Serbian team kept their first serve percentage at 69 and converted 15 of the 20 of them into points. They gave an average
performance on the second deliveries and returns, claiming six of the nine and three of the seven points on them respectively. Raonic and Troicki failed to save the only break point they faced but converted both they received.
Fish and Knowles snatched a breakthrough in the opening game of the second set and held their following serve to attain a 2-0 lead. Though, Raonic and Troicki hit back in the fourth to even out the proceedings at 2-2. Fish and
Knowles dictated the proceedings afterwards, clinching four games in a row to seal it 6-2.
The American-Bahaman duo smashed two aces and 58 percent of the first deliveries. Fish and Knowles’ conversion rate was pretty average, as they won merely nine of the 14 first and six of the 10 second serve points. The American-Bahaman
tandem inflicted most damage on their opponents with the help of aggressive second returns, pocketing eight of the 11 points on them. Fish and Knowles put away one of the two break threats they came across and availed three of the four of their own chances
in the second set.
After getting badly beaten in the previous set, Raonic and Troicki made amendments in their game and started off brilliantly in the match tie-breaker, taking a 3-0 lead. However, Fish and Knowles clawed their way back to level
the points at 6-6. The efforts of American-Bahaman team went in van, as they managed to win just two of the next six points and lost it 8-10.
Raonic and Troicki put in 78 percent of the first serves and grabbed six of the seven points on them. On the other hand, Fish and Knowles managed to hit just 56 percent of the first deliveries.
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