Raonic takes French opener by slamming 27 aces
‘I was able to put forward the right attitude and the right level of tennis’
PARIS Milos Raonic hopes his recent success on clay leads to a long run at the French Open.
The Canadian star won his opening match at the second Grand Slam of the year on Sunday, beating Australian wild card Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 to reach the second round.
Raonic, the eighth seed from Thornhill, Ont., needed exactly two hours to advance against one of the game’s rising young stars. He also beat an Australian opponent for the first time at a Grand Slam after losing to Carsten Ball at the 2010 U.S. Open and Lleyton Hewitt at the 2012 Australian Open.
He won on his third match point, sealing the victory with a 27th ace.
Raonic, who came to Roland Garros from a Rome semifinal last weekend, finished with 50 winners and 30 unforced errors, breaking on four of 10 chances.
“I felt very good, I was able to do the things I wanted to do,” said Raonic, who next plays one of two Czechs, Lukas Rosol or Jiri Vesely.
“In the first round you go in not knowing exactly how things are going to play out. When it mattered, I was able to put forward the right attitude and the right level of tennis. I’m happy with that.”
Raonic has a career record of 32-23 on clay courts, compared to 100-42 on hard surfaces that don’t deaden his powerful serve. But Raonic had two quarter-final appearances as well as the Rome semifinal in four clay-court tournaments leading up to the French Open.
He’s trying to go beyond the third round at Roland Garros for the first time in his career.
Later Sunday, sixth seed Tomas Berdych beat Canadian qualifier Peter Polansky, of Thornhill, Ont., 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Polansky, ranked 137th and playing in only his sixth career singles main draw at a major, last played a Grand Slam at the 2010 US Open.
Meanwhile, Roger Federer’s four-year-old twins, Myla and Riva, hung in there for about 20 minutes Sunday in his guest box at Court Philippe Chatrier, long enough to see Daddy take control of his French Open match.
Eventually, the kids left with a nanny, perhaps to join their twin brothers, who are less than three weeks old.
Truth is, Federer’s first victory as a father of four contained little drama. Federer swept the last five games of the opening set, won 36 of 43 service points in the first two sets, and eliminated 87th-ranked Lukas Lacko of Slovakia 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to reach the second round at Roland Garros.
“My personal life, as we know, it’s all great,” the fourth-seeded Federer said. “So I’m happy the family is here.”
Sunday’s win was the 2009 champion’s 59th in a French Open match, tying him with Rafael Nadal for the most in history. Nadal, who’s won eight titles here, gets a chance to nudge ahead Monday, when he’ll play his first-round match against American wild-card entry Robby Ginepri.
Other winners on a cloudy — but dry — Day 1 at the only Grand Slam event that starts on Sunday included No. 6 Tomas Berdych, 10th-seeded American John Isner; No. 13 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga; and No. 22 Jerzy Janowicz, who beat Victor Estrella Burgos, the first man from the Dominican Republic at a major tournament since 1956.
Defending women’s champion Serena Williams and her older sister, No. 29 Venus, moved closer to a possible third-round meeting. Other women advancing: No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska; No. 8 Angelique Kerber; No. 14 Carla Suarez Navarro; and No. 31 Daniela Hantuchova.
While British bookmakers are issuing odds on the prospects for all-Federer doubles teams one day, the Williams sisters already have earned 13 major titles together in doubles, to go along with Serena’s 17 and Venus’ seven in singles.
The French Open women’s field has more than twice as many players 30 or older (17) as teens (eight).
“Young folks today, eh?” said Venus, who turns 34 on June 17. “I’m just trying to hopefully stay alive myself as an older player.”