By Alberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Milos Raonic helped put Canadian tennis on the map.
Prevailing in his first Davis Cup match in 5 years, Raonic did his half to attempt to hold defending champion Canada alive within the Davis Cup Finals.
Raonic rocketed 18 aces, together with opening and shutting the match with aces, defeating Finland’s Patrick Kaukovalta 6-3, 7-5 to stake Canada to a 1-0 lead within the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Malaga, Spain.
Finland’s Otto Virtanen conquered Canada’s Gabriel Diallo 6-4, 7-5 on the power of 14 aces to degree the tie and arrange the decisive doubles match.
The winner of the Canada vs. Finland tie will advance to Friday’s 4 p.m. semifinal in opposition to both Australia or Czech Republic.
As soon as the stalwart of Canada’s Davis Cup group, accidents riddled Raonic lately stopping him from enjoying.
The 32-year-old Raonic stated his prolonged absence from Davis Cup competitors makes this win even sweeter.
“It is an excellent feeling, nice feeling particularly contemplating the success that each the groups, males’s and girls’s, have had this final 12 months,” Raonic informed the media in Malaga, Spain. “To be right here alongside these guys, contributing and attempting to simply get pleasure from it, yeah, you recognize, you recognize these moments much more as soon as there may be not as a lot of them.”
Within the final 12 months, Canada has captured each the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup championships.
Earlier this month, former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez clinched Canada’s victory over Italy within the Billie Jean King Cup Finals to clinch its first King Cup championship in historical past. Raonic stated he is watched Canada’s rise with pleasure calling it “one thing fairly unimaginable.”
“It has been plenty of pleasure and plenty of nice emotions coming from it, simply because, yeah, I keep in mind from the primary time that I used to be there as a hitting companion alongside the group in Calgary, I imagine it was in opposition to Colombia again then,” Raonic stated. “I believe we had been enjoying to remain in Group I again then, America’s Group I or regardless of the construction is. Then in 2011 we had the possibility to get into the World Group after first time in a very long time.
“You recognize, there was an entire lot of progress through the years with it, and we’ve been a staple now within the World Group’s stage. We’ve got been now on the high of it. So seeing all that, being part of all that, it is one thing fairly unimaginable.
“I believe it simply speaks to much more as a result of it isn’t the person achievements Canadians have additionally had. I believe it is vital concerning the course of and the programs which are in place all through the nation that assist Canadian tennis gamers that wish to obtain their objectives succeed.”
Photograph credit score: Worldwide Tennis Federation
