Nadal Defeats Canadian Raonic to Win Rogers Cup in Montreal
Rafael Nadal beat Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-2 to win the Rogers Cup in Montreal title for the third time, preventing Raonic from becoming the first Canadian to win the title in 55 years. In 1955, the title was called the Canadian Open and Canadian Robert Bedard won the title that year. Bedard was in attendance this year to watch Nadal win over Raonic. Raonic was the first Canadian since Bedard, who is 81 years old, to reach the final of this tournament.
”To win here, I have to be playing my top level,” Nadal said. ”Very happy the way that I played almost every match in this tournament. Is very important for me, this title. Just very happy for everything.”
This title win makes it eight for Nadal this year and 58 for his career. On the road to the trophy, he beat Novak Djokovic in the semifinals 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(2).
”I did a lot of things well,” Nadal said. ”My return was huge this afternoon. I returned a few first serves of his in important moments, decisive. Then I think he play with more mistakes than usual. That helped me.”
Making it to the finals put Raonic at 10 in the ATP rankings, which is the highest a Canadian has ever been ranked. At 22-years-old, Raonic will also be the youngest player in the top 10. Nadal will move from fourth to third in the ATP rankings. Raonic showed his Canadian pride by wearing a shirt with a maple leaf over his heart throughout the tournament, and in Tiger Woods like fashion, saved his red shirt for finals Sunday. But the shirt didn’t help Raonic against Nadal, who took just over an hour to win against the young Canadian.
Nadal has the record for most wins at Masters 1000 tournaments, with this win only adding to that record making it 25 wins. He is 48-3 this year and has reached the finals in 10 of 11 tournaments. Raonic beat Vasek Pospisil in the semifinals, marking the first time two Canadians were in the semifinals of an ATP Tour event since 1990, with Andrew Sznajder and Martin Wisterholme in Rio de Janeiro.
