After a fantastic fortnight of tennis Down Under in Melbourne, it’s time to reflect. Yes, third-ranked Novak Djokovic capped a perfect tournament with an impressive straight-set triumph over world No. 5 Andy Murray. But there’s more to this story.
Canada, again, has reason to celebrate.
Two promising Canucks, Milos Raonic and Rebecca Marino, have vaulted themselves into the top 100 after playing admirable tourneys in Australia.
Raonic shot up 58 spots to No. 94 and Marino also had a sizable gain to No. 84; previously 104.
It was a heroic effort from Raonic, a 20-year-old who, after only four matches, pounded 94 aces — a number nobody even came close to matching. Murray played seven matches and managed 65.
His run began with a first-round victory over German Björn Phau in straight sets. World No. 23 Michael Llodra of France was next up, but it didn’t phase the young Canadian, as he also dismissed him in three sets. He pummeled Llodra with 21 aces and won 88 per cent of his first-serve points.
No Canadian had been this far in a Grand Slam since Daniel Nestor at 1999’s Wimbledon. He would face hard-hitting Russian Mikhail Youzhny, a former quarter-finalist at the event and a notoriously tough battler with a penchant for crushing winners.
Raonic didn’t care, as he maintained a firm strategy during his four-set win, breaking the Russian’s serve late in sets one, two and four to secure the win. Did I mention Raonic dropped 31 aces on Youzhny in the process?
Sadly, his fairytale run ended at the hands of David Ferrer, who wisely exposed Raonic’s forehand, which betrayed him numerous times en route to a four-set loss.
But this is very promising for us as a nation. We’ve got a reason to care about the men’s and women’s draws for tournaments again.
Canadian children grow up worshipping a healthy dose of hockey players and not much else.
Diversity in sport among Canadian youth could be on the rise thanks to our up-and-coming tennis players. It will likely help grow the game across the country and make kids take up an interest that doesn’t involve hockey skates.
