Milos Raonic showed no signs of the ankle injury that forced him out of the semifinals in Beijing last week as he made his return to the court on Wednesday with a dominant win over Paolo Lorenzi in the second round of the Shanghai Rolex Masters. The Canadian put on a service clinic, never giving his opponent an opening to break while being ruthlessly efficient on return. He needed just over an hour to oust the Italian 6-2, 6-4.
Untouchable Raonic Races through Opener
The fifth seed got off to the exact start he needed, getting to break point in the opening game and converting to take an immediate 1-0 lead. As it happened, the set was already over at that point. The rest was merely a formality. Raonic set the tone for the day on his own serve in the following game with a hold to love. He would only drop two points on serve in the opening set.
Despite his inability to get anything going on his opponent’s serve, Lorenzi was able to match Raonic hold for hold after surrendering the early break. However, his struggles on return made it difficult for him to level and at 2-4, he found himself down double break point on his own serve. Raonic would convert the first and promptly served out the set in the following game.
Lone Break Enough for Raonic
Looking to turn the tide to start the second set, Lorenzi opened the second set with a hold, avoiding the same early hole as the first set. But after the Canadian held, the pressure was back on the Italian and this time he cracked. From 30-15, Raonic won three points in a row to secure the break in the second set. With the way Raonic was serving, the match looked over for Lorenzi.
Despite the Italian raising his own level once again on serving and not giving Raonic any more opportunities, the Canadian had everything he needed. The closest Lorenzi would come to getting a break point was in the sixth game when he got to 30-30, the only time in the match that he would win multiple points on the Raonic serve in a game. The procession continued on serve and the fifth seed served for the match at 5-4. After converting every big point so far in the match, Raonic hit his only minor bump in the match, needing two match points to finish off Lorenzi.
By the Numbers
It was a serving masterclass from Raonic. The Canadian put 79 percent of his first serves in play, winning 88 percent of those points, only losing four. He only lost three of nine second serve points, bringing his total to a mere seven points lost on his serve. He fired 14 aces and did not face a break point in the match, only losing more than one point in a service game once. He was also a perfect three for three on break points conversions and won 58 percent of Lorenzi’s second serve points.
Raonic, who matches his best performance in Shanghai by reaching the third round, will play Jack Sock, who he has beaten eight times in a row, for a spot in the quarterfinals.