Music: {allcanada} Lowered expectations

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

{allcanada} Lowered expectations

WIMBLEDON, England -- The weight of expectation on Milos Raonic has diminished after his sensational start to the 2011 tennis season, and that may be good news for the hard-serving 20-year-old.

A fourth-round showing at the Australian Open in January, followed by an ATP title in San Jose, Calif., and a thrilling loss to Andy Roddick in the Memphis final propelled Raonic to instant fame in Canada. His world ranking jumped from No. 152 to 37 over a four-week period, and within another 2 1/2 months, he was sitting at No. 25.

But a modest 7-6 record at European clay-court events in April and May has seen the media frenzy calm to a point where his quarter-final performance last week at the pre-Wimbledon grass-court event in Germany went largely unnoticed.

Playing in his first professional grass-court event in Halle, Germany, Raonic won two rounds convincingly before falling 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 to Philipp Petzschner.

The crafty German led eventual champion Rafael Nadal two sets to one at Wimbledon last summer before losing 6-4, 4-6, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-3. Petzschner then combined with Jurgen Melzer of Austria to win the doubles at Wimbledon.

"I'm very happy I'm playing so well on something, grass, that's a completely new experience for me, especially at this level," Raonic said last week. "It gives me a lot of confidence."

Doubles also figured in Raonic's preparation for next week's Wimbledon as he and Robin Haase of the Netherlands reached the Halle final, giving the Canadian four more matches of precious grass-court experience.

Following his first-round loss to unheralded German veteran Michael Berrer at the French Open, Raonic appeared jaded and spoke about being a rookie and still having a lot to learn about working out a tournament schedule that would keep him fresh and fit.

With his early exit at Roland Garros, and just the Halle tournament on grass, Raonic enters Wimbledon well rested.

He is currently practising at Wimbledon, including with Roger Federer on Tuesday, as he fine tunes his game.

"I am looking forward to Wimbledon and the body is good and feeling fit," Raonic tweeted earlier this week.

His huge-serving and attacking instincts are tailor-made for grass.

"I grew up watching (Pete) Sampras play on the grass at Wimbledon," Raonic said. "With how much I admired him, this is really something special. I always hoped I would play well on this surface."

Raonic, currently ranked 26th in the world, might have to be patient, though. Sampras, a seven-time Wimbledon champion, won just one match in his first three tries. Similarly Federer, a six-time winner, suffered first-round defeats in three of his first four Wimbledons.

But two-time doubles champion Daniel Nestor of Toronto has high hopes for Raonic, who is seeded 31st in his Wimbledon debut.

"He has a great chance to reach the quarters or even the semis with his style," Nestor said. "He has the ability to mix in a slice serve which is a key on grass. The rallies will be shorter which is better for an aggressive guy like him who doesn't want to get into long rallies anyway.

"But he has to learn to be patient because he can run into opponents who are serving well and will give him no rhythm. So, he has to be prepared to play tiebreakers, which shouldn't be a problem with his record (16-7) in tiebreakers this year."