Music: {allcanada} RAONIC CRACKS ATP TOP 10; POSPISIL MOVES UP TO 40TH

Monday, August 12, 2013

{allcanada} RAONIC CRACKS ATP TOP 10; POSPISIL MOVES UP TO 40TH

It's a milestone moment for Canadian men's tennis.

On the strength of his appearance in the final of the Rogers Cup, Thornhill, Ontario's Milos Raonic moved up three spots to number 10 in the ATP Rankings on Monday to become the first Canadian to crack the world's Top 10.

Fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who was beaten by Raonic in the Rogers Cup semifinals, moved up 31 spots to check in at number 40 - his first-ever appearance among the world's Top 50.

Raonic, 22, advanced to his first Masters Series final on Sunday before losing to Spain's Rafael Nadal. Pospisil, 23, scored upset wins over American John Isner and world No. 6 Tomas Berdych before falling in three sets to Raonic.

Raonic's play earned the praise of world no. 3 Nadal.

"With his serve, his chance to be in the top 10 for a long time is very good," the Spaniard said at a press conference on Sunday. "Then what you need is to work on the mental part and in the game from the baseline, to try to play the right way on the important points.

"I think he will do it. He's still young," Nadal continued. "He's having great results. This week is going to be very important for him and for tennis in Canada in general."

Both Raonic and Pospisil are back in action this week in Cincinnati at the Western and Southern Open. The US Open begins in New York on Aug. 26.