Raonic regains his winning form
MONTREAL — In the midst of a frustrating, injury-ravaged season, Milos Raonic has learned not to expect a lot from his body.
But the Canadian’s big frame didn’t let him down Monday afternoon on home soil.
Raonic’s booming serve produced 16 aces — including 10 in the first set — to overpower France’s Lucas Pouille 6-4, 6-4 in men’s first-round action at the Rogers Cup in Montreal.
The 28-year-old’s career, while wildly successful with eight singles titles and nearly US$19-million in earnings, has been dotted by a laundry list of physical ailments. And 2019 has been no different. “It’s led to a lot of disappointment,” Raonic said of the various injuries, including knee and back issues, that have limited him to 10 events this season. “I’m still trying to find the first tournament I can get through healthy this year.
“That alone is pretty tough to swallow, but it is what it is. I just try to go out each week as best prepared as I can be (and) try to give it everything.”
Raonic, ranked 20th in the world, certainly did that in dispatching Pouille in just one hour 12 minutes at IGA Stadium.
“There is not much to talk about because there were not any rallies,” said the 29th-ranked Frenchman. “In these kinds of matches, you know it’s only about return and serve. It’s really, really tough because when he’s serving like this ... he’s really tough to read.”
Raonic broke Pouille in the third game of the first set and did the same midway through the second before closing things in tidy fashion.
The victory was the Thornhill, Ont., product’s first in Montreal since making it all the way to the 2013 final when he lost to Rafael Nadal.
Raonic fell to Pouille in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open back in January, but improved to 4-1 all-time against the 25-year-old with Monday’s win.
The top-ranked Canadian was originally supposed to open against Taylor Fritz of the United States, but was bumped up when South Africa’s Kevin Anderson, the ninth seed, pulled out of the $5.7-million ATP Tour Masters 1000 series event over the weekend.
“It was a tough first round against Lucas,” Raonic said. “To play well (and) get the wheels going in a positive way, I have to be happy with that.”
Raonic will now face either Montreal native and rising teenage star Felix Auger-Aliassime (ranked 22nd) or Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil in the second round. The Canadian duo, who played doubles together against France’s Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin on Monday afternoon, were scheduled to face off in singles action on Tuesday.
While unfortunate, Raonic said meeting a countryman early is a byproduct of having six players on tour.
“I’m sure the odds are much higher than they have been in the past,” he said. “That’s just how it plays out sometimes.”