SAN JOSE, CALIF. – Truth be told, Denis Istomin didn’t stand a chance. Not when his opponent – who would total a tournament-best 61 aces on the week — was serving with such outright authority. And he knew it. Clad in a towel in the late-night depths of the HP Pavilion the night before the SAP Open final, the 61st-ranked Uzbek looked like a man who fully grasped what he was up against. In a matter of hours, he would be facing Canada’s Milos Raonic — an imposing 6-foot-5 force who is swiftly gaining a reputation as one of the ATP Tour’s premier power players.
“I have to return his serve,” said the soft-spoken 25-year-old as if he had just been tasked with stopping the sun from rising.
The No. 32-ranked Raonic, who held serve in 41 of 42 games this year and has now held serve 83 of 85 times at this tournament dating back to 2011, surrendered just four points on his weapon-of-choice in scoring a 7-6(3), 6-2 win over Istomin in one hour and 19 minutes. He finished the afternoon with seven aces and won 44 of 48 service points, including 17 of 18 on his second serve.
Can he serve any better than that?
“I don’t think so,” said Raonic, who became the first player to win back-to-back titles in San Jose since Andy Murray doubled here in 2006 and 2007. “I think I served pretty flawlessly throughout the week.”
Raonic took the court with his left knee taped, the only visual evidence of the injury that led him to pull out of the reverse singles during Canada’s Davis Cup loss to France one week prior. He came out firing, and only needed the slightest of openings in the first-set tiebreaker to distance himself from the surprise-finalist Istomin. Up 6-3, he served out the stanza with a concussive 145 mph ace.
“It’s really difficult,” said Istomin, who will likely move into the top 50 with his performance this week but is still seeking his first career title. “I won just four points on his serve. It’s really difficult to win the match with this statistic. But I knew he was a great server, a great player.”
Of the 150 mph ace he challenged via Hawk-Eye midway through the opening set, Istomin could only say, “I didn’t see it. I didn’t see it at all.”
Raonic opened the second set with yet another 145 ace, and later scored the telltale break to go up 3-1 — all the cushion he would need.
“It’s a different experience, a different feeling from last time,” said Raonic, whose first career ATP title came in this same building 12 months ago against Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. “Last year, I was a lot more unaware of what was going on. This year, I have a lot higher expectations. I know how to prepare, how to deal with things. I feel I’m a much better tennis player than I was last year, when I was playing higher than my potential.”
Raonic is often mentioned in the same sentence as fellow young guns Bernard Tomic, Grigor Dimitrov and Ryan Harrison, whom he dispatched in Saturday’s semifinals. But many feel, with his explosive serve, solid groundstrokes and ever-improving return game, he may just have the best chance to challenge those at the very top of the game. Does that mean he can beat the likes of title monopolizers Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Murray at the Grand Slams?
“You have to ask the top four guys this – how much they’re going to allow me,” Raonic grinned. “These guys are deep into tournaments. The question is can you capitalize?”
He leapt from No. 156 into the top 30 in 2011. Makes you wonder what he’ll do in 2012.
NOTES: Veterans Mark Knowles and Xavier Malisse teamed up to defeat the first-time pairing of Kevin Anderson/Frank Moser in the doubles final 6-4, 1-6, 10-5. It marked Knowles’ 99th career doubles final. With the exception of 1999, the Bahamian has now won titles from 1992-2012.
