Music: {allcanada} Raonic falls to Djokovic in Italian Open semis

Saturday, May 17, 2014

{allcanada} Raonic falls to Djokovic in Italian Open semis

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ROME — Canada’s Milos Raonic dropped a three-set decision to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic in men’s semifinal play Saturday at the Italian Open.

Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., won the opening set before Djokovic fought back for a 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory in three hours at the Foro Italico.

"I did the things I wanted to do. I didn’t execute in the moments I would have liked but I did create a lot of opportunities for myself," Raonic said. "I just wish I would have played a few situations differently. I had the right approach but wasn’t able to execute well (all) of the time.

"I felt I had a chance in the match. I brought my best tennis (so) I could give myself an opportunity — which I was able to do today. It came down to a few moments and he performed better in those moments than I did."

Raonic had 55 winners but also made 42 unforced errors. The 23-year-old Canadian missed out on three break-point chances in the second set while Djokovic earned an early break in the third for a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.

"It was a tight match that was decided in the first two sets on a few points," Djokovic said. "He put a lot of pressure on my service games. And when you serve that well, you don’t have as much pressure on your return games."

Raonic’s serve flirted with the 230 km/h mark at times and he fired 17 aces.

"I can’t recall the last time when I was feeling so helpless in the return games," Djokovic said. "It was brutal."

Djokovic will play the winner of the late semifinal between seven-time Rome champion Rafael Nadal and Grigor Dimitrov in Sunday’s final.

"(Raonic) hits hard and flat and facing those shots was a struggle," Djokovic said. "This match was important for my confidence and strength within."

Raonic was hoping to reach his second career Masters 1000 final. He reached the Rogers Cup final last summer in Montreal but lost to Nadal.

Raonic will return to a career-high No. 9 in the world rankings on Monday. He’ll be a top-eight seed at the French Open in two weeks since Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro — currently the world No. 7 — will be unable to compete because of injury.

Afterward, Djokovic appealed for help for his flood-hit native Serbia, and wrote a message of support on a camera lens, adding ‘I love you’ in Cyrillic.

"This is a total catastrophe of biblical proportions," he said. "Half the country is in danger of not having electricity."

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