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Sunday, September 2, 2012

US Open 2012: Murray Versus Raonic - Preview


Danger looms large for Andy Murray when he takes on Milos Raonic in the third round on Monday, the 3rd September. It is not known whether he has figured out the way to defeat Raonic. Drawn against each other three times, they could play only once since injuries prevented play on the other two occasions. When they played at Barcelona earlier this year, Raonic defeated Murray in straight sets.

Murray has the game to defeat Raonic, but the only thing he has to do is to figure out the serve. Two inches advantage in height lies with both the players - Raonic being the taller, has developed a devastating first serve whereas Murray being the shorter, moves much better. Murray is gifted with a sharp anticipation, but he could not prevent fourteen aces in eleven service games when they played at Barcelona. This could have a repeat occurrence since it is independent of the court surface. All the three titles that have landed in Raonic kitty were on hard courts, two indoor and one outdoor. Hard court is also a preferred surface for Murray where he has been finalist three times in Grand Slam majors, twice in Australia and once at the U.S Open.

Raonic will employ the same tactics that has won him numerous matches - serve well above 60% and get half the points in service games so that there is little reliance on the second serve. Serve is his main weapon, both first and the second. Murray, being a good returner, will deny a few of the service winners but since his returns sometimes fall short from the ad court, Raonic will get chance to employ one - two combination. Raonic not being the best returner, Murray can get his own share of points won on serve. He however tends to underperform on the percentage of first serves. It is a big relief for his team if he does not fall below 55%. Matches that Murray wins can be related to the percentage of his first serves since his second serve is rather weak. However, in all other departments, Murray has advantage over Raonic. It depends a lot on whether he is able to avoid tie breakers where the serve power will give a distinct advantage to Raonic.

If both the players serve well, whosoever plays better on the important points of the match will win. If Raonic serves well and Murray serves poorly, Raonic will win by holding his serve and putting pressure on Murray’s serve. If both serve below average, Murray might win through less number of unforced errors. If Murray serves well and Raonic serves poorly, Murray will be the likely victor.

Raonic will have the psychological advantage from his win over Murray in the only match played, but Murray will have a game plan to redeem his honour having learnt lessons from the mistakes. The result will go the way of whoever plays better on the day.

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