Tough Nadal foils Raonic’s bid for Canadian history
MONTREAL — Rafael Nadal took some of the lustre off a week of outstanding performances by Canadian players when he crushed Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-2 in the final of the $3.4-million Rogers Cup Canadian Open men’s tennis championships Sunday at the Jarry Tennis Centre.
Nadal, the fourth seed, needed only 67 minutes to beat the 11th-seeded Raonic, who was the first Canadian to reach the tournament final since they started playing for money in 1968.
Nadal, who won his first ATP Masters 1000 event here in 2005, played nearly flawless tennis as he won his third Canadian Open title, his 25th career Masters title and his 58th win overall.
“I played very well,” said Nadal. “I had a service break early in both sets and I served well. There was only one game where I had trouble on my serve.”
That was at 2-1 in the second set when Nadal fell behind 0-40 but reeled off five consecutive points, beginning and ending the run with an ace.
“He gave me a clinic today,” said Raonic, who has yet to win a set in four matches against Nadal.
Raonic served two aces to win the opening game of the match, but Nadal broke him for a 2-1 lead and then broke again in the fifth game when he won five consecutive points after Raonic led 40-0. He then broke Raonic in the first game of the second set and added another break to lead 5-2.
While Raonic’s performance this week will move him into the top 10 in the ATP rankings, the final showed there is a gap between the Canadian and the top four or five players on the tour. Raonic is taking a more aggressive approach in an attempt to narrow that gap, but he had limited success against Nadal. He came to the net 11 times and won only four of those points.
And Raonic’s serve — his No. 1 weapon — let him down. He put only 50 per cent of first serves into play and had three double faults to go with his four aces.
“He just made too many mistakes,” said Nadal. Raonic agreed.
“I was trying to serve hard rather than hitting spots,” said the 22-yearold from Thornhill, Ont. “I wasn’t getting the percentages I needed on my first serve. I was trying to go for a little bit too much and too quick in the points. Obviously he was playing great. He wasn’t making many errors, if any. But at some points I wasn’t making him play enough or waiting for the right shot. I think I was rushing a lot of the first set and a half. “
But Nadal said he thought Raonic has the ability to stay in the top 10.