Milos Raonic: Has He Evolved into a Threat on the Clay Courts?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: April 26, 2012

commentComment        

Young Canadian Milos Raonic, already in the midst of a career season, has advanced to the quarterfinals of the ATP World Tour event in Barcelona. His latest victim is none other than Spaniard Nicolas Almagro, who has won 11 titles on the red clay in his career.

With such an impressive straight-sets win over the veteran player, can Raonic be looked upon as a threat now to challenge for titles on the dirt?

He's only had about a year's experience as a consistent top-30-caliber player on the men's tour, but few in recent years have shot up the rankings the way he has. Dating back to last season, Raonic has already won three tournaments. This year, he's notched a 20-4 record so far, with one of those losses coming in a tough three-setter to none other than Roger Federer at Indian Wells on the hard courts.

The foundation of Raonic's game is his serve, which is one of the biggest out there. However, he's no one-trick pony. His run in Barcelona has shown his groundstrokes also have a lot of pop and he's consistent off both wings. Plus, he moves very well for someone his size, at 6'5" and nearly 200 pounds.

What's also impressive about Raonic is that, despite the fact that faster surfaces obviously suit his talents to the utmost, he's willing to put in the work to improve under all conditions. Aside from Almagro, he's beaten veteran clay-courters Alejandro Falla and Igor Andreev.

Next up for the 21-year-old is No. 2 seed Andy Murray, who has spent the past few years adapting his game even more so to the clay. It will be a good test for Raonic, and—win or lose—will be something he can learn from as he continues to develop.

Read more Tennis news on BleacherReport.com

...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis

Latest News


Comments

Comments are closed.

Sponsors

Bruins Tickets The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Red Wings Tickets The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

Penguins Tickets The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New York Rangers Tickets play their home games at Madison Square Garden, they are one of the oldest teams in the NHL, having joined in 1926 as an expansion franchise, and are part of the group of teams referred to as the Original Six.

San Jose Sharks Tickets The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team based in San Jose, California, United States.

Toronto Maple Leafs Tickets The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

New Jersey Devils Tickets The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.

Washington Capitals Tickets The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C.

Buffalo Sabres Tickets The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League. Get the Sabres and all of your NHL Tickets here.

NASCAR season is on of the most attended sports in the world. NASCAR Tickets to the best tracks is a must every year. Some of these tracks are: Talladega Tickets, Lowes Motor Speedway Tickets, Pocono Raceway Tickets, located in Ridgeway Virginia you have Martinsville Speedway Tickets and southern US you have two of the most popular Atlanta Motor Speedway Tickets and Texas Motor Speedway Tickets. Don't miss all the racing events this year!

Boston Red Sox Tickets The Boston Red Sox are a member of the Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Since 1912, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park. This is one of the hottest MLB Tickets sales of any team in the major league.

New York Yankees Tickets The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division. Get tickets to one of the hottest games of the season Yankees Red Sox Tickets.

Chicago Cubs Tickets The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League.

Phillies Tickets The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883.

Orioles Tickets The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland.

Do you love wrestling? Get your WWE Tickets and WWE Survivor Series Tickets today!