This one ended with a fan screaming during the serve causing Verdasco to miss the return.  Even so, Raonic raised his hands in victory.  Few people knew who Raonic was until the Aussie Open when he qualified then took an improbably trip to the fourth round only to lose to veteran, David Ferrer.

It was another Spaniard that Raonic met.  Raonic knew the key was to hold his serve and hope to play well in the tiebreak.  Verdasco had only lost serve once the entire tournament and he did not lose serve in the final.  But neither did Raonic.

It seemed the more experienced Verdasco would win the first set tiebreak, up 6-2, but Raonic would come back to win 6 straight points.  Verdasco was visibly unhappy with his team, wondering how the 20 year old Canadian, son of a nuclear engineer, in his first final, was hitting big serves and big forehands.

It seems big name players have an early signature win.  Obvious, two of the biggest big-time splashes came from Mats Wilander winning his first title at the French Open in 1982 and Boris Becker winning his second title ever at Wimbledon in 1985.

Even so, Raonic’s win at the SAP has to be seen as a great start, especially against the defend champ, Fernando Verdasco.

Raonic should reach the top 60 in the world with this win.  The last Canadian to win a title was Greg Rusedski sometime in the mid-90s (though Rusedski eventually became a British citizen).

Raonic will play Memphis next week as a wildcard (he was a wildcard in San Jose).  Coincidentally, he’ll meet Verdasco in the first round.  Meanwhile, Andy Roddick opens his first round match against Richard Berankis who Raonic beat en route to this week’s final.