Raonic defends title in San Jose

Published November 20, 2014

Milos Raonic successfully defended his 2011 set win over Denis Istomin in Sunday's finale.

The third-seeded Canadian fired seven aces and never offered a break opportunity as he took down Istomin 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 in 89 minutes on the hardcourts at HP Pavilion.

Istomin, a 25-year-old Uzbek, had never faced Raonic before Sunday's championship match, but held his own in the first set, never giving the Canadian upstart a break chance.

Raonic, 21, was simply masterful, however, winning 86 percent (19-of-22) of points on his first serve while being a perfect 9-for-9 on his second serve in the opening stanza.

The tight first-set win propelled Raonic to even greater heights in the second, as he won all but one point on serve while converting both break opportunities offered by Istomin.

Raonic earned his second title of the young season. He was victorious at the Aircel Chennai Open in early January.

Istomin was playing in just his second career ATP final. He was defeated in the 2010 New Haven Open.

The unseeded Uzbek had bested fifth-ranked Julien Benneteau in the semifinals and shocked second-seed Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals. Raonic faced only one seeded player, sixth seed Kevin Anderson, throughout the tournament.

Raonic was rewarded with $95,860 for his championship victory.

URL

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/raonic-defends-title-in-san-jose