Milos Raonic maintained his winning start on the clay on Wednesday, striking a staggering 39 winners against Tommy Haas to move into the third round 6-4, 6-3 at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome.
The most impressive part about Raonic's 75-minute win: only 10 of those winners were aces, and 25 were from his forehand. The fifth-seed Canadian reached the third round last week at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Goffin) and made the final during his return to the red dirt at the TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open (l. Cilic) earlier this month.
Raonic will next meet 12th seed Tomas Berdych. The Canadian leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 4-2 but Berdych won their only meeting on clay, at 2015 Monte-Carlo.
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#NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev put on an impressive display of serving on Wednesday, winning 81 per cent of his service points and not facing a break point in a 6-3, 6-4 win against Serbian Viktor Troicki.
Zverev improves to 2-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against the 31-year-old Belgrade native. The 20-year-old Zverev will next meet Italian Fabio Fognini, who knocked out top seed and defending champion Andy Murray late Tuesday in front of a packed crowd on Campo Centrale.
“He's very entertaining to watch, and I like it. I like how the crowd is supporting him, and I like how the crowd is always behind him and always has his back. I really enjoy that, even though I will play against him tomorrow,” Zverev said. “The stadium will be very loud for him... It's going to be a fun day, a fun atmosphere and a great match.”
Zverev is currently leading the Emirates ATP Race To Milan, which will determine seven of the eight 21-and-under players who will compete at the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. The eighth player will be chosen by wild card. On Tuesday, the ATP announced a series of rule changes and innovations that will be trialled at the new event.
Spaniards Pablo Carreno Busta and Roberto Bautista Agut had yet another marathon match against each other, but it was Bautista Agut who defeated the 15th seed 6-7(6), 6-1, 6-4. Bautista Agut went on a six-game run to clinch the second set, and recovered from dropping his serve in the opening game of the decider to move on in two hours and 38 minutes.
Bautista Agut now leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Carreno Busta 2-1. He defeated Carreno Busta in five sets at the 2015 US Open, but Carreno Busta turned the tables last August by winning the Winston-Salem Open final in two hours and 33 minutes.
Next up for the Spanish veteran is second seed Novak Djokovic. The Serbian leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 5-1, but Bautista Agut won their most recent match this past October in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Rolex Masters.