Sam Querrey faces Milos Raonic in the second
round on Thursday, 28th June. It is the first meeting between the
two talented players from neighboring countries.
Querrey and Raonic play similar type of
tennis with great reliance on serve and forehand. Querrey had been out of
action for sometime after elbow surgery last year during which his ranking
plummeted. Raonic has had a steady rise after his return from injury in last
Wimbledon. He is in good form.
Both the players have similar prowess in
mobility. They prefer to play mostly from the baseline and come to volley at
the net only when they are sure of the quality of the approach shot. Raonic is
more enterprising of the two in coming to the net. Forehand is the key weapon,
with Raonic having a bit lesser net clearance. However, he does not often
create acute angles since he tends to stand a bit more behind the baseline.
Both the players have good inside out forehand. Querrey also sometimes tends to
stand much behind the baseline which affects his attacking game. However, both
have adjusted their game a bit to suit the needs of the grass court.
Querrey has not had the same success of late
as when he had reached top twenty in the world rankings a year and a half ago.
His confidence has not returned to the same state as before. Raonic has an edge
on serve and Querrey is not the best returner of serve. Querrey is unlikely to
win more points from the back court in long rallies. One has to see whether his
game plan would be to abandon the baseline after 5-6 groundstroke exchanges and
advance to the net at the first available opportunity. Raonic has shown better
capability to merge with the match position and construct his way to an
advantageous state. He is the steadier player of the two at present.
When two players of similar style play each
other, the steadier one prevails. Raonic has been the more consistent player in 2012.
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