PETE ZIEBRON in INDIAN WELLS
Milos Raonic in the late afternoon California desert sun last week at Indian Wells. Pete Ziebron Images
Milos Raonic continues to go deep into the draw at Masters 1000 events. His semifinal appearance this week at Indian Wells was the 4th time in the last 6 Masters 1000 tournaments that Roanic has reached the semis. Meanwhile, Raonic has also reached the quarterfinals of 8 of the last 10 Masters 1000 tourneys.
Last Friday, Raonic saved 3 Match Points in his quarterfinal match against world #3 Rafael Nadal. The Canadian would go on to record his first career win over Nadal in 6 attempts. In fact, Raonic managed to win only 1 of the previous 11 sets he played against Nadal prior to his 4-6 7-6(10) 7-5 thriller.
Following the match, Raonic elaborated on his confidence in playing against the very best: "I think it's just constant improvement. I think I have a better understanding dealing with experiences of playing Roger, Rafa, and Novak many times over the last 12 months specifically.
I think when you have knowledge, when you have an understanding, it gives you some kind of peace. It gives you some kind of calm during a match that you can really believe and understand what you need to do to find the solutions."
Although Raonic competed well in a 7-5 6-4 loss to Roger Federer yesterday in the semis, it was his 3rd and 4th round match victories that impressed me the most last week at Indian Wells.
In a highly anticipated matchup against Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov in the 3rd round, Raonic smashed 12 aces en route to a 7-6(2) 6-4 victory. The win was significant especially since Dolgopolov eliminated Raonic from Indian Wells last year in the quarterfinals. The match featured spectacular shotmaking as both players exhibited a display of nearly flawless of tennis on Court 2, with the Raonic converting the only break of serve early in the 2nd set.
Next up for Ronic was #17 seed Tommy Robredo of Spain who electrified the crowd the previous day when he eliminated Grigor Dimitrov in 3 tough sets. Raonic maintained the sharp focus and determination he showed against Dolgopolov and crushed Robredo 6-3 6-2. Midway through the 2nd set, Raonic fired a 150 MPH ace. Perhaps more impressive was that he also hit a 146 MPH 2nd serve (fault) as well as a 139 MPH 2nd serve and won the point following a self defense block back return by Robredo.
Milos Raonic continues to play solid tennis against the best in the world and is knocking on the door of becoming a top 5 player. When asked about having to face Federer the day after defeating Nadal, Raonic stated that he was ready for the challenge: "I felt good. I felt energetic. I felt like I had the right attitude put forward, and I was going to give it my all."
Milos Raonic will be back in action later this week at the Miami Masters 1000, where he has quarterfinal points to defend.