TORONTO | In his last Toronto appearance, Milos Raonic couldn’t have inherited a more difficult draw for his first-round match at the National Bank Open. But despite the magnitude of the challenge, and despite not having played on hard ground in two years, the Canadian caused a big surprise on Monday.
A few 140 mph serves, good rallies, 37 aces and the unwavering support of a nearly entire center honoring this pioneer of tennis in the country helped the 32-year veteran win 6-7 (12). 7-6 (4) and 6-3 against ninth seed, USA Frances Tiafoe.
Photo Getty Images via AFP
Raonic, who had dropped to No. 545 in the world after a nearly two-year hiatus due to injuries, was taking part on Monday in his third tournament since returning in June but his first on hard ground since July 2021.
And it showed right off the bat when Tiafoe, who was in great form last year, broke the mighty server.
A turbulent tiebreaker
But little by little, Raonic found his rhythm, so much so that he managed to break the American towards the end of the opening set, forcing a tie-break.
Milos Raonic Photo Getty Images via AFP
And that tiebreak was hard fought, the two players who also faced each other in Raonic’s last appearance in Toronto in 2018 (a game won by Tiafoe) exchanged several balls up their sleeves.
Ultimately, it was the tenth player in the world to prevail after an excellent and controversial exchange of blows. The American touched the net before his set-ball volley fell to the ground, which theoretically should have cost him the point rather than the set.
The referee had also ruled the result in Raonic’s favour, but changed his mind after realizing that Tiafoe had touched the part of the net between the single stick and the double post, which is allowed.
The Canadian did not agree with the decision, so the supervisor was called to the field. He agreed with the referee (and the sentence on Tiafoe), which led to some very loud boos from the crowd… and a bat bang from Raonic in his chair.
The healer called too
And the Ontario wasn’t at the end of his tether. With the score at 6:5 in the second set, he had to call the coach to have his back pain treated.
This seemed to give new impetus to the former member of the world top 3, who again forced a tiebreaker, which he easily won this time.
The remainder of the match then went almost entirely in Raonic’s favor save for a few breakballs, which he mostly parried through aces, and the comeback will continue its journey by taking on Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel in the next round, den 115th racquet in the world.