Milos Raonic becomes the first Canadian since Greg Rusedski in 1995 to win an ATP title by defeating defending champion Fernando Verdasco 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in San Jose. At 20 years and one month, the big-serving Raonic also became the youngest ATP title winner since Marin Cilic won New Haven at 19 in 2008.
Against Verdasco, Raonic served 13 aces (including one at 149 mph) and won 49 of his 56 first serve points against the ninth-ranked Spaniard. He hit 50 winners and committed 30 unforced errors.
"I played well when he let me on his serve because I think there must be another league for he and [Ivo] Karlovic because it’s like another sport," Verdasco said. "When you serve every time 140 mph and every time you have chance he’s going to the line, you can’t do anything. Plus from the baseline, he’s a better player than Karlovic."
Verdasco also joked that the thin Raonic plays a stronger game than one might expect at first glance. He and Raonic will play the first round of Memphis next week.
"What surprises me is that he has [long] legs and if you see him in the locker room he has the body of a 12-year-old and has half [the size] of my shoulder and serves 140 all the time" the Spaniard said with a laugh. "Nobody knows the future, but I think he can be Top 20 very soon. But there are a lot of guys who can return serve well and they are not going to give him the Top 20 for free."
Raonic was virtually untouchable on serve all week long. He began his rapid rise when upset No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny at the Aussie Open before falling to David Ferrer in the fourth round. He’s projected to rise to a career No. 59 in the rankings.
"There are a lot of places I can improve upon," he said. "I’m going to work on getting better off the ground, on the return, transitioning to the net so I can put more pressure, and I’m going to keep working on my serve because a lot of people say it’s amazing, but I think it can get better. I can play at this level. It going to be tough to jump into the Top 10 right now, but I think I’m on the right way."—Matthew Cronin