BARCELONA, Spain - Canada's Milos Raonic took advantage of local support to record his first clay-court victory of the year, beating Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-4, 7-6 (3) in the first round of the Barcelona Open on Monday.
The 21-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., whose training base is at Real Club de Tenis Barcelona, served seven aces in a closely contested match to win for the first time in a month.
"I trained in Barcelona from November to December," said Raonic. "I like living in the city, there are many things to do."
Raonic, who has won two ATP titles this season, improved his record to 18-4 so far this year.
"I feel I've really improved my clay game from last year," he said. "I defended my ranking points earlier in the season and am working to get to the top 10.
"My goals here are simple: win and keep winning. My match today was a step forward form last week. After I lost I spent the rest of the week training in Monte Carlo. I hope it pays off this week here."
The 11th-seeded Canadian, who is ranked No. 25 in the world, had two service breaks in the contest, which lasted nearly one hour 45 minutes.
"Today was not the greatest of days but I'm happy to put the win together and get it right," Raonic said. "I feel like there's a lot I can do better so I'm happy to give myself another chance in the next round.
"Falla is a very good player, my serve was key in getting the win."
Raonic will face either Russian Igor Andreev or Diego Junquiera of Argentina in the next round.
Santiago Giraldo of Colombia beat the only seeded player to lose, winning 7-6 (3), 6-4 against No. 18 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Robin Haase of the Netherlands also won.
Rafael Nadal's bid for a seventh Barcelona title begins later this week. The second-ranked Spaniard won the Monte Carlo Masters for the eighth straight time last week.
