INDIAN WELLS — When you arrive at the Palm Springs International Airport, you’re hit with a wave of dry heat which doesn’t seem to bother the flock of retirees dressed in polo shirts and designer sandals, leisurely walking to baggage claim. There’s no reason to rush, unless you hope to fit in a round of golf before sunset.
However, 24-year-old Milos Raonic is not here for pleasure, he’s here for business, as was apparent by his subdued celebration after beating Rafael Nadal for the first time in six meetings in the Indian Wells quarterfinals.
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Raonic doesn’t show much emotion on the court, he’s very serious, extremely focused, and that’s what won him the match on Friday.
When Raonic dropped the first set, he didn’t panic. When Nadal had three match points in the second set, Raonic fought them off. Post-match, the young Canadian admitted that he was so dialed in that he can only remember one of the match points.
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Against the best, matches come down to just a few points here and there. Having that booming serve in your arsenal certainly helps get you out of trouble, but Raonic’s groundstrokes were doing him favours Friday as he hit 48 winners compared to Nadal’s 25.
However, that was only one win, just another day’s work. The job is far from done.
Today, he takes on Roger Federer in the semifinals. Raonic has beaten Federer once in their nine meetings, last year in a straight-sets win in the Paris Masters quarterfinals. In their most recent meeting earlier this year, Federer got the best of Raonic, capturing the Brisbane final in three sets.
Today, Raonic will have his work cut out for him. Federer will be well rested after dismantling Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-0 in his quarterfinal match Friday in just over an hour.
Federer is in fine form. He’s 15-1 on the year, with his only loss coming against Andreas Seppi in the third round of the Australian Open, but Federer avenged that defeat by topping the Italian in the third round at Indian Wells.
In order for Raonic to have a chance against Federer, he needs to serve well enough to take advantage of the few opportunities he gets. Federer is one of the best servers on tour, and it will be difficult for Raonic to attack and break. One break could make or break the match (pun not intended…okay, maybe it was).
‘Opportunity’ is a word that Raonic likes to use to describe big matches and moments. Today, he has the opportunity to not just beat Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer on back-to-back days, but to reach his third Masters 1000 final.
Have you been waiting for a Raonic breakthrough? Well, you might be witnessing it.
Before I sign off, let’s not forget about the other Canadian in action today. Two weeks after playing hero for Canada’s Davis Cup team by winning the fifth and deciding rubber against Japan to advance Canada to the quarterfinals, Vasek Pospisil along with his American partner Jack Sock, will play for the Indian Wells doubles title.
Pospisil and Sock partnered up, spare of the moment at Wimbledon last year and went on to win the title. Today, they’ll go for their third title together, up against the Australian Open champions, Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli.
Sock and Pospisil have had a strong tournament, upsetting the Bryan Brothers in the quarterfinals. It should be a good final today.