WHAT HAPPENED: Hard-serving Milos Raonic opened his Round 2 match against fellow Canadian and long-time friend Vasek Pospisil by blasting a 133 mph serve. But he missed. And then he double-faulted. A minute later, the 6-foot-5 player, ranked 18th in the world, was down, love-40. Could the favorite be in early trouble? Well, no. His next two serves hit 126 and 136 mph (the latter was an ace), and soon after, it was back to deuce. Despite another two double faults in what became almost a nine-minute game, Raonic ultimately held. The question was whether the erratic serving was a sign of things to come.
It was.
Raonic never broke his opponent at any point in the match, despite having three break points while up 4-3 in the first set. But in that opener it didn’t matter—with both players pounding their first serves, Raonic patiently waited for the tiebreaker, where he stayed calm and ripped forehands while Pospisil tensed up, double-faulting and hitting mediocre second serves, giving Raonic a prototypical 7-6 first set.
While Raonic had 17 winners and only nine unforced errors (compared to 11 and 11 for his rival), the telling numbers, not surprisingly, were on the serve, where he landed 71 percent of his first serves, versus 62 for Pospisil, and won 58 percent of his second serve points, versus 47 percent for his opponent. Unfortunately for Raonic, by the end of the match, the percentage of second-serve points won had flipped in favor of his foe.
At 2-2 in the second set, Pospisil was the one in trouble—laying on the court during a medical time-out as the trainer worked on pain in his left side. Could the challenger be in trouble? Well, no. He came out and rediscovered his rhythm immediately, with a quick hold. Then with Raonic still battling his own inconsistent serving, Pospisil earned two break points—the first Raonic saved with a big forehand and a nifty touch volley, but on the second, Pospisil, who was even more effective at the net overall (winning his first 13 points there), converted. Not long after, Pospisil, despite his first serve rate dipping to 50 percent, was the 6-3 victor of a surprising second set.
At 1-1 in the critical third set, a double fault pushed Raonic into a 15-40 corner. It was a corner he strolled out of, with 138 and 135 mph aces, to even the score. Raonic earned two break points of his own while up 3-2, but missed an easy backhand on one and then Pospisil showed that he, too, had unreturnable serves in his arsenal, blasting his way to the next three points.
And when this set reached the inevitable tiebreaker, it was Raonic who double-faulted early, and the 94th-ranked Pospisil who held firm, earning a 7-4 win behind his serves.
With Pospisil up, 4-3, in the third set, Raonic again was undone by a double fault, putting him in a hole that this time he could not escape. And Pospisil, who remained unbroken throughout the match, finished with a flourish, ending the match with his 20th ace. Final score: 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.
WHAT IT MEANS: Pospisil could easily have been distracted this week, as he is Novak Djokovic’s partner in the push for a new Players Association. Instead, he has been poised and collected in most big moments. He had made it to Round 2 of the U.S. Open four times before today without ever advancing. Perhaps, he played so well today because he knows Raonic’s game, but if he can continue to serve and to attack the net with the same relaxed confidence, he will be able to at least stay in any match.
MATCH POINT: Next up is the No. 8 seed, Roberto Bautista Agut, who Pospisil has never beaten—but they have not faced off in five years. But it should help that before the pandemic shutdown, Pospisil had registered 2020 upsets of Denis Shapavalov, David Goffin and Daniil Medvedev.
