Milos Raonic: A New Star is Born

As Milos Raonic sent down another booming first serve, a cry of yes went up from the crowd. The return from Fernando Verdasco nestled in the net and in only his eighth ATP tour-level tournament, the young Canadian had his first title. At only 20 years old, he is one of the most promising prospects in the men’s game.


He has arguably the most devastating serve in tennis at this point in time. Against Fernando Verdasco, he served down thirteen aces, adding to the 45 that he had served in his previous three matches. He was hitting his first serve 69% of the time, winning 87% of those points. There were an additional twenty service winners, as well as numerous points where he had an easy put-away. His fastest serve hit 149mph.

Fernando Verdasco is one of the top players in the world, but his inability to get close to the Raonic serve drove him insane. As he admitted, that was the difference in the match.

However, Raonic was not just about the serve. His forehand was a real threat at times and his composure under pressure was impressive for such a young and inexperienced player. At 6-2 down in the first set tie-break, he remained calm and was able to reel off six straight points to turn the match on its head. At break point down in the second set, he kept his head and hammered down yet another service winner.

It has been a meteoric rise for Milos Raonic. When he played his first ever ATP tour main draw match around 18 months ago as a qualifier in Montreal, he was ranked at number 679. However, victories in qualifying against world number 79, Teymuraz Gabashvili, and world number 113, Michael Llodra, made people take notice. But it was his performance against the world number 10, Fernando Gonzalez, that really stood out and marked him as one to watch. He eventually went down 6-4 in the deciding third set, but finished the match having won more points than his illustrious opponent.

He disappeared back to the challenger and futures tour for the next year before losing his next ATP tour level match against Victor Hanescu in August last year. However, it was in Tokyo in October that we saw further glimpses of his talent. Ranked at 200, he beat higher ranked players, Thiago Alves, Marsel Ilhan and Florent Serra, as he came through qualification to reach the second round, where he would meet world number one, Rafael Nadal.


He did not embarrass himself despite going down in straight sets. He earned more break points than the Spaniard and returning better statistics both on serve and receiving. However, it was the Spaniard’s experience on the big points that led to a 6-4, 6-4 victory. After the match, Nadal praised Raonic claiming that he was destined for the top.

However, it was the Australian Open where he shot to the attention of tennis fans worldwide. After coming through qualification, he dispatched Bjorn Phau and 22nd seed, Michael Llodra, in straight sets, before coming up against the world number 10, Mikhail Youzhny. He stunned the tennis world by beating him comfortably in four sets to set up a meeting with seventh seed, David Ferrer.

For a while, it looked as though he might be set to repeat the feat. After taking the first set 6-4, people began to believe. However, Ferrer was able to up his game and reel off three sets to take the victory. However, his performances suggested that success was not far away.

After a disappointing tournament in South Africa, he headed to Silicon Valley to play in the SAP Open. He was only broken once in the entire tournament and did not drop a single set. Whilst his returning game still requires some work, his serve appears almost unbreakable at times and it puts enormous pressure on his opponent.

It also gives him the edge in tie-breaks. He has won nine out of his last ten tie-breaks. It means that the pressure is on players to break him during the set as his serve almost guarantees him success in the decider. It also suggests that he is mentally strong to hold his nerve during the breakers. If we compare his statistics with fellow big server, Ivo Karlovic, the Croat has won five of eight this year.

How high Milos Raonic can go in the rankings is yet to be seen. However, it would be a huge surprise if he was not to break the top twenty at the very least. He began the year ranked number 156. Barely seven weeks later, he is expected to be named the world number 59 when the new rankings are released next week. He has beaten two top ten players already this year.


Whilst his serve is his major weapon, he has more to his game than that. However, his ground strokes, particularly his backhand, still require work, but if he can improve these, then a top ten ranking is easily within reach. His next match is tomorrow in Memphis, and is an intriguing rematch with Fernando Verdasco.

Whatever happens in that match, his triumph in San Jose marked the arrival of a new star in the tennis world. Remember the name of Milos Raonic.

Justine Henin Retires From Tennis

It is a sad end to the career of one of the greatest players of the modern game. With 43 singles titles, including seven Grand Slams, an Olympic gold medal and over $20m in prize money, her achievements are almost unrivalled in the women’s game of tennis. However, the elbow injury that she picked up in a fall at Wimbledon last year has ultimately brought a premature end to the tennis career of Justine Henin.


It is not the first time that Henin has announced her retirement from tennis. Back in 2008, she stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement half way through the season. At the time, she was only 25 years old and was ranked as the number one player in the world. She claimed she had fallen out of love with the game and lacked any motivation for tennis:

"I didn't want to be on the court anymore. The tennis itself wasn't a problem. The problem was motivation. I just felt: 'Please don't talk to me about the French Open or Wimbledon'. To me it wasn't important any more. I just wanted to know more things about myself. And I had the feeling that tennis didn't have the capacity to make me happy any more. I felt it was the time to go away.”

She decided to return to tennis just over 12 months ago after regaining her love for the game and lured back by the one missing feather in her crown – a Wimbledon title. Her first match in over 18 months came in Brisbane in January where she defeated the world number 20, Nadia Petrova, in straight sets.

The comeback continued to gain momentum and she progressed right through to the final, where she was eventually defeated by fellow Belgian, Kim Clijsters, who herself had recently returned from retirement from the game.

All the focus was on Justine as she headed to the Australian Open and whether she could imitate Clijsters’ achievement of winning a Grand Slam on her return. The fairytale looked to be on as she cruised through to the final, dispatching world number five, Elena Dementieva, in the second round, and dropping just one game in hammering Jie Zheng in the semi-final.


However, the formidable world number one, Serena Williams, stood in her path. Despite winning the second set, Serena proved too strong for Henin, but it had been a remarkable effort in only her second tournament in 18 months.

Even more focus was on Henin when the clay court season came around. Before her first retirement, she had been virtually unstoppable on her beloved surface, having won the French Open title four times in five years, including consecutive titles in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In her first tournament back on clay, she picked up her first title in 26 months, beating Australia’s Sam Stosur in the final.

Going into the French Open, she was the favourite to reclaim the crown that she had never properly lost. Comfortable victories over Pironkova and Zakopalova were followed by a hard-fought win over Maria Sharapova. However, she was stunned in the last 16 when Sam Stosur, whom she had beaten less than a month before, overpowered her, beating her in three sets.

However, it provided extra time to prepare for her ultimate aim – Wimbledon. She cruised through her warm-up tournament in s-Hertogenbosch, dropping just one set on her way to the title. Coming into Wimbledon, the hype surrounding her was huge. Comfortable wins over Sevastova, Barrois and Petrova only served to fuel the fire.

The round of 16 match pitted the two Belgians together – Clijsters and Henin. Since Henin’s return, Clijsters had won both their meetings, but Henin went into the match as the slight favourite. She was magnificent in winning the first set 6-2, but toward the end of the set, she slipped and fell on her right elbow. She continued the match, but it was clearly troubling her and she crashed to a three set defeat.


After the tournament, it was diagnosed as a partial ligament fracture and the injury would keep her out for the rest of the year.

She made her return at the 2011 Hopman Cup, despite revealing that the injury had not properly healed yet. However, she appeared to show no adverse signs as she won all of her games without dropping a set, including a victory over former world number one, Ana Ivanovic.

Coming into the Australian Open, she was one of the favourites to take the title, but struggled in her opening match against Sania Mirza. A more straight-forward task against Elena Baltacha was passed with ease, but she fell in straight sets to Svetlana Kuznetsova in what would be her final ever match.

Today, she revealed that her elbow had been further damaged by her Australian campaign and had been in pain for months with the problem. “My elbow is too fragile. Having followed the advice of doctors, it is now clear and I accept that here my career ends.”

Her single-handed backhand was one of the best shots in the game, whilst her speed and mental toughness have often been hailed as reasons for her great success. Many former players have hailed her as one of the best. Andre Agassi claimed “Justine Henin is one of the most talented women ever to have played the game of tennis,” whilst Billie Jean King said that, “pound for pound, Henin is the best tennis player of her generation.”

Her retirement is a blow for tennis fans around the world, but her career has provided a huge number of great memories. Despite problems in her personal life throughout her career, she has rarely let them affect her on court, and anyone who has seen her play will agree that she was undoubtedly one of the best players of her generation. Her presence on court will be sorely missed in the coming months.