Aircel Chennai Open 2012: Milos Raonic Rides First Serves To Cruise Into The Finals

Milos Raonic defeated Nicolas Almagro 6-4 6-4 to storm into the finals of the Aircel Chennai Open, 2012. He will meet Janko Tipsarevic for the title tomorrow.

Almagro and Raonic were cruising with their serve games to reach 3-3. Almagro was serving at reduced pace but wide from the deuce court especially. His ground strokes were solid, though not packed with extraordinary power. Raonic was not avoiding the forehand side of Almagro on first serve and was not predictable as to which side he would go. However, at 3-3, he changed tactics. He started serving to the back hand of Almagro, especially the second serve. Almagro was seen scampering backwards as soon as Raonic hit the ball on the second serve. He was taking the ball 10 feet behind the baseline and sending a high return from backhand. Surprisingly, Raonic did not step into the court after the serve to take an attacking position. This was unlike his second round match against Victor Hanescu. Whether it was the quality of return of Almagro or his own game plan, he preferred to play a comparatively defensive game. However, he never faced any break point in the first set. When he broke Almagro to lead 5-4, he concentrated on sending the first serve in. He sent in three aces and two unreturned serves in the eight points played, just as Almagro made every effort to even the set score. In total he served ten aces in the first set and most of them on crucial points. He played to his strength by sending almost all first serves in and once the set was over 6-4, there was no looking back.

The second set saw Almagro setting more rallies to score points. Raonic was the one who lost more points in the rallies. But on his own serves, he was hardly in trouble.  He was now attacking the backhand of Almagro more than in the first set, but Almagro was not committing many errors from the backhand. However, he could not return winners on the second serve of Raonic. Raonic broke Almagro to go up 5-4. At this point, the nerves took over a bit. He became overanxious to end the points quickly and committed unforced errors to go down 15-40. Just when it looked that Almagro will stage a come back, as he did against Yuichi Sugita in the previous round after trailing by a set, Raonic collected himself and concentrated on serves. He fired two aces and two unretured serves to take the second set 6-4.

He will face Janko Tipsarevic in the finals tomorrow. Tipsarevic is playing error free rallies. He overwhelmed Go Soeda 6-1 6-4 in the other semi-final. But he is not having unplayable shots. It will be an even contest. Even if the ranking favours Tipsarevic, Raonic can cause an upset. Both Raonic and Tipsarevic were favoured by the cheering crowds in their respective matches. It might be a level playing field tomorrow.