MONACO - Canadian Milos Raonic continues to excel on clay.
The 20-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., defeated Ernests Gulbis 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the third round of the Monte Carlo Masters tennis event Tuesday. The contest between two of the game's top young guns was another stern test for Raonic, who is playing in his first ATP event on clay.
Raonic held his nerve in a struggle lasting just over 90 minutes, failing to serve out the win despite holding three match points. But he calmly broke his emotional Latvian opponent a game later before clinching the victory.
In fact, the 34th-ranked Raonic earned the victory in style with his eighth ace. He finished with 21 winners and registered breaks on all four of his chances against Gulbis, who is ranked 30th in the world and tossed his racket in frustration at times.
"I'm still learning every day on clay," said Raonic. "I've never even played a Challenger on it but I'm getting more comfortable by the match.
"I have confidence and believe I can win. But I have to keep control of myself. I have a good team of people around me who make sure I do that. I won't want my ego to get ahead of my tennis, that will only slow my progress."
Raonic will play the winner of the match between Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and fourth-seed David Ferrer. Raonic lost to Ferrer in the fourth round of this year's Australian Open.
"I felt I was able to adapt, not just physically, but mentally," Raonic said. "I was ready for the longer points. I was being more patient today than I was the first day. I wasn't really rushing.
"I could've been a bit more aggressive, I thought I was starting off the points really well, making sure he couldn't attack me, playing deep, high, sort of taking away his chances to be aggressive. But when I was getting mine, I was hesitating a bit too much."
Raonic went up a break early in the first set but lost it as Gulbis tied the match 2-2. Raonic stayed steady in the duel, breaking again for a 4-3 lead and took the opening set with a service winner.
He broke to lead 4-3 in the second but Gulbis saved three match points for a service break of his own to tie the match 5-5.
At that point, Raonic went into overdrive to pull out the win to improve his record this season to a stellar 18-5.
"I was happy with how I put it all together right after (the missed match points)," he said. "I was able to reel off a few points in a row.
"I just tried as best as I could to keep it under control. I'm happy with the outcome."
