Milos Raonic has become the first Canadian player to reach the semifinals of the ATP World Tour Finals after knocking out rising star Dominic Thiem 7-6(5), 6-3, in the decisive match of the John McEnroe Group.
Unlike previous encounters played at the year-end tournament, the mission was simple. The winner takes it all and progress to their maiden tour final semi-final. It was a big moment for both men, but they refused to let it impact on their quality of play.
The clash of the two youngest players at this year’s ATP finals was one that reassured those who fear for the life of men’s tennis beyond the ‘big four’ era. Raonic’s key weapon of a blistering serve was not enough to dominate Thiem, who responded with some sharp serving of his own as well as some breathtaking backhand winners. Throughout the first 50 minutes of the match, neither player managed to get to a break point opportunity, triggering the first tiebreaker between the two on the tour.
Suffering blows on both sides of the court, Raonic’s seized his opportunity when a well constructed rally concluded with him smashing a winner at the net, granted him his first set point. After failing to pull away from the Austrian during the first 12 games, Raonic’s breakthrough occurred in a likely fashion – slamming an ace down the line to secure the vital one-set lead.
Six games away from another milestone in his career, the Canadian fourth seed dealt another blow to Thiem’s spirits by breaking at the start of the second set to elevate to a 2-0 lead. Admirably Thiem continued to fight in front of the engaged London crowd, but he had his work cut out against a player who has won 91% of his service games on the tour this season. Raonic’s service superiority continued as he moved to four points away from the win against a faltering Thiem. History and victory were seal for Raonic when a Thiem backhand ploughed into the net.
“I did a lot of things quite well today. I stepped up when I had an opportunity in the tiebreak. I stepped up at the beginning of the second set and the end of it. There’s definitely a lot to be proud of, playing under that kind of pressure, ’cause I really wanted to get out of the group stages and I wanted to give myself a chance in the semifinals.” Said Raonic.
Finishing second in the John McEnroe group behind Novak Djokovic, Raonic secured his last four place with the help of 31 winners, 13 aces and a winning 85% first service rate. He will face the winner of the Ivan Lendl Group, who will be decided at the O2 Arena on Friday. The journey to the last four occurs less than two weeks after he was forced to quit the Pasris Masters due to injury.
“I’m very happy to be in the situation I’m in right now. I’m very happy I was able to play. Obviously it’s a big bonus to be able to play at this high level I’ve been playing so far in all three of my matches.” He said about his current fitness levels.
Raonic’s win was also a silver lining for Thiem, who ends 2016 on a high after winning four tournaments on three different surfaces to break the top ten for the first time at the age of 23. After experiencing his first taste of the extravagant year-end championships, the world No.9 is hungry to achieve future success on the tour in 2017.
“I hope that I will be back here in the future. It’s one of the best tournaments. It was an amazing experience. I’m also happy that I won one match and that I still had the chance to go into the semifinals on the last match.” Said Thiem.
Two wins away from the title, Raonic could become the first North American player to with the trophy since Pete Sampras in 1999.
