It was business as usual on Wednesday night in Australia for Milos Raonic, as the No. 8 seed did what he had to do in order to get past American Donald Young in straight sets to advance to third round of this year’s Aussie Open.
The hard-serving Canadian used an absolutely devastating service game, to cruise to a rather comfortable 6-4, 7-6(3), 6-3 victory. As the final stat line might suggest, Young actually played quite well and managed to hold his own for much of the match but in the end, it was his inability to make any sort of inroads on the six-time ATP tour winner’s serve that led to his undoing.
As if dealing with the Raonic serve wasn’t already bad enough, the twenty-five year old American also had the misfortune of having to go up against the No. 8 seed when he was also dialed in on the forehand. While not usually known for his consistency with his ground strokes, the twenty-four year old was downright scary on both wings and there was absolutely nothing Young could do about it but shake his head.
The Canadian No. 1 will now face German Benjamin Becker in round number three, as the ATP tour veteran managed to come from two sets down to defeat Australia’s own Lleyton Hewitt in what might turnout to be the fan favorite’s final appearance in his homeland. With that said, Becker will have to take his game to an entirely different level if he hopes to have any shot at pulling off the upset and advancing to the fourth round of a major for the first time since the 2006 US Open.
