Tennis News: Milos Raonic earns main draw wildcard for Indian Wells
Rising Canadian professional, Milos Raonic was granted a wildcard into the main draw of the BNP Paribas Open. An ATP Masters 1000 series event, the tournament is going to be held in Indian Wells from March 8th to March
20th.
Top 50 players of the world including 32 seeded participants like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and top Brit Andy Murray will be putting in their appearance in the men’s draw for the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000
event of the year. First of nine, the event is held annually at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
One of five wildcard entrants, Raonic will be putting in his first main draw appearance at a Masters event after his first round exit at the 2010 Rogers Cup in Toronto last summer. This is also Raonic’s first appearance here.
A star on the rise now, Raonic enjoys a remarkable 12-3 year-to-date win loss mark. Starting the year at the season opening event in Chennai, the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open, and Raonic failed to make it into the main draw as he lost
his qualifying final against Frenchman Edouard Roger Vasselin.
It was not until the 2011 Australian Open that Raonic finally hit it big. A qualifier in the event, Raonic had made it into the main draw after doing away with Andrej Martin. Continuing his ascent in the main draw, Raonic moved
past three opponents including world number ten, Mikhail Youzhny to make it into the fourth round. This was a career best for the Canadian at any Grand Slam event. However, Raonic was ousted from the event by eventual semi-finalist, David Ferrer, though he
did not exit the event without leaving his mark. Not only did he record his first win against a top ten player but he also recorded the highest number of aces struck throughout the tournament. Post Australian Open rankings put Raonic in the top 100.
Raonic received very delighted reviews for his performance at the Australian Open, such as when John McEnroe accredited him as "the real deal”, and the Sydney Morning Herald referred to Raonic as a "future superstar".
Returning to the tour, Raonic made a stop at the SA Tennis Open in Johannesburg as a qualifier into the main draw though he failed to make it past the second round losing to Simon Gruel. However, the following week the stars aligned
for the young Canadian as he made an appearance at the 2011 SAP Open in San Jose. The hard hitting Canadian made it all the way to the finals courtesy a walkover from Gael Monfils in the semis. Meeting world number 9thFernando Verdasco, Raonic survived
a three set thriller to clinch his first ATP career title. A special exempt into the Memphis event the next week, Raonic enjoyed another final run though he lost to eventual champion, Andy Roddick.
In just a month, the Canadian has risen from being out of the top 100 to inside the top 50. He currently holds the 37th position in the ATP rankings.
This weekend Raonic will go along with Canada’s Davis Cup team to Mexico to play their local team. The Canadian had receded from the Acapulco event last week due to a shoulder tendinitis. He will team up with Frank Dancevic, Daniel
Nestor and Peter Polansky at the event which will be played from Friday to Sunday.
Joining Raonic as wildcard entrants is Kei Nishikori, Aussie Bernard Tomic and locals Ryan Harrison and James Blake.
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