Berdych Passes Goffin Test; Raonic Survives Scare

Written by: Staff on 28th August 2012

Berdych Passes Goffin Test; Raonic Survives Scare

epa03372413 Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic hits a return to David Goffen of Belgium during their match on the second day of the 2012 US Open Tennis Championship at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, USA, 28 August 2012. The US Open runs through Sunday 09 September 2012. EPA/PETER FOLEY |

(Original Link: http://www.atpworldtour.com/News/Tennis/2012/08/35/US-Open-Tuesday-Berdych-Holds-Off-Goffin.aspx)

World No. 7 Tomas Berdych fired 17 aces as he defeated upcoming Belgian David Goffin 7-5, 6-3, 6-3 on Tuesday in the first round of the US Open. The Czech player struck 40 winners, to 28 from Goffin, and crucially saved 16 of the 18 break points he faced.

“It’s a good point and good statistic for me,” commented Berdych on the saved break points. “I think he has a pretty good future ahead of him. If he just stays doing what he’s doing, then I think we can see him in the future quite high.”

The 26-year-old Berdych is coming off a runner-up showing at the Winston-Salem Open (l. to Isner) and improved to a 42-16 match record on the season. The right-hander was also a runner-up at the Mutua Madrid Open in May (l. to Federer) and captured his seventh ATP World Tour title at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier (d. Monfils).

The 21-year-old Goffin has enjoyed a breakthrough season, reaching the fourth round as a lucky loser at Roland Garros (l. to Federer) before advancing to the third round at Wimbledon (l. to Fish). He came into Flushing Meadows at a career-high World No. 56 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings after a quarter-final showing in Winston-Salem.

Canadian No. 15 seed Milos Raonic survived a first-round scare. The 21 year old battled past Colombia’s Santiago Giraldo 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and 25 minutes to claim his first main draw win at the US Open.

Raonic won the first 24 points on his first serve, not surrendering one until the eighth game of the second set. Giraldo was quick to turn the tables, though, and had the Toronto native in trouble as he led by a break in the fourth set. Raonic fought back and fired 30 aces in total to earn the hard-fought win.

“I’m just happy with the outcome and that I managed to sort of make the most of that moment and just find a way to win,” said Raonic. “Everything else I’ve gotta hope gets better in the next round. I don’t think I struggled with my serve that much in a long, long time. A lot of double faults, and it wasn’t just one double fault per game. When I double faulted, I double faulted consistently a couple times in a row, so that made my job a lot more difficult and it gave him a little bit more freedom at the same time.”

Nicolas Almagro, the No. 11 seed from Spain, lost the second set but hit back to defeat Czech Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 in three hours and seven minutes. The Murcia native converted six of his 17 break points to notch his 50th match win of the season. The 27 year old is playing for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals at the London 2012 Olympics.

Elsewhere, Chinese Taipei’s Jimmy Wang withstood 32 aces to overcome Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6(4), 6-7(10), 6-1, 6-4 in just over three hours. The No. 182-ranked Wang, a qualifier, won a main draw match at the US Open for the first time at the age of 27. He goes onto face 16th-seeded Frenchman Gilles Simon.