(Toronto) Why change a winning formula? As in the first round, Milos Raonic concluded his second match of the tournament on Wednesday afternoon with the help of an ace out on second ball. Clearly, some things will never change.
Even though he only managed 15 aces, in his case it is very few, Raonic found a way to prolong his stay in the Queen City by defeating Taro Daniel in two sets of 6-4 and 6- 3 in just 90 minutes.
The Canadian probably wanted to save himself. It was hot like a medium-sized furnace on the center of Sobeys Stadium. The heat felt exceeded 30 degrees on the cement. The local favorite’s white jersey had become transparent when shaking hands with his rival.
Without being spectacular or particularly outstanding, Frances Tiafoe’s stoner did what it took to finish with a fist in the air when his last serve slammed into the advertising wall behind Daniel.
Raonic, however, had to be patient and tenacious to snatch victory from the 115th player in the world.
The first run went off without a hitch. Some would even call it boring. The two players were regular in the service, they left little room for maneuver to their vis-Ã -vis and played in a rather hermetic way.
Raonic’s advantage is to have started the match on serve. So he could always make sure to hold the lead.
However, he struggled to seize the rare opportunities offered by Daniel to break him. He will have converted only two of the seven break points he has faced. One of the two, however, allowed him to slip away with the first set, after a sequence of three break points.
With such a lead in his pocket, Raonic came out of his shell. While he wasn’t necessarily more extravagant, he made Daniel run more and the game opened up. He was able to break his opponent in the second game of the second set and this sequence was the tipping point of the match.
The more the encounter progressed, the more Raonic seemed determined to end it. Daniel, on the other hand, shot himself in the foot by stubbornly following his game plan. On serve, for example, he constantly targeted the Canadian’s forehand on the advantage side. Raonic, like an adult in a kid’s class, was throwing parallel arrows back at him that ended each exchange fairly quickly.
Beyond the fact that Raonic has of course read Taro Daniel’s cards, which alas, was not the most formidable opposition he will have faced, the gentle giant is realizing what no one would have dared to predict.
Raonic had only played four games, on grass at that, before coming to Toronto. Yet, it doesn’t show up in any way.
He’s not the fastest or the most agile or the most explosive, but that was never part of his tennis player DNA anyway. Even when he was in his twenties and hot on the heels of the Big Four.
Without getting too carried away, we must recognize how much the 2.0 version of Milos Raonic looks like the Wimbledon finalist in 2016.
In this sport, you have to know how to take advantage of your strengths and qualities. For Raonic, they lie in his serve and his offensive forehand.
In his match against Daniel, he won 90% of his points on first pitch and hit 42 winners, almost five times more than his opponent.
The adventure will therefore continue for the Canadian. Prior to his match, Mackenzie McDonald got the better of the tournament’s sixth seed, Andrey Rublev, so he will save Raonic from facing a second top-10 player in four days.
The two players had faced each other twice in 2018 and they had shared one game each.
