Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil set up the first ever all Canadian final at the ATP 500 Citi Open in Washington. Both men did it in style, but very different ones.
Second seeded Milos Raonic had the easier passage of the day through to the Citi Open final when he beat Donald Young 6-4, 7-5. Raonic’s serve was the shot that made the difference on the hard courts. The Canadian won 79 percent of his service points to Young’s 67. Raonic also earned 3 break points on the Young serve and took 2 of them to grab the decisive break in each set.
Raonic will come up against countryman and 13th seed Vasek Pospisil in the final, the first ever all Canadian one on the ATP Tour. Pospisil had his work cut out on semi-finals day, and how much energy he will have spare for his first ever final is in question. The 24 year old had to finish of his quarter-final against Santiago Giraldo and then take on sixth seed Richard Gasquet.
The Frenchman edged the first set 7-6 (5), and then dropped the second set 3-6 as his serve let him down at key moments. Gasquet pulled himself together and led 3-0 in the third before being pulled back to 3-3. Gasquet’s frustration was clear as a career of slipped leads looked set to have another one added to its resume, while a hungry looking Pospisil had the inspiration, especially in his shot selection which included a beautiful drop shot and some great volleys, to take a close and thrilling final set 7-5.
The final will be Vasek’s first on the ATP Tour and comes a month after his winning the Wimbledon Men’s doubles title.
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Commentary by Christian Deverille
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