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Milos Raonic wins routinely, Vasek Pospisil is routined at the Miami Open

Milos Raonic wins routinely, Vasek Pospisil is routined at the Miami Open

It certainly shaped up as a potentially competitive and entertaining matchup between two players who go way back.

But when they took the court Saturday in Miami, Grigor Dimitrov showed Canadian Vasek Pospisil why he's ranked No. 11 in the world, and Pospisil is still working his way up at No. 60.

The Bulgarian made short work of Pospisil, defeating him 6-2, 6-2 and needing less than an hour to do it.

Pospisil had more double-faults (five) than aces (two). Back-to-back double-faults at 2-2 in the second set gave Dimitrov the break he needed, and then he added on another for insurance. Pospisil wasn't able to win a single point on Dimitrov's serve in the second set until the end when Dimitrov decided to serve and volley on a second serve, at 30-love as he was serving out the match, and pushed the volley just long.

Grigor Dimitrov (R) shakes hands with Vasek Pospisil (L) after their match on day six of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center. Dimitrov won 6-2, 6-2. (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)
Grigor Dimitrov (R) shakes hands with Vasek Pospisil (L) after their match on day six of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center. Dimitrov won 6-2, 6-2. (Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports)

Worse, Pospisil seemed thoroughly discouraged in rather short order. Meanwhile, his opponent, who is a year younger, looked thoroughly and completely in command from the first point.

Pospisil had looked impressive in defeating the returning Juan Martin del Potro in the first round. Now, he will focus on the doubles with American partner Jack Sock, who is still alive in the singles.

After the bad loss suffered by Genie Bouchard earlier in the day, then Pospisil's quick defeat, it was up to Milos Raonic to salvage some Canadian honour. And he did just that in a masterful performance against Teymuraz Gabashvili.

The Russian is a strong, hard-hitting player who is capable of giving even the top players a competitive match. The 6-1, 6-4 score doesn't truly reflect how dominant Raonic was.

Raonic had 28 winners and 18 unforced errors. He went 5-for-5 at the net. Despite a relatively low first-serve percentage (57%), he never faced a break point.

The Canadian won the majority of the shorter rallies; even more encouraging for him was that in the longer rallies (between five and nine shots), he won 15 of 24 points played.

Raonic will face No. 31 seed Jérémy Chardy of France, a stylish shotmaker, in the third round.  He'll be okay with that; Chardy has given him a tough time, at times, but the Canadian is 5-0 against him.