Raonic: Ranking rise not a coincidence

 

Originally published on 04/08/14

Raonic defeated Vasek Pospisil 6-1 6-4 in the first all-Canadian final in the Open era. It was only the second final contested between two players born in the 1990s, just one day after David Goffin defeated Dominic Thiem in Kitzbuhel.

"It’s great the way it started," Raonic said. "I couldn’t have asked for more. I had a chance to break in every single game in that first set. Then I continued to play solid after that. All in all, a very good performance and an important moment for me.

"I think I’m playing at a high level. I think the [ranking] I have beside my name is not a coincidence and I don’t think it would be a coincidence if it got lower."

In the week running up to the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Raonic claimed his second career win over Pospisil, who made a name for himself at the 2013 Rogers Cup, where he enjoyed a giantkilling run to the semi-finals before falling to Raonic in a third-set tiebreak. Raonic went on to lose to Rafael Nadal in the final.

Pospisil, who had to finish off his quarter-final match against Santiago Giraldo before defeating Richard Gasquet in three sets on Saturday, admitted he ran out of steam against Raonic.

"I wasn’t nervous about playing in the final," said the 24-year-old. "It was a combination of him playing very well and me being a little bit heavy-legged, and just ran out of a little bit of gas. It took me a little bit to get into the match, get my groove, and get the legs going. But credit to him. He played very well."

In the doubles, Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer defeated Sam Groth and Leander Paes 7-5 6-4 to lift the title. Both players had fallen in the first round 12 months previously – Tecau with Max Mirnyi and Rojer with Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

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