The match had been nip and tuck the whole way.  Raonic had a chance to win the first set, but played a sloppy point, and let Roddick take the first tiebreak.  Then, Roddick took an early break in the second set, and it seemed Raonic’s spirits was dashed.  But, no, he broke back, and eventually took a very long tiebreak that saw Roddick have match after match point.  Raonic managed to win the long tiebreak.

In the third set, neither play gave ground until late when Raonic was trying to serve to get into a tiebreak.  He had staved off break points earlier, and found himself down break point again.  Raonic played aggressive, hitting an inside out forehand.  Roddick, very deep in the court, hit a down-the-line pass.  Raonic stretched and hit a short crosscourt volley.  Roddick rushed to his right, dived as if he were trying to beat a throw to home base, and flicked a winner down-the-line.  He didn’t even see it.

For a guy who was under the weather, this has to be satisfying.  Roddick had been in this situation before against del Potro in 2008 at LA, but then, no one knew del Potro.  del Potro’s two previous wins came on clay, and Roddick could be forgiven to not expect a clay court win to translate to hardcourt win.  Meanwhile, Raonic made a big splash at the Australian Open and he also had a big win in San Jose.  These are events a player like Roddick has heard of, and they are on hard courts.

Raonic said he expected this match point to be on YouTube most played points (admittedly, not a huge category in YouTube) and even if he ended up on the wrong side of the point, his name would still be there.  Roddick said that, as an old guy, he thinks Raonic has the talent to go very far with his game.

Currently, Raonic still has some kinks in his game where he plays some silly shots.  But overall, he maintains good poise and stays calm even under adversity.  Raonic played a great match point, but just came out second.

Raonic now plays another week, heading to Mexico and Acapulco to play on clay and get acclimated to the surface to help him prep for a Davis Cup match against Mexico.

Meanwhile, Soderling who only won two titles last year (Paris and Rotterdam) and has never won more than 2 titles in a year, won his third title this year.  He won Brisbane over Roddick, then defended Rotterdam, and finally won Marseille over Cilic in 3 sets in today’s final.

Almagro won his second clay title of the year in Buenos Aires beating Chela in 3 sets.