Canadian fourth seed Milos Raonic managed to stage a gutsy comeback to draw level with Nick Kyrgios before darkness suspended play.
Raonic produced a strong opening set, but came undone at the most critical moment. The Canadian produced five more winners, won 92% of his first service points and won 16 return points compared to Kyrgios’ four. The telling factor was the break point conversion rate with Kyrgios successfully fending off all of the four he faced before taking the set after 44 minutes of play.
Cheered on by his new mentor John McEnroe, Raonic responded to his first set disappointment by breaking in the fifth game to take the second set 6-4. Impressively, he dropped just six points on his serve to level the match. After staging his comeback, the match was halted at one set all.
The encounter between Raonic and Kyrgios will resume tomorrow. Kyrgios currently lead the head-to-head 3-2, winning their two previous meetings earlier this season.
Marin Cilic Wins
Elsewhere at the Aegon Championships, Marin Cilic recovered from a set down to defeat Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. The former US Open champion received a gift in disguise after rain disrupted his match following his first set loss. Resuming play the Croatian dropped his serve only once to clinch the win after almost two hours of play.
“I’m happy to win, the first set definitely wasn’t easy, but it helps me get cool and regroup a little a little bit.” The world No.13 said.
“My serve helped me keep that aggressive game going and I think it was a really good win,” he later added.
Awaiting Cilic in the second round will be Serbia’s Janko Tipsarević, who is still on the comeback from a knee injury that sidelined him from the tour for six months. The former world No.8 defeated Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(6), 4-6, 6-3.
Roberto Bautista Agut had 27 aces fired against him by Sam Querrey, but still defeated the American 7-6(2), 6-7(4), 7-6(1). Next up for the sixth seed will be another American, Donald Young. Young defeated Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-3, 6-4, in his opening match.
Finally, Alijaz Bedene has booked a second round showdown with top seed Andy Murray after outlasting France’s Benoit Paire 7-6(6), 6-7(7), 6-4. It will be the first time that an all-British meeting involving Murray has occurred on the ATP tour since 2006. The world No.2 has only played one match on the grass this year, however, Bedene is expecting a difficult match.
“I think he loves the grass, and he has just beaten someone who has just won a tournament,” Bedene said about the performance of the British No.1.
“I wouldn’t say it’s easier playing him (due to lack of play on the grass). I mean, he loves it. It’s going to be a difficult match.”
Wednesday’s order of play at the Aegon Championships pic.twitter.com/4wWaU4GUKg
— Adam_Addicott (@tennisbanter) 14 June 2016
