2014 ATP Finals Profile: Milos Raonic

I didn’t see his match against Fed last week, I assume he played great. But the only GREAT match I’ve seen from Milos was against Kyrgios at Wimbledon. Otherwise, you see a lot of good play and spots of greatness, but he is not at Slam winning level match after match- yet.
To me, he’s the weak man in this group, though who knows, he’s played Kei very close.

November 4th, 2014 at 8:11 pm

I feel kind of bad about chiming in with another pessimistic comment about Milos, but if I had to pick the most likely person to leave this tournament without a win…

It does seem, though, that if any of his opponents happen to be out of sorts that day for whatever reason, he’s more ready to capitalize than ever before.

November 4th, 2014 at 8:18 pm

TV,

Milos played great match against Roger, no doubt about that, but Roger also had one of his stubborn days when he played into the hands of his oponents(Delpo at USO, Berdych etc). Milos served 21 aces, but he is not first to serve so many aces to Roger and finish the match second best. There is few things that didn’t work well for Roger, high bounce, Roger wasn’t moving as well as in Shanghai and he wasn’t mixing it up, he was giving Milos ball after ball for his IO FH and when Milos was way out of court (running around for FH) Roger stubbornly was hitting BHCC instead of trying BHDTL.
So yes, Milos played great match but Roger played into his hands and will not be doing that in London, JMO.

Don’t get me wrong, I was more than happy Milos won:)

November 4th, 2014 at 9:04 pm

First things first, Raonic is in the top 10 so he couldn’t be all that bad. He is the kind of player who can be beaten by one who is playing well but if you are off, he will kill you. Most importantly, you need to have a better than just a decent service return game. Good service return and an “on” game and you’ll get him. Take away one of those and Raonic will get you. That’s why he’s top 10. There aren’t many who have those two components to beat him.

November 4th, 2014 at 9:05 pm

Yes, Polo, but they’re all here.

November 4th, 2014 at 9:07 pm

True, TV, but will they all be “on”? As far as I know, Federer, in his prime, is the only one who can be off and still beat a guy who is on (as long as he is not named Nadal). And none of these WTF guys is a Federer, including the present Federer himself.

November 4th, 2014 at 10:45 pm

I think Milos will have it tough the other 3 guys in the group,do everything much better,they all move better around the court,the only thing to get excited about Milos is his big serve,lets face it he wont beat Roger twice,Andy will make him do a lot of running,and Kei although it could be a tight match the conditions favour him more….

November 5th, 2014 at 5:07 am

He beat Fed recently, has a good h2h v muzza and is always competitive v Kei. And oh: he has that serve. In indoor tennis he’s hardly a gimme at all. I’m not a fan and I still favour the other 3 but it would surprise if he doesn’t win a match and if he manages 2 wins plus qualification then I would not be surprised either. He’s the kind of player you may not back but can see him causing a storm potentially due to his undeniable weapons. He will not be a easy for any of the other 3 in his group me thinks.

November 5th, 2014 at 6:32 am

Have Nishikori and Murray ever played? Looking forward to that one.

I like this group B. Lots of interesting match ups and no clear favorite. I think Federer gets revenge over Raonic but, quite frankly, you never know. Murray and Federer is 50/50. Nishikori and Federer is 50/50. Nishikori is a slight favorite over Raonic but indoors it’s maybe 55/45. And Nishikori and Murray is maybe 55/45 in Murray’s favor. I guess it depends how fit Nishikori is, too. If he’s in US Open mode he could got 3-0. But if he’s strugging with anything he could just as easily go 0-3.

November 5th, 2014 at 8:53 am

I think Nishikori and Fed come out of B.

Milos has a winning H2H against Murray, and, although I haven’t seen any of the matches, my guess would be that Murray’s moon balls leave Raonic too much time to unload his big forehand. Raonic needs to be rushed, he has a huge backswing, and Murray will have to play aggressive tennis to avoid that blow- or it will be Murray doing a lot of running.

November 5th, 2014 at 9:21 am

Semis:
Novak over Andy.
Roger over Cilic.

Final:
Roger over Novak.

November 5th, 2014 at 9:24 am

@Ben
Andy and Kei have met 3 times. Andy leads 3-0. But last time, at the AO I think KEi pulled out with an injury. But gotta say, Kei is hugely improved since then. I believe after one meeting Andy told him to get to the gym!
@Brando
Without sitting down and working it out exactly, I would think Andy too has had a year out with injury. He’s had two serious wrist injuries, besides his back, just for starters.

November 5th, 2014 at 10:11 am

Margot, didn’t know that. Interesting, though. The matches weren’t even close. But like you said, this is a vastly improved Nishikori. I’ll say 65/35 edge to Murray based on h2h and form but probably a much closer contest than in the past.

November 5th, 2014 at 10:31 am

brando makes good points about raonic. he does seem like the least rounded, but he has the potential to cause a “storm” on a good day, as we saw in paris.

nishikori is a question mark because he can sometimes seem frail. he showed a lot of toughness at the us open, though, getting through long matches against quality opponents in raonic, wawrinka and nole before succumbing in the final, rather easily, to cilic. and even versus rafa at the australian i felt he should’ve taken at least one set. anyhow, i am particularly interested to see how he makes out.

November 5th, 2014 at 10:43 am

semis:
Roger over Novak
Cilic over Murray

final:
Roger over Cilic

DC
Suisse 3
France 2

#1 yearend Roger Federer

told ya all pre Bazel.

November 5th, 2014 at 12:57 pm

Funny hiw the majoity here keep under estimating Raonic. Of all the player in London I think he is the most motivated. The guy really wants to be no. 1 and he believes he will be, that is most powerful weapon he possesses. I agree it may be tough to accomplish at his first go at the season ender, but I think he has a better than even chance of being in the top two of his group. Next year the sky’s the limit if he can improve his volley.

November 8th, 2014 at 9:40 am