If you've ever wondered what a more refined version of John Isner might look like, we may have discovered it in Milos Raonic.
In beating Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) to win his first ATP title, Raonic flaunted his cannon serve from start to finish. He needed to—Verdasco, like Raonic, wasn't broken in the match. But the lean Canuck showed much more. The big man takes a big swing with his forehand, which he hits with just the right balance of flat force and safe spin. Verdasco smartly shied away from that shot as much as possible.
Raonic also possesses a serviceable slice backhand and a fantastic kick serve. In short, there's much more to Raonic than his 140+ mph first serves, even though they were the root of Verdasco's problems. The defending champion became irritated with Raonic's rockets over time, more so because he squandered four set points in the first-set tiebreaker. It was an uphill battle for Verdasco from that point on—aside from a few tense moments, Raonic was nearly automatic on serve. When Raonic, serving, once fell to 0-15, commentator Todd Martin called it a "huge opportunity" for Verdasco.
Verdasco's best chance to break serve came in the ninth game of the second set. He pushed Raonic to deuce, and the 20-year-old responded with a fine serve out wide. Verdasco got his racquet on it; the ball sailed up and fell toward the court like a sine curve. But it never touched the ground, as Raonic hit arguably hit best shot of the match, an acutely-angled swinging forehand volley winner.
Do the math: Raonic is a wonderful emerging talent. It will be tempting to assign unrealistic expectations onto the young stud—just wait until Wimbledon preview week. Thankfully, Raonic appears to be a level-headed fellow. He was as cool during his acceptance speech as he was on championship point, when he smacked yet another ace past Verdasco.
—Ed McGrogan