Raonic does his part in Davis Cup tie
Milos Raonic doesn’t believe he gave Canada any sort of momentum in the Davis Cup. But he does think he helped his teammates focus on themselves. Raonic manhandled Thiemo de Bakker in three sets to give Canada a 1-0 lead over the Netherlands on Friday in the first rubber of their Davis Cup draw. Raonic overpowered de Bakker 6-3, 6-2, 6-2, relying on his big serve for 23 aces to the Dutchman’s three. “Maybe it does set the tone in some ways, but as much as this is a team event, once you step out on the court you’re there trying to figure out your own things,” said Raonic, who is the top-ranked Canadian on the ATP Tour, rising up to No. 20 worldwide after his run to the fourth round at the U.S. Open. “Tennis, no matter what, will be an individual sport other than doubles. Those things don’t change.” Canada’s lead become 2-0 when Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., rallied from two sets down to outlast Robin Haase 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-4.
Raonic missed every Davis Cup tie since 2015’s 3-2 win over Japan in Vancouver due to injury and his inclusion on the team has helped make it what many have touted as Canada’s best Davis Cup entry. Despite that long layoff from the international competition, he improved to 11-1 when playing on home soil in the Davis Cup. Played in Coca-Cola Coliseum at Toronto’s Exhibition Place, home of the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies, the hard-court match had a hockey atmosphere. Fans wore red and white, waved Canadian flags, banged drums and clapped thundersticks together during stoppages in play. Several times the chair umpire had to ask fans to quiet down with a terse “please,” or “thank you.” “I think this event, here, has very unique possibilities,” said Raonic, who is from Thornhill, Ont., a suburb north of Toronto. “I think if you look at the outer population of Toronto, with the suburbs included, I think there’s almost a quarter of Canada’s population living here. I think there’s a very big opportunity for people to come out and support tennis.”
After exchanging games, Raonic pulled ahead to a 3-1 advantage behind his powerful serve and wellplaced volleys. De Bakker, 236th in the ATP Tour’s singles rankings, came back to make it 5-3 before Raonic easily won the set after a pair of challenges went his way. Relying again on his power game and pinpoint volleys, he won five consecutive games to take the second set. De Bakker clearly started to get worn out in the second set. “I felt I was there with the returns,” said de Bakker. “A few games it just mounted and they ’re gone. If you take the whole match, if I kept my serve I think I’m there with my returns and I’m not that far away, but the biggest struggle was to hold serve today.” Although de Bakker grabbed a quick lead in the third set, Raonic continued to push the pace with his Dutch opponent getting visibly frustrated, even exchanging words with the chair umpire. Toronto’s Daniel Nestor and Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil will team up on Saturday in the doubles rubber, facing Matwe Middelkoop and Jean-Julien Rojer.
The singles matchups will flip Sunday, with Raonic playing Haase and Shapovalov facing de Bakker.