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Halle champion falls against Medvedev; Pouille advances
Milos Raonic had never lost in the first round at Wimbledon when he walked onto No. 1 Court on Monday, and he had fallen in a Grand Slam match against an opponent as low in the ATP Rankings as World No. 175 Liam Broady just once at a major — against No. 181 Lleyton Hewitt at the 2012 Australian Open.

So it was no surprise that the 2016 finalist defeated home favourite Broady 7-5, 6-0, 6-1 in 91 minutes to advance.

The Canadian now holds a 21-7 record at the grass-court Grand Slam, where he is attempting to reach at least the quarter-finals for the third consecutive year. Raonic arrived in good form on the surface, having reached the MercedesCup final (l. to Federer).


The Canadian withdrew from the Fever-Tree Championships before his second-round match, citing a strained right pectoral muscle. But the 27-year-old showed no ill effects against Broady. He hit 17 aces and lost just four first-service points (32/36) to move on to face Aussie John Millman or Italian Stefano Travaglia.

The first seeded opponent Raonic could face, No. 17 seed Lucas Pouille, beat in-form American Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in two hours, seven minutes. He will next face Austrian Dennis Novak, who earned his maiden major match win with a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6(7) victory against Canadian lucky loser Peter Polansky.

The Frenchman Pouille, who lost against Raonic in the Stuttgart semi-finals, triumphed in February at the Open Sud de France. The 24-year-old also reached finals in Marseille and Dubai.

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While Raonic and Pouille faced advanced, another seed was not as lucky on Day One. Daniil Medvedev made a stunning debut at Wimbledon a year ago, upsetting fifth seed Stan Wawrinka to earn his first Grand Slam match win.

And on Monday, Medvedev pulled off another surprise, defeating Gerry Weber Open champion and No. 16 seed Borna Coric 7-6(6), 6-2, 6-2 to set a second-round match against Spanish veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

"He was the much better player today," Coric said. "I had a set point in the first set. I thought maybe if I get that first set, it could turn around a little bit. But then after that, my level just really dropped. He started to play much better... [in the] second and the third set he was the better player, by far."

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The 22-year-old Medvedev, who got off to a great start to 2018 with his maiden ATP World Tour title at the Sydney International, arrived at Wimbledon having won just three of his past 11 matches. But Medvedev evened his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against his fellow 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier at 1-1.

Medvedev's next opponent, Garcia-Lopez, cruised past Portugal's Gastao Elias 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours, one minute to end a five-match losing streak at The Championships.

Did You Know?
Two of the past three Halle champions have lost in the first round at Wimbledon. In addition to Coric's loss on Monday, 2016 champion Florian Mayer fell against Dominic Thiem.

Canadian star to face Novak in third round

Milos Raonic played a patient waiting game on Wednesday, heavily relying on his service patterns and first delivery, to reach the third round at The Championships.

The Canadian No. 13 seed broke Australia’s John Millman serve just once in the seventh game of the second set, but prevailed 7-6(4), 7-6(4), 7-6(4) in two hours and 38 minutes.

Raonic struck 34 aces, won 85 per cent of his first-service points — one timed at a tournament-leading 147 miles per hour — and finished with a smash winner, his 67th of the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

“It wasn't easy,” said Raonic, who is suffering from a slight lung infection. “For the first set and a half I didn't really create much, especially on his serve. I was fortunate to get through that tie-break on two well-played points and then I thought I started playing well midway through the second set."

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Only five players have lifted the golden Wimbledon trophy since the 2001 fairy-tale run of Goran Ivanisevic, who now oversees the fortunes of Raonic. While any talk of another deep run is premature, 2016 runner-up Raonic is growing in confidence at the All England Club.

“I feel good, [my] body has behaved,” said Raonic. “Obviously, we are very cautious with it, because it's tough to ask the body to stop and start all the time. We pay a lot more attention with the treatments after matches.”

Three weeks ago, the 27-year-old advanced to the MercedesCup final in Stuttgart, where he lost to Roger Federer, between knee and right shoulder injuries.

Novak

Raonic will next meet Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak, currently No. 171 in the ATP Rankings, on Friday. When asked about his next opponent, Raonic admitted, “I know I haven't seen him play. I have seen him around. I know he's around Dominic Thiem quite a bit. I think they train together [with the] same coach and same academy. I have 48 hours to learn as much as I can, but luckily for me, my game is always about imposing myself on the other guy more so than adjusting to the other guy.”

Grand Slam championship debutant Novak held off a comeback from Lucas Pouille, the No. 17 seed from France, to win 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(8), 3-6, 6-2 in two hours and 56 minutes. Pouille lost to No. 141-ranked Jerzy Janowicz, the 2013 Wimbledon semi-finalist, in last year's second round.

"I think he played well the whole match, especially the fifth set [when] he was very aggressive, returning well, and putting a lot of pressure on my serve," said Pouille.

Elsewhere, last week’s Antalya Open finalist Adrian Mannarino, the No. 22 seed, knocked out American Ryan Harrison 7-5, 7-5, 7-6(4) in two hours and 34 minutes for a third-round meeting against Daniil Medvedev of Russia. Medvedev swept past Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 33 minutes.

Did You Know?
Raonic fired 18 aces, among 45 winners, in his first-round win over British wild card Liam Broady at Wimbledon on Monday.

Canadian star moves into the second week for the fourth time

Body willing, there is a growing belief that Milos Raonic will make another run at The Championships. Having overcome knee and right shoulder complaints in recent weeks, his natural service rhythm and swagger is returning on the grass of the All England Club.

The Canadian, who finished runner-up to Andy Murray in the 2016 Wimbledon final, resumed on Court 12 with a bang on Saturday afternoon, immediately knuckling down to dismantle the game of Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak.

With a 6-5 lead in the third set, after bad light stopped play on Friday night, the No. 13 seed broke Novak’s serve with a fine forehand approach winner and continued to work hard to complete a 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory for a place in the second week.

“I just came out with a very different mindset,” said Raonic. “I was extremely negative yesterday and just needed to come out with a very different state of mind and a different approach today to have a better chance than I had yesterday.”

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The 27-year-old will now rest and recuperate in order to face American Mackenzie McDonald, the first man to reach the Last 16 at Wimbledon on debut since Nick Kyrgios in 2014.

When asked about facing McDonald, Raonic said, “I know him a little bit, practised with him a bunch. He's played well this year [and] he's obviously had good wins through these last three matches here. It's going to be tough. I'm going to have my chances. He likes to play more solid tennis, likes to take the ball early. I will have my chances, [but I] have to stay aggressive and try to dictate more to the rhythm of today rather than yesterday, that's for sure.”

Raonic broke Novak’s serve for a 3-1 advantage in the fourth set, courtesy of a backhand error, and once more in the final game to record the 40th grass-court victory of his career (40-18). He struck 28 aces and won 87 per cent of his first-service points (66/76) over two hours and 32 minutes.

Three weeks ago, upon his return from a knee injury that forced him to miss Roland Garros, Raonic finished as runner-up to Roger Federer in the MercedesCup final. He has a 19-7 record overall in 2018.

Novak, currently No. 171 in the ATP Rankings, had been bidding to become the first qualifier to reach the fourth round since Brian Baker in 2012. He beat Peter Polansky in the first round and No. 17 seed Lucas Pouille in the second round.

Milos Raonić w dwóch setach pokonał Davida Goffina w I rundzie rozgrywanego na kortach twardych turnieju ATP World Tour Masters 1000 w Toronto. Jack Sock uległ Daniłowi Miedwiediewowi i przegrał siódmy mecz z rzędu.

Milos Raonić przez 15 dni przygotował się do występu w turnieju ATP Masters 1000 w Toronto. Po inauguracyjnym pojedynku można stwierdzić, że znakomicie przepracował ten czas. W poniedziałek, w meczu I rundy przeciw Davidowi Goffinowi, Kanadyjczyk pokazał się ze świetnej strony. Dominował na korcie od pierwszej do ostatniej piłki i bardzo pewnie pokonał Belga 6:3, 6:4.
Raonić, finalista Rogers Cup z sezonu 2013, imponował grą przy serwisie. W ciągu 72 minut pojedynku zaserwował 13 asów, po trafionym pierwszym podaniu nie stracił ani jednego punktu oraz ani razu nie został przełamany.

- Jak na pierwszy mecz, był to mój bardzo dobry występ, ale nie uważam, że serwowałem szczególnie dobrze. Stać mnie, by w tym aspekcie spisywać się znacznie lepiej - ocenił Kanadyjczyk, który zapisał na swoim koncie także 31 zagrań kończących i dwa przełamania.

W drugim meczu sesji nocnej pierwszego dnia imprezy miejscowa publiczność już nie miała powodów do zadowolenia. Ich reprezentant, Vasek Pospisil, przegrał 4:6, 3:6 z Borną Coriciem. Chorwat (sześć asów, trzy przełamania i 15 uderzeń wygrywających) w II rundzie zmierzy się ze swoim rodakiem, Marinem Ciliciem, turniejową "piątką".

Jack Sock przegrał siódmy mecz z rzędu. W przerwanym na ponad trzy godziny z powodu opadów deszczu spotkaniu z Daniłem Miedwiediewem, rozstawiony z numerem 13. Amerykanin uległ Rosjaninowi 3:6, 6:3, 3:6. 22-latek z Moskwy zanotował dziesięć asów, trzy przełamania oraz 22 uderzenia wygrywające.
Oznaczony numerem drugim Alexander Zverev rywalizację o obronę tytułu w Rogers Cup rozpocznie pojedynkiem z Bradleyem Klahnem. Amerykański kwalifikant w I rundzie wygrał 7:6(5), 6:4 z Davidem Ferrerem. Dla 27-letniego Klahna (w poniedziałek pięć asów, trzy breaki i 22 zagrania kończące) to pierwszy w karierze wygrany mecz w głównej drabince imprezy rangi ATP World Tour Masters 1000.

Pierre-Hugues Herbert, pogromca z kwalifikacji Huberta Hurkacza, pokonał 4:6, 6:3, 6:4 Alberta Ramosa i w II rundzie zmierzy się z Johnem Isnerem. Rozstawiony z numerem 11. Diego Schwartzman w godzinę rozbił Kyle'a Edmunda, oddając Brytyjczykowi trzy gemy. Z kolei Yoshihito Nishioka po przegranym 0:6 pierwszym secie poddał mecz z Pablo Carreno, turniejową "12".

Rogers Cup, Toronto (Kanada)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000, kort twardy, pula nagród 5,315 mln dolarów
poniedziałek, 6 sierpnia

I runda gry pojedynczej:

Diego Schwartzman (Argentyna, 11) - Kyle Edmund (Wielka Brytania) 6:1, 6:2
Pablo Carreno (Hiszpania, 12) - Yoshihito Nishioka (Japonia, Q) 6:0 i krecz
Milos Raonić (Kanada) - David Goffin (Belgia, 10) 6:3, 6:4
Danił Miedwiediew (Rosja, Q) - Jack Sock (USA, 13) 6:3, 3:6, 6:3
Borna Corić (Chorwacja) - Vasek Pospisil (Kanada, WC) 6:4, 6:3
Bradley Klahn (USA, Q) - David Ferrer (Hiszpania) 7:6(5), 6:4
Pierre-Hugues Herbert (Francja, Q) - Albert Ramos (Hiszpania) 4:6, 6:3, 6:4

wolne losy: Rafael Nadal (Hiszpania, 1), Alexander Zverev (Niemcy, 2), Juan Martin del Potro (Argentyna, 3), Kevin Anderson (RPA, 4), Grigor Dimitrow (Bułgaria, 5), Marin Cilić (Chorwacja, 6), Dominic Thiem (Austria, 7), John Isner (USA,

Canadian wins 27 of 27 first-serve points against the Belgian
Here's a good rule of thumb — if you win all of your first-serve points, you're more than likely going to win that match. And that was the case for home favourite Milos Raonic on Monday at the Rogers Cup, as the Canadian won all 27 of points on his first delivery en route to a 6-3, 6-4 victory against reigning Nitto ATP Finals runner-up and No. 10 seed David Goffin. And the scary thing is, the World No. 29 didn't feel his serve was that sharp.

"I think I can still serve much better. I don't think I necessarily served particularly well, so I'll take the time to work on some things tomorrow," Raonic said. "But overall, it was a very good performance as a first performance here. And mentally I was in the right state of mind the whole way through, and I was very disciplined with myself."

The tournament is home to great memories for the 27-year-old, who reached his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final five years ago at this event, held in Montreal. Last year, after losing his opener in Montreal, Raonic played only one more match the remainder of the year. But he has showed improving form in 2018.


The former World No. 3 is now 21-8 this campaign, having reached the semi-finals and quarter-finals at the first two Masters 1000 events of the year, in Indian Wells and Miami, respectively. Raonic also reached the final in Stuttgart (l. to Federer), and advanced to the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the fourth time in five years.

On opening night in front of his home crowd, Raonic extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead against the Belgian star to 3-2 after 73 minutes. Not only was he dominant on his first serve, but on serve in general. Tthe Canadian won 41 of 48 service points, with three of the points he lost coming on double faults.

"People know I have a very good serve. So if you can start off well, it sort of just sends the message across like, 'Hey, this might not be that comfortable in terms of returning. I'm not going to have a lot of opportunities'," Raonic said. "So it's important to be on top of it from the start, to be efficient, and sort of send that message across."

According to Infosys ATP Scores & Stats, Goffin entered the match 12th all-time among active players, having won 31.04 per cent of first-serve return points. Last year, the four-time tour-level champion was fourth on the ATP World Tour, claiming 31.78 per cent of his return games. But he could not convert on his three break points against the Canadian.

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Raonic also did well to capture 40 per cent of return points, showing no hesitation in lashing out at his forehand against the speedy counter-puncher. He will next face #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe or Roland Garros semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato.

Elsewhere, Raonic's friend and countryman Vasek Pospisil fell to Croatia's Borna Coric 6-4, 6-3. Coric will next face countryman Marin Cilic, who leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 6-0.

“I thought Borna played really well. I thought he served extremely well,” Pospisil said. “I don't think that I was too far, there was too big of a difference. Just maybe I was not as relaxed as I would have liked to have been, and I think that's maybe the only thing. was playing with good energy at times and just maybe put a little bit too much pressure on myself before the tournament.”

Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco ousted German Peter Gojowczyk 6-2, 6-2 in 55 minutes to set a second-round match against reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov. Verdasco has won both of their meetings this season to take a 3-2 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Qualifier Ilya Ivashka moved through as well, beating Japan's Yuichi Sugita 6-2, 6-3.

Did You Know?
Entering the Rogers Cup, Raonic was ranked third all-time in service games won at 90.89 per cent according to Infosys ATP Scores & Stats. The only players ahead of him are Ivo Karlovic (92.02%) and John Isner (91.61%).

Canadian next faces Djokovic or Dimitrov
Milos Raonic showed that he’s not ready to hand over the mantle of Canada’s most dangerous player to Denis Shapovalov just yet, beating the #NextGenATP star 7-6(6), 6-4 to reach the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals Thursday.

Raonic will attempt to equal the semi-final runs he made in Cincinnati in 2014 and ’16 when on Friday he faces either Novak Djokovic or Grigor Dimitrov.

"I think I got myself into more points on his serve than he did on mine. I think that was an important thing." Raonic said. "It was the thing I struggled with most last time we played, so I definitely made sure to focus on that and sort of try to change that a little bit."


The 27-year-old Raonic saved a set point on Shapovlaov’s serve in the first-set tie-break when the left-hander made a loose baseline error. The former Wimbledon finalist led 4-1 in the second before Shapovalov broke to love en route to levelling the set at 4-all. But Raonic held serve and then converted his first match point at Ad out when he ran down a challenging half-volley drop shot to slide a compact backhand down the line past Shapovalov.

"I played a bad game to give him that set point, for him to have a chance to serve it out in that first set," Raonic said. "I think I put in a lot of returns. I took care of my serve pretty handily other than one really bad game, but otherwise, it was a pretty good match from my end."

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Raonic, the former World No. 3, is currently No. 29 in the ATP Rankings after suffering from a knee injury earlier this year, which forced his withdrawal from Rome and Roland Garros as well as mid-tournament walkovers in Monte-Carlo and at The Queen’s Club.

Did You Know?
Raonic has lost just eight first-serve points in his first three matches in Cincinnati, winning 91.6 per cent (87/95) of those points.