Milos Raonic battles through pain to advance at Monte Carlo Masters
Djokovic, defending champ Nadal also win 2nd-round matches
Milos Raonic defeated Italy's Marco Cecchinato 7-6(5), 6-2 in the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters on Wednesday.
The 14th-ranked righty from Thornhill, Ont., will face Marin Cilic of Croatia in the next round.
LET’S GO! 💪🏼🇨🇦🎾<br><br>You can breathe now, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamMilos?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamMilos</a>. Raonic hits 16 aces and moves into the third round of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/RolexMCMasters?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RolexMCMasters</a> with a 7-6(5), 6-2 win over Cecchinato. <a href="https://t.co/bCtjOwNyW9">pic.twitter.com/bCtjOwNyW9</a>
—@TennisCanadaAccording to tennis analyst Tom Tebbutt, Raonic was bothered by a lingering knee injury and had to take pain killers during his win.
4-3 Cecchinato v Raonic first set - MR seems to have tweeted his right knee and is now receiving a treatment from ATP trainer - says he twisted knee and has a throbbing pain - is knee (meniscus) he hurt in November.
—@tomtebbuttMONTE CARLO: Raonic takes anti-inflams and doesn't get tape job at the next change-over. Looks like it could still be bothering him but he has just broken Cecchinato and will serve for set at 6-5.
—@tomtebbuttMeanwhile, Novak Djokovic and defending champion Rafael Nadal needed a combined 14 match points to advance.
After Djokovic finally converted his 10th match point to beat Borna Coric 7-6 (2) 7-5, Nadal required four in a 6-1, 6-3 win against Aljaz Bedene 6-1, 6-3.
Djokovic first missed two match points with Coric serving at 5-3, then wasted another seven in a marathon game when serving for the match. The ninth-seeded Serb took a 40-0 lead in that game, but then hit one backhand long, another backhand wide, before an unforced error into the net.
At deuce, Coric successfully overturned a call to get a break point but Djokovic saved it with an ace. Djokovic won the next point to set up match point No. 6, but again hit a backhand wide.
An ace gave him a seventh chance, but Coric saved that one after Djokovic failed to retrieve his drop shot. Another ace made it No. 8, but Djokovic's tame forehand allowed Coric an easy forehand winner.
On try No. 9, a poor backhand from Djokovic went into the net.
Coric finally broke to make it 5-5, but Djokovic broke straight back and the 10th match point did the trick with Coric sending a backhand long.
A 'real battle' for Djokovic
Djokovic hugged Coric at the net and then patted his opponent on the cheek.
"I could see him coming into the court really believing he can win the match. It was a real battle," said Djokovic, who will next face fifth-seeded Dominic Thiem of Austria.
Nadal had a much easier match but also struggled to put the finishing touches on his win.
Serving at 5-3 and 0-40, Bedene saved the Spaniard's third match point with an audacious drop shot. But it was only a brief reprieve, because Nadal took his next chance when his Slovenian opponent whipped a forehand into the net.
Nadal, who saved two break points in the fifth game of the match, is chasing a record-extending 11th title here. The top-ranked Spaniard next faces big-serving Russian Karen Khachanov.
"He serves big and has big shots from the baseline," said Nadal, who beat Khachanov in the third round at Wimbledon last year. "I have to play an aggressive tennis, high intensity. I need to make him feel that he needs to hit great shots for a long time."
Djokovic has won the title twice, including when he ended Nadal's 46-match winning streak by winning the 2013 title. They are on course to meet in the quarter-finals, but Djokovic isn't getting ahead of himself.
With files from CBC Sports