2016 Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic came into the Australian Open as the 32nd seed. His only warm-up event, Doha, didn’t go too well, as Raonic lost in the opening round to Corentin Moutet.
Milos Raonic–2020 Australian Open
The Canadian was originally supposed to play one of the most dangerous unseeded floaters in the draw, Radu Albot. But he benefited from the Moldovan’s withdrawal to blast Lorenzo Giustino and Christian Garin off the court. Still, the first big test was looming around the corner.
Raonic took on in-form sixth-seed Stefanos Tsitispas, defeating the Greek in comfortable straight sets. That is what Tsitsipas had to say after the match:
“It’s quite difficult. He’s playing forehands from all over the court, and you don’t really know where you should stand exactly, because he’s just so fast and just turning around, hitting those forehands.”
On Sunday, Raonic played another brilliant match to defeat Marin Cilic. The Canadian will now face Novak Djokovic for a spot in the 2020 Australian Open semifinals.
Movement and groundstroke stability
In an interview with Mats Wilander for Eurosport, Raonic mentioned working hard on his movement during the off-season. And it shows. With his inside-out forehand being such a force, the Canadian needs to have the time to run around his backhand and set up the shot correctly. Moving well on the baseline is a must to perform his game well from the tactical standpoint. The easiest way to play Raonic is to abuse his backhand. But as Tsitsipas said, when the Canadian’s moving so well, it just seems like wherever you hit it, he’ll hit a forehand anyway.
But no matter how well you run around it, you still need a stable backhand. And it’s been as solid as ever for Raonic here, allowing him to attack if the opponent plays a shorter ball to it. As the Canadian’s movement got sharper, his backhand also improved as he now has that split second more before he needs to make the decision.
Net play
Over the years, Raonic has worked with a variety of different coaches, who all had different playing styles. A couple of them were excellent volleyers like John McEnroe or Goran Ivanisevic. When you have a big serve and forehand combination, you need to have a consistent ability to finish the points at the net. That is what Raonic’s game lacked for his first few years on the tour.
But the Canadian’s been gradually improving his volleying skills and they also seem better than ever. He was often recognized for his brilliant slice approach shots, but they don’t work that well on a surface like that. Therefore, Raonic is using more conventional tactics to play in the forecourt. Once again, the improved movement helps, getting into position a bit faster and allowing him to cover more angles. Raonic has won 81 out of 108 points at the net this event so far.
The serve
Everyone’s been talking about it for years, but can you really skip it? It’s Raonic’s best shot and the greatness of it doesn’t even have to do that much with the power. Although it has already brought him 82 aces, it’s the constantly excellent spot-hitting that seems to be the most important aspect of it. The Canadian has also been using a ton of sliced serves to his opponent’s forehand on the deuce side. It’s not exactly a kill shot, but it often set ups an easy enough forehand or a routine serve and volley.
Big points performance
While Raonic has never really been associated with choking, the mental side of his game has been on the rise too. The Canadian saved all seven break points faced so far (three vs Garin, four vs Cilic).
For big servers, it’s the points at 30-30 or 40-40 that often prove pivotal. At that stage of the game, it’s either a break point for the opponent or a chance to end the game. And Raonic has been absolutely brilliant in these high pressure situations. Over the first four matches here, he won 21/23 of them, losing both to Marin Cilic.
His toughest matchup?
Undoubtedly, Novak Djokovic has been a nightmare to play against for Raonic over the years. The Serbian leads the head-to-head between them 9-0, dropping just two sets (Rome and Cincinnati). But somehow, after Raonic has been struggling for the last couple of years, it seems like it might be his best shot to defeat the 16-time Grand Slam champion.
His serve can keep it very close and with the new GreenSet surface clearly suiting his game, Milos Raonic will like his chances to look for an upset.
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