Milos Raonic has been handed a free pass into the fourth round of the 2017 French Open after Guillermo Garcia-Lopez retired from their round-of-32 clash with an injury. Things are bound to get tougher, though, for the Canadian as he will next face Pablo Carreno Busta. The 25-year-old Carreno Busta has dropped just one set in this year’s tournament and is 17-8 on clay this season.
That being said, Raonic will fancy his chances against the Spaniard as he has fared extremely well against Carreno Busta in his career. Raonic has beaten Carreno Busta in each of their last three meetings with the world no. 6 winning each of those matches in straight sets. They have faced each other just once in a Grand Slam setting before and that happened at last year’s Wimbledon Championships. Raonic won that encounter, 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-4.
For Raonic to stretch his unbeaten run against Carreno Busta, he will need to dominate with his service game. He is third in the ATP Tour in serve rating (past 52 weeks) with an incredible 301.2 clip. Raonic’s success this coming Sunday will largely depend on his first serve. He won 93 percent of his first serve points in the win against Garcia-Lopez. If Raonic’s first serve is right on target in the fourth round, it’s going to be a long afternoon for Carreno Busta.
Pablo Carreno Busta moved into the fourth round of the 2017 French Open with a stunning 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 win over Grigor Dimitrov on Friday. It was a fantastic performance by Carreno who needed just two hours and 18 minutes to record the upset victory. With the win, Carreno Busta advanced past the third round of the French Open for the first time in his career.
Waiting in the next round for Carreno Busta is the big-serving Milos Raonic. This will be the first meeting between Carreno Busta and Raonic on clay. For Carreno Busta to record the all-important victory, he will need to continue his excellent return play and put pressure on Raonic’s serve. Carreno Busta won 43 percent of his receiving points against Dimitrov with the Spaniard converting five of his 11 break point chances. Darcis also needs to continue attacking the net if he is to upset Raonic. He won 13 of his 23 net points in the third-round victory against Dimitrov.
Writer’s Prediction
Carreno Busta (+145) stuns Raonic in a five-set thriller.
