MIAMI, Fla.—Playing Milos Raonic must be a lot like getting caught in a mid-July thunderstorm. The first thing you must do is run for cover. The second thing you must do is remember and keep telling yourself that the louder the thunder and the heavier the downpour, the sooner it’s likely to pass overhead.
And for the first set of Raonic’s quarterfinal with Rafael Nadal, the world No. 1 was caught in a real frog drowner.
Raonic pelted Nadal with massive serves and inside-out forehands at the start of this match, bringing to bear all the stored energy and youthful power in his 6’5” frame. He drove Nadal back mercilessly, and for a spell there was scant cover for the 13-time Grand Slam champion to duck under. Even when Nadal had his break-point chances, Raonic doused his hopes.
It’s no wonder Nadal pulled long faces and cast darting, troubled glances in the direction of his support team each time an opportunity slipped away. As he explained later, “The match didn't start the way that you would like, because if I convert one of the opportunities that I had in that first set on the return, the match change completely, no?
“When you start losing opportunities, you feel that you gonna be in trouble, because one game he gonna play aggressive and you will be in his hands, and the next thing is that game arrived.”
Nadal was talking about the final game of the first set, when he was serving at 4-5. He hit two double faults in that game, the second to end the set.
But don’t misunderstand the anxiety Nadal felt through that first set. As the final score (4-6, 6-2, 6-4) indicates, it never morphed into the kind of impatience that can cause a player to come unglued. Nadal was worried, yes, but not to the point where he went to war with himself. This is a man with a great talent for living in the moment, even when it’s raining cats, dogs, and Raonic kick serves.
