Another career first for Milos Raonic.
The hard-hitting 21-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., defeated Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-4, 7-6(4) at the U.S. Open on Thursday, firing 30 aces to advance to the third round here for the first time in his career.
More importantly, Raonic is the first Canadian male to get this far in this event in 24 years. Montreal's Martin Laurendeau, who now captains sa国际传媒's Davis Cup squad, reached the fourth round of the U.S. Open in 1988.
Raonic played better Thursday than he did in his opening match against Colombia's Santiago Giraldo. The Canadian had to rally from a set down and break to earn the first-round victory.
"I played much better today than in the first round, as far as the basics go," Raonic said. "But I still need to do quite a few things better.
"The two breaks I got, I played good points each time. But I wasn't happy with my return games, I wasn't doing enough with the ball."
The 15th-seeded Raonic needed two hours 10 minutes to clinch the win. He'll next face 32-year-old American James Blake, who dominated 24th-seeded Marcel Granollers to win 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
"I do feel good about my game, I'm getting better and better," Raonic said. "I now have two days to get even better."
In other action, the U.S. Open finally got its first shockers.
After three days of the top players not only winning but winning decisively, the biggest news Thursday came off the court, with Andy Roddick announcing his impending retirement.
On the court, fifthseeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was upset by Martin Klizan of Slovakia in the second round. The 52nd-ranked Klizan won 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.
Before Tsonga's loss, the top-five seeds on the men's and women's sides had played 14 matches - and won all 14 in straight sets.
Roddick called a news conference Thursday evening to say that he'll call it a career after his last match at this tournament, which he won in 2003.
"I don't know that I'm healthy enough or committed enough to go another year," he said on his 30th birthday, a day before facing Bernard Tomic in the second round. "I've always wanted to, in a perfect world, finish at this event."
Tsonga was the runnerup at the 2008 Australian Open and a semifinalist at Wimbledon this year. He had reached at least the third round in 18 straight Grand Slam trips.
"Today I was not in a good shape," he said. "I didn't play good tennis. It seemed like I couldn't hit the ball hard enough to put my opponent out of position. I don't really know why it was like this today, but sometimes it happens with me."
The 23-year-old Klizan had failed to make it past the second round in three previous Grand Slam appearances. He had never defeated an opponent ranked better than No. 49.
"I had no pressure," Klizan said. "If I lose, then I lose. I lose with [a] good player. But I won and I'm very happy. It means more for me that I finally beat a guy from top 10."
This year's Open has generated plenty of drama in one area: comebacks from two sets down. American Mardy Fish rallied to beat Nikolay Davydenko 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-2, 6-1, 6-2, the 10th time in this tournament a man had won after losing the first two sets - already an Open record.
