The 20-year-old from Thornhill, Ontario, is the first Canadian man to win an ATP title in 13 years - since Greg Rusedski made headlines in 1995. Raonic beat defending champion and the world's 9th ranked tennis player, Fernando Verdasco, in the final of the SAP Open. Last month, Raonic made headlines in Canada for making the round of 16 at the Australian Open.
I remember reading during the Aussie Open that Raonic has a powerful serve and was leading the tournament in aces before he was knocked out. I'm not surprised to read now that he has the second most aces on the ATP tour with 174 - only four behind the tallest player on the tour, Ivo Karlovic. One of the best things I read was that Raonic's slice serve is compared to former Toronto Blue Jay star pitcher Roy Halladay's cutter - definitely something to fear! I'm worried about the next Grand Slam for Raonic because the clay court doesn't favour servers, and Raonic has said he prefers to play on hard courts.
Raonic has an interesting story as well. He was born in Yugoslavia (now Montenegro) and moved with his family when he was three because of the war over there. Raonic plays under the Canadian flag, and he has stated that he will continue to play under the Maple Leaf. I'm glad he is doing this because it is about time Canada had a strong singles player competing in Grand Slams.
My prediction: Raonic becomes the first Canadian man in history to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam singles event this year - the semi's and finals are within a year. The way he is progressing though, who knows, he did win his first ATP title in only his eighth event!
Love the tennis in this music video! Amazing song too!
Great post maddy:)
ReplyDeleteIt's about time Canada has a guy that can play Tennis.
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