Big serving Canadian Milos Raonic was beaten in a straight sets route by Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 7-6 6-4 in the opening round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Tuesday.
Raonic’s first round defeat was the Canadian’s second first round defeat at Masters level for the second week running. Last week he suffered a defeat on home court in Montreal to Ivo Karlovic in two tight tiebreak sets.
Raonic’s first-round defeat on Tuesday in Cincinnati lasted little over an hour, and it was clear from the start that the 9th seeded Canadian was not at his best. Big serving Lopez took the momentum and managed to squeeze past Raonic to claim the first set 7 points to 4, taking a tight first set tiebreak.
Despite an even level of play in the first set it was the big serving leftie who bossed play in the second, breaking a despondent Raonic to give himself a boost. With momentum firmly on his side Lopez showed no sign of mercy, holding his nerve to take the second set and the match in straight sets. Lopez, who recently got married, scored a big win that should help boost his recently poor form.
With two back to back first round loses on the American hard courts, the w=World number 9 could find himself struggling when the final Grand Slam of the year, the US Open, commences on 31st of August. Raonic has struggled to find form since returning from a foot injury during the clay court season, and his promising start to the year has become lost in the wilderness as he is playing well below his still top 10 ranking.
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