Canada's Raonic outlasts No. 9 seed Tiafoe in opening round of National Bank Open
Thornhill, Ont., native battles back from 1st set tiebreaker loss to down American
An unusual set-ending ruling didn't go Milos Raonic's way Monday night. The veteran Canadian made sure it didn't lead to his first-round exit at the National Bank Open in Toronto.
Raonic overcame the decision and outlasted American Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (12), 7-6 (4), 6-3 in an epic opening night showdown at Sobeys Stadium.
"It doesn't matter how much you do the right things, you never know when things [will] click and things come together for you," Raonic said. "For me, it's incredibly special for it to be here."
WATCH | Raonic defeats Tiafoe in instant classic:
It was a long-awaited triumphant return for the 32-year-old from nearby Thornhill, Ont.
Tiafoe broke the Canadian in the opening game but Raonic found his form later in the set. He touched 229 km/h with his first serve at times and kept pace with the fleet-footed American.
Raonic later broke back to set up a 20-minute tiebreaker. The Canadian had three chances to take the set, but it was Tiafoe who finally converted on his fifth set point.
On the deciding point, a Raonic return clipped the tape on top of the net, popped up in the air and bounced on Tiafoe's side.
The American lunged forward and made a cross-court winner. However, Tiafoe grabbed the top of the net as his momentum took him forward, which would normally cost him the point.
However, the chair umpire ruled in Tiafoe's favour and a second on-court official confirmed the decision.
Raonic said the original call went his way but the umpire changed his mind. The discussion then shifted to which part of the net was touched, he added.
"I don't have faith that they were being completely honest, but it is what it is," Raonic said. "I think they just handled it badly. Whatever the rule [was], I just don't think it was handled [well]."
The partisan crowd at Sobeys Stadium voiced its disapproval and Raonic smashed his racket on the player's bench.
Raonic was able to reset and didn't let the frustration affect his performance. His serve was his main weapon as he finished with a 37-8 edge in aces.
Raonic called an injury timeout late in the second set to get treatment on his lower back. In the decider, he jumped out to a 3-0 lead before comfortably nailing down his third win of the season.
The former world No. 3 holds the No. 545 position in the current rankings after his long absence from tour. Raonic has been able to use his protected ranking for main-draw entries.
It was his first win over a top-10 opponent in three years. He was just short of his career high for aces in a match (38 in a best-of-three, 39 in a best-of-five).
Raonic has one of four wild-card berths for this week's 56-man singles competition. He will face Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel in the next round.
Earlier Monday, Alexis Galarneau of Laval, Que., dropped a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 decision to Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo.
WATCH | Galarneau falls in opening round:
In the late match, Italy's Matteo Arnaldi beat Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., 6-4, 6-4.
Tiafoe was the only seed to fall in the first round. American Tommy Paul, the No. 12 seed, beat Argentine qualifier Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, the No. 15 seed, topped Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik 6-3, 7-6 (2) and 16th-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti posted a 6-4, 6-1 win over Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka.
The Canadian team that won the Davis Cup last year was honoured during the opening ceremony.
WATCH | Team Canada receives Davis Cup rings:
Venus Williams ousted in 1st round
American Madison Keys has moved on to the round of 32 at the National Bank Open after beating Venus Williams 6-2, 7-5 at IGA Stadium in Montreal on Monday night.
This is the sixth time the two have squared off, with Keys winning four of the matches.
The 15th-ranked player in the world was quick to break Williams' serve in the first set. Keys — who will also be competing in the women's doubles tournament with fellow American Jennifer Brady — used that to continue her dominance over the first set and break Williams a second time.
Holding steady in Canada 👊<a href="https://twitter.com/Madison_Keys?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Madison_Keys</a> slides past V. Williams 6-2, 7-5 and will now face Paolini in R2 🔜<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBO23?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBO23</a> <a href="https://t.co/fqt7R3XbL0">pic.twitter.com/fqt7R3XbL0</a>
—@WTAAlthough, the former top-ranked player in the world would not go quietly. After Williams claimed the opening game of the second set, the two would go back-and-forth for nearly 15 minutes at deuce before Keys avoided being broken.
As the two Americans traded serves, Williams' resistance would finally waver with the set tied at 3-3 when a series of double faults resulted in Keys breaking her for the third time in the match.
After fighting off match point on seven different occasions, Williams would finally break Keys' serve for the first time in the match, extending the set.
However, fatigue appeared to set in as Keys broke Williams for the fourth time. Throughout the game, Williams struggled to make up the sizeable difference in second-serve points.
While Keys won 58 per cent of her second-serve points, Williams could only muster 38 per cent.
Keys now faces Italian Jasmine Paolini in the round of 32.
Canada's Marino loses to Great Britain's Boulter
Later in the evening, Rebecca Marino of Vancouver was bounced by Katie Boulter of Great Britain 6-3, 6-1.
This is the second time at the NBO for Boulter, who competed in the 2018 iteration of the Rogers Cup, reaching the round of 64.
After trading a pair of service games, Boulter was the first to impose herself, breaking Marino's serve and going on to dominate the first set. She added a second break to clinch the frame.
Boulter put forth an impressive performance at the Rothesay Open in June, winning every single set she played in en route to her first career WTA singles title. She will go on to face seventh-ranked phenom Coco Gauff in the next round.
The Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova also pulled off an impressive victory, edging Lin Zhu of China 6-3, 6-7 (8), 6-2. Pliskova, who was the runner-up in Montreal in 2021, racked up 11 aces in the two-hour, 22-minute match. She will face Polish No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek in the next round.
With files from Reuters
