Tebbutt: Lesson learned for Milos

The nation can exhale, or at least all the tennis fans in Canada, now that Milos Raonic has been beaten 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 by Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of the Australian Open.

He will not be winning his first Grand Slam title at this year’s event and he will not even be playing world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the round-of-16 on Monday.

It was a disappointing performance by Raonic, especially after the first set when he broke Hewitt (on a double fault) to lead 4-3 and then was strong in closing out the set in 38 minutes – losing just one point in his next two service games.

The scenario for a victory carried on well into the second set. Raonic was belting the forehand with authority, hitting the backhand fine – including two beauty down-the-line winners – and serving well enough that he did not face a break point in his first eight service games.

But once Hewitt broke to 5-3 on an overhead hit just long by Raonic, the tide had turned. Gradually Hewitt neutralized his opponent’s power, with Raonic later explaining that the 30-year-old Aussie’s ability to keep the ball low had caused him problems that he was unable to correct technically.

Hewitt called on all his guile and savvy to hang on and eventually take control – but just barely.

It probably all hung on the third-set tie break, which was an uneven affair that ended with Raonic missing a high forehand volley into the net. It was a shot that Hewitt later said the Canadian would make “99 times out of a 100.”

Raonic was a gracious loser, giving Hewitt a solid handshake accompanied by quick verbal exchange at the net. Later in the media interview room he went further: “Doesn’t matter how hurt he’s been, how old he is,” Raonic said, “he’s as much of a competitor as he always was. He got me with that.”

Canadian Davis Cup captain Martin Laurendeau said about Hewitt, “Lleyton got better and better as the match went on. He had a slow start. It looked like he had arthritis or something – it was very difficult for him to stop and go. After the second set, he was timing the ball better.”

Hewitt did make some amazing service returns, as was to be expected, but Raonic will surely regret putting only 53 per cent of first serves in play. Even a slight uptick from that number and the match could easily have turned his way.

On a break point for Hewitt with the Aussie ahead 4-3 in the second set, Raonic went for an overhead smash from fairly deep in the court. It might have appeared to be an overly aggressive shot in the circumstances – maybe just aiming it back deep in the court would have been the more prudent play. For anyone who thought it was a little risky, Milos and two-time US Open champion Pat Rafter have an opposing view. “That was definitely the right shot,” said Rafter about a ball that landed a couple of inches long.

“That’s what I do in that situation 365 days a year,” Raonic said unequivocally.

There was a full-house in Rod Laver Arena for the match, and a large crowd in Federation Square (below) right downtown watching the match on a giant screen. But there was no evidence of a Canadian support base in Federation Square, and not one shout of “Go Canada” during Milos’ match in Rod Laver Arena. Likely, the common folk who were able to watch him on Showcourt 3 against Philipp Petzschner on Thursday could not procure the more pricey tickets for the big match in Rod Laver, especially for one on a Saturday night featuring Hewitt.

Though obviously not pleased that he failed to take advantage of many chances to turn the match in his favour – including saving two match points in the final game with bold winners – Milos spoke afterward about learning from the experience. It was his first match on a Grand Slam main stadium, and his first match in a Grand Slam against a former world No. 1 and Grand Slam champion.

This will all be in his memory bank and hopefully viewed eventually as a useful exercise along the way to the lofty goals he has for himself.

There were many times when he did not produce the goods the way his many fans know he can. But he has still had a good start to the new year – a tournament title in Chennai, India, and two matches won at the Australian Open.

He sounded in a positive frame of mind when he tweeted an hour or two after the match: “Thanks to everyone for the love and support. I read your tweets and I am already in a better mood. I will be better next time!”

Now, he has 20 days until Canada faces France in Davis Cup action in Vancouver.

While it would have been better for his confidence to pull out the match with Hewitt, it can serve as motivation to improve. It might even be good in the sense that the French team may be a little less wary of the Canadian No. 1, and be in for a surprise if he can turn it up a notch.

NESTOR, MIRNYI MARCH ON

Daniel Nestor and Max Mirnyi reached the third round of the Australian Open doubles on Saturday with a 7-6(0), 6-2 victory over Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah of Colombia.

The first set was competitive as the Colombians (Cabal played with Eduardo Schwank of Argentina when Nestor and Mirnyi beat them in the French Open final last June) put up serious resistance. But they were blanked in the tiebreak and Nestor and Mirnyi controlled set two.

Davis Cup captain Martin Laurendeau is coaching Nestor and Mirnyi at the Aussie Open and said the following about their match on Saturday and about their prospects against Italians Daniele Bracciale and Potito Starace on Sunday: “The boys are executing well. It’s not a team that is trying to find itself or has one player who’s playing well and another who’s not. They’re both playing at a very good level.

“If they do what they’ve been doing since the beginning of the year – good execution and good patterns – they should play a solid match against the Italians.”

Later, Nestor was unable to compete in the mixed doubles when his planned partner, Maria Kirilenko, suffered an adductor injury and had to retire in her singles match against Petra Kvitova. She eventually pulled out of the mixed doubles meaning Nestor will not be able to defend the title he won a year ago with Katerina Srebotnik of Slovenia.

A BIT OF OZ

It may not be the best advertisement for Wilson tennis racquets, but this well-padded woman got some second looks as she swung her way around the mezzanine level at Rod Laver Arena earlier this week.

NOTE: The Blog is going “G’day mate” on Sunday and will return on Monday for all of week two.