Oh, I had to do it.  This is what happens when you have a name that ends in a word in the dictionary.

Milos Raonic was, once again, in the semifinals of a tournament.  He already had two solid wins.  He beat Verdasco for the second time in consecutive tournaments in the opening round at Memphis.  He then beat the tricky Stepanek in the second round.  Then, he had what might be termed as an easy match against American Robert Kendrick.  Except it went three sets, just as his previous two rounds did.

Mardy Fish was his semifinal opponent.  Fish had been suffering from some thyroid issue and wasn’t sure when he would return to tour.  But, he was feeling good and apparently playing well enough to beat Sam Querrey in the previous round.  The one issue is lack of match practice.  Raonic had played for nearly two weeks straight and is expected to play a tournament next week too.

Raonic broke Fish in the early parts of the first set.  He held service to win the first set.  However, he had a bad game in the second set and looked a bit nervous and lost the second set.  No worries.  Raonic had been pushed to three sets three times already.  Fish was broken twice and lost 6-3 in the third sending Raonic to his second consecutive final.

There, he either faces another American in Andy Roddick or a resurgent Juan Martin del Potro.  del Potro has won three rounds so far, and continues his steady progress back to the top of the game, beating Isner, Dodig, and Michael Russell.  He faces his third American in Andy Roddick.

del Potro can relate to Raonic.  It wasn’t that long ago when del Potro won four tournaments in a row and surprised the tennis world.  En route, he beat Andy Roddick and Victor Troicki.