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Milos Raonic navigates tricky waters in a three-tiebreak victory over qualifier Victor Estrella Burgos
NEW YORK – Milos Raonic and Victor Estrella Burgos had met once before and, in relative terms, the stakes were just about as high as they were Saturday in the third round of the U.S. Open.
It was in Sept. 2010, on the Grandstand court at the Rexall Centre in Toronto, a lifetime ago if you put it in the timeframe of Raonic's career.
It was a lifetime ago in terms of Canada's Davis Cup journey, too – a tie against the lowly tennis nation of the Dominican Republic that, if Canada didn't win it, would relegate the country even lower than the Americas zone it had already found itself mired in during those years.
Raonic, then just 19, pulled it out – 5-7, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 9-7 on the way to an eventual Canadian sweep that was the first step towards the team's promotion to the prestigious World Group just a year later.
He was ranked No. 234 at the time, still a couple of weeks away from his first big results on the ATP level over in Asia, and four months away from his first Grand Slam breakthrough at the 2011 Australian Open. He had just made his U.S. Open main draw debut, wilting in the heat against Aussie Carsten Ball and losing in four sets.
Estrella Burgos, then 30, was ranked No. 257 some eight years after his name first appeared in the ATP Tour rankings. He fell lower than that, he rarely rose much higher than that and he seemed destined to be a lower-level clay-court Challenger guy, eking out a living.
Fast forward to 2014.
The 23-year-old Raonic is the No. 6 player in the world, the No. 5 seed at this U.S. Open. The 34-year-old Burgos finally broke into the top 100, reached No. 79 a couple of weeks ago, and is in the third round of a Grand Slam.
For the Dominican, the victory was just being there, not that he wasn't going to try to seize the moment. For Raonic, the ultimate goal is much, much higher now; a defeat in the third round of a major is no longer even close to a victory.
Raonic pulled it out against Burgos on Saturday – 7-6, (5), 7-6 (5) and 7-6 (3), but not without difficulty, and not without some inspiring play from an inspiring opponent.
"Yeah, it was difficult. He's playing well. He's playing with a lot of inspiration. It was a lot of fun, the atmosphere, out there. I'm glad that I was able to play well in the important moments," Raonic said. "It's great to see at 34 years old, he's playing his best tennis. He's figuring a lot of it out. He's giving himself sort of a new life about his tennis."
After the first set, the aces total was Raonic nine, Estrella Burgos eight. But then Raonic scored 13 unanswered, so to speak, ending up with 22 while Burgos remained at eight. The Canadian took the net 51 times, winning 31 points and often not even having to hit volleys, because Estrella Burgos couldn't find a way to hit his backhand passing shot down the line; he missed some makeable ones in important moments that easily might have pushed this one beyond the minimum three sets.
Estrella Burgos found different ways to make Raonic look awkward up there, though.
He hit several dipping passes, slices, that Raonic, with all his height, couldn't handle. And he unleashed a few howitzer forehands from his muscular 5-foot-8 frame that had the capacity crowd in the intimate Grandstand court gasping.
There were hundreds of fellow Dominicans or Dominican supporters in the house, along with the New York fans who always support the underdog – especially one as likeable as this one, an underdog fully enjoying the moment and absolutely giving it everything he had.
Raonic had his fans as well; there were plenty of red Canadian T-shirts and caps in the stands.
It seemed, the entire time, that Raonic was making great efforts to remain under control, to keep his cool and shut the extra elements of the occasion out of it. Even when Raonic was broken serving for the second set at 5-4 (a set he would eventually win in a tiebreaker), he kept his cool.
When Estrella Burgos served for the third set himself, Raonic also kept his cool, broke him, and ran off the final tiebreaker.
The photo at the top is his reaction after winning. There was almost no emotion, really. There was a slight look of relief – it was almost like, "Okay, I got rid of that pesky, buzzing fly that kept hanging around."
"It's good to get the win. It's good to put myself in this position in the fourth round to go further in this tournament and give myself an opportunity to play better. Yeah, I believe I can play better. I believe I will," Raonic said.
For Burgos, it was all good.
"Milos, he's unbelievable. He has so much confidence when he plays a tiebreak," he said. "Amazing. I think today was my best match; I played a very good level. The three sets were very close. I served for the set in the third set, cannot close. But I'm not too sad, because I had a very good week."
"You could see it was emotional for him after the match, as well," said Raonic, who had kind words for Estrella Burgos at the net. "It's great for him to have this kind of a moment and to really enjoy it. He's really taking it in."
Raonic's next challenge might be a little less of an emotional occasion. But it is a significantly more difficult one: he faces No. 10 seed Kei Nishikori of Japan in the round of 16.
