Canadian upstart Milos Raonic overcame World No.9 and top seed Janko Tipsarevic 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4) in the final of the Aircel Chennai Open here Sunday for his second ATP tour title.In a marathon three-hour, 13-minute match without a single service break, the 21-year old World No.31 and fourth seed Raonic, winner of the ATP Newcomer of the Year award in 2011, emerged a popular winner, though the success should have been achieved far earlier.
The victory fetched Raonic $71,900 and 250 ATP points while Tipsarevic, semi-finalist in the previous two editions of this tournament, went home richer by $37,860 and 150 points.
Raonic, whose game revolves around his huge serve, delivered 35 aces to Tipsarevic’s eight, but his inconsistency, especially in the return games, delayed what appeared to be inevitable given the Canadian’s power and youth.
The 26-year old Tipsarevic, playing in his eighth title round, after enjoying a brilliant finish to 2011 when he reached four finals in nine tournaments winning two, eventually yielded to the persistency of Raonic who kept his opponent under constant pressure.
For all that, Raonic, in his third tour final, failed to convert any of the nine breakpoints while Tipsarevic, who gave a fine exhibition of touch play, had four in the match that was the longest final of the tournament in terms of number of games.
Raonic, clocked a 228 kmph serve in the opening game of the match, had his chances in the first set when he had as many as four breakpoints in the fourth, but failed to convert any even as Tipsarevic served four aces to stay on course.
In the tie-break, Tipsarevic made a decisive mini-break for a 5-3 lead and went on to clinch the set on two errors by Raonic who thus dropped his first set in the tournament.
The second set began ominously for Tipsarevic. He was down 15-40 in the very first game, but Raonic yet again stumbled, courtesy three backhand errors and a service winner by Tipsarevic.
In the seventh game, the Serb was again down 15-40, but managed to hold serve for 4-3. Raonic seemed to be dwelling over the missed opportunity as his serve wavered for the first time in the match.
For someone consistently clocking 210 kmph-plus first serves, Raonic seemed to be on the wane and the crafty Tipsarevic pounced on the opportunities on relatively slow serves to go 40-30 up, but the Canadian managed to hold after two deuces to remain level at 4-4.
With the next two games going to serve, the tie-breaker surfaced a second time. Raonic made an early breakthrough to clinch the set and push the match into the decider.
The third set was virtually a replay of the previous two with Raonic squandering breakpoint for a 5-3 lead as Tipsarevic again grimly hung in there as the match went into a third tie-break.
Raonic made a strong start, jumping to a 5-0 lead and then 6-2, before clinching the issue on a backhand error by Tipsarevic and celebrated his triumph by hurling his shoes into the stands.
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