Atlanta Tennis Championships To Welcome Milos Raonic

Written by: Staff on 10th May 2011

Atlanta Tennis Championships To Welcome Milos Raonic

Canadian tennis player Milos Raonic returns the ball to Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco in their first round match at the Italian Open Tennis Tournament (Masters series), in the Central Stadium at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy, 08 May 2010. EPA/CLAUDIO ONORATI |

Milos Raonic, the youngest player in the top 30 of the world rankings at No. 26, has committed to play the Atlanta Tennis Championships, an ATP World Tour event that will open the Olympus US Open Series at the Racquet Club of the South July 18-24, Tournament Director Bob Bryant announced today.

The 20-year-old Canadian exploded onto the scene this year by coming through qualifying to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open. He followed that performance up with his first Tour title at San Jose, becoming the first man from his country to win an ATP title in 16 years. The following week he reached the final at Memphis, falling to American Andy Roddick in three sets. This year alone he has defeated defending ATC champion and World No. 11 Mardy Fish and World No. 17 Fernando Verdasco twice, and World No. 13 Mikhail Youzhny once. His fantastic play has taken him from a ranking of No. 156 at the beginning of the year to a current ranking of World No. 26. His blistering serve regularly tops 140 miles per hour and he leads the tour with 433 aces this year.

“This will be my first time playing in Atlanta and I welcome the chance to play before the many enthusiastic tennis fans in Georgia,” Raonic said.

Bryant said, “It is rare that a talent bursts upon the scene as quickly as Milos has. He’s jumped more than 120 ranking spots in less than four months. That’s such an incredible feat on the challenging and demanding ATP World Tour. We look forward to Milos being a top player in a very competitive field.”

The tournament, in its second year, will be played at the Racquet Club of the South July 18-24.

Other players committed to play in the tournament are Fish, who reached the World Top 10 for the first time last month; former All-American at the University of Georgia John Isner, who is best known for winning the longest tennis match ever at last year’s Wimbledon; and American Sam Querrey, currently World No. 25. These three Americans have 12 ATP World Tour singles titles between them.