Unrelenting Raonic sets up a final date with Tipsarevic

Had Milos Raonic not managed to get his hands on a few cassettes of Pete Sampras recordings in Ontario,he probably would not have gone on to become a tennis player

Had Milos Raonic not managed to get his hands on a few cassettes of Pete Sampras recordings in Ontario,he probably would not have gone on to become a tennis player,let alone a good one. The 21-year old Canadian has watched those tapes well,for his pattern of breaking down the will of the opponent is uncannily similar to that of his idol.

Soon after Nicolas Almagro was broken for the first time in the opening set of the semifinal of the Chennai Open,the crowds backed the second seeded Spaniard to pull things back. Raonic,with a school’s boy face and a 60’s footballer attire,gunned the first serve at 232 kmph.

“Let,first serve,” cried Emmanuel Messina,the Italian chair umpire. It would be the only instance his assistance would be needed. For with four steaming aces in a row,recorded at 222,216,209 and 217 kmph,Raonic consolidated the break in the most Samprasian of ways.

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Almagro,ranked 10th in the world,knew there was no coming back. He never did,as Raonic completed the honours 6-4,6-4 with a stupendous total of 17 aces to book a spot in only the third ATP final of his three-year career. On Sunday,he will take on yet another top-10 player and the top seed of this tournament,Janko Tipsarevic.

After making short work of Japanese qualifier Go Soeda (6-1,6-4),Tipsarevic is just a match away from his maiden Chennai Open title. But he will know that getting past the Maple Leaf Missile will not be the easiest title clash of his decade-long career. For if Almagro’s expressions were anything to go by,Raonic doesn’t just beat you,he does it with unabashed conviction.

It was more a case of frustration than bile bubbling anger. Almagro,having pulled himself back on level terms from 0-30 in the pivotal seventh game of the first set,put everything into a wide serve to Raonic’s forehand. Raonic,from a position of barely reaching it,jumped on to the leaping ball in a flash and rocketed it back to Almagro’s left. After Almagro’s frame nicked yet another ball into the crowds,he stood dazed.

Raonic,the ATP Newcomer of the Year in 2011,has this unbelievable ability to generate ferocious racquet speeds even in slow games,negating the skills of a player like Almagro,who likes to put the ball back in play. With another screaming angled volley,the Canadian broke Almagro to go up 4-3 in the first set. Almagro would never lead this fixture again.

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With every passing round,Raonic manages to drop his few and far mental errors. In the second round against Victor Hanescu,Raonic dropped his intensity a few notches in the second set. Against Dudi Sela in the quarters,he was often caught hitting to the opponent’s demands,rather than calling the shots himself. Today,Raonic kept pedal on metal till the last 224 kmph ace screamed past Almagro’s left ear.

“I was happy with this match because I stopped hitting to one side of the court repeatedly. And I carried on my momentum from the first set,” Raonic said. But is there any pressure to live up to the ‘next big thing’ tag? “It’s what you make of it,really. I want to be one of the best out there,and for that to happen,pressure cannot really be a bad thing.” There will be plenty of it out there on Sunday,considering he could shed the word ‘next’ from that tag.