Milos Raonic Proving He Can Play With The Top Players

Written by: Staff on 2nd August 2012

Milos Raonic Proving He Can Play With The Top Players

epa03330287 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France (L) and Milos Raonic of Canada following their Olympic record breaking match at the London 2012 Olympic Games Tennis competition in Wimbledon, Greater London, Britain, 31 July 2012. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

The big-match pressure is starting to build on Canadian Milos Raonic after the potential top 10 candidate failed to measure up at another of the major events in tennis. The No. 23 put up a huge fight in a record-breaking 6-3, 3-6, 25-23 London Olympic second-round defeat by French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the London Olympics.

While he did exit the event, Raonic and Tsonga did write a line for the record books. Their marathon was the longest-ever three-set match in terms of number of games (66) in Olympic tennis history. The 48-game final set as the longest-ever set at the Games.

Canadians also figured in the previous record – most games (63) and longest set (38). That came in 1988 Seoul in a first-round doubles match, in which Canadians Carling Bassett-Seguso and Jill Hetherington beat Argentines Mercedes Paz and Gabriela Sabatini 20-18 in the third.

Raonic has been to the second week of a Grand Slam only once, losing in the Australian open fourth round in 2011 to David Ferrer.

“I feel like with the last few matches, maybe I had against Roger (Federer in Halle ) and now against Tsonga), up against a few different players on pretty big stages, I’ve been sort of knocking on the door,” said Raonic. “Hopefully I can kick it down and make the most of it nest time. I have to find my way through this.”

Raonic will now have a few days to acclimate for next week’s start of his home Masters 1000 in Toronto .

©Daily Tennis News Wire

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