Tomas Berdych receives an upset by Milos Raonic – Western & Southern Open 2012
The Canadian number one, Milos Raonic disposed of the world number seven, Tomas Berdych, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the third round of the Western & Southern Open on Thursday afternoon. The unseeded Canadian took nearly two hours to
upset his rival on the hard courts of Cincinnati.
Raonic told the media, "It was a good match for me. I did many things well, and I am happy with the way I closed it out after I had a bad lapse in the second set. After that, happy with the way I closed it out. I was standing
a little bit far back so it was giving me a little bit more time. He wasn't necessarily hitting his spots all the time. I'm going to have to try to make him serve well. If I can dictate and put myself in a front running position, I think I will have my opportunities.”
The world number seven served the initial game of the match and got up to 1-0 but the score levelled to 1-1 shortly. For the initial set, both players tried to give each other a tough competition, equalizing their scores
until the third last game of the set. However, Raonic then clinched the last two games and wrapped up the set with 6-4.
In the second set, the game shifted it momentum and the Czech tennis professional pounced forward with a fiery start. The 21-year-old’s performance declined and the Berdych took advantage to captured the first three games,
building the scores to 3-love. Gradually Raonic built up pace but the Czech kept bagging crucial points with every successive game. The Canadian badly lost the match by a drastic gap of 2-6.
Raonic struggled hard to battle past the 26-year-old in the decisive set. Berdych was not able to sustain his momentum in the match and his scores halted after the fifth game of the third set. The 19th ranked
breezed past his competitor clenching 6-4 score.
Being amongst the top contender of the title, the Thornhill native bulldozed his rival with 20 aces and four double faults in the entire contest. Berdych merely managed to pocket five aces, but also double faulted five times
at critical moments in the match.
Raonic will meet Stanislas Wawrinka in the quarterfinal round of the tournament.
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