November 18, 2011
Milos Raonic beats Pete Sampras in the Face-Off in Toronto
By Melissa Boyd
The prodigy beat his hero on Thursday night in Toronto as Canada's top player Milos Raonic defeated Pete Sampras 7-6, 6-1 in an exhibition match in front of his hometown fans at the Air Canada Centre.
The Canadian rising star and the American legend were greeted with a standing ovation as they arrived on court sporting Toronto Maple Leafs jerseys embroidered with their name and the last two numbers of their date of birth.
The much anticipated 'Face-off' between Missile Milos and Pistol Pete featured blistering serves, impressive net play, deft touch and a lot of smiles on both sides of the net. Raonic was philosophical when describing what it meant to have the opportunity to play his childhood idol.
"It's a moment that's going to be tattooed in my mind," Raonic said. "It's never going to leave. There is a lot that comes with this moment. For myself to learn and grow, but also for Canadian tennis to promote the sport and that's what the end goal is."
Sampras, who met Raonic for the first time earlier this year at the SAP Open in San Jose, a tournament which Raonic won to capture his first ATP title, had some high praise for the 20-year-oldCanadian.
"Milos is a great kid," Sampras said. "He seems really driven and has a great future ahead of him. When I look at young players, I look at a weapon. And he has a big one with his serve."
The evening's main event was preceded by a set of women's tennis between Wimbledon junior doubles champion Eugenie Bouchard and former world no. 21 Aleksandra Wozniak. Both ladies hit their fair share of winners in a 6-4 victory for Wozniak over her compatriot.
The festivities kicked off with some celebrity doubles as the four players took to the court with actor Hayden Christensen, former NHL player Brad May as well as Toronto television personalities Rick Campanelli and Gord Stellick. Christensen, famous for playing the role of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars movies, played junior tennis and acquitted himself well against the pros.
This was the first time tennis has been played at the Air Canada Centre, a venue that seats 19,000 for Maple Leafs hockey games.
The event was a special treat for Canadian tennis fans, who not only watched one of the game's all-time greats, but also saw Milos Raonic's first match in his home country since the summer of 2010, an encounter he won't soon forget.
17 November 2011
Milos Raonic meets then beats idol Pete Sampras
By Rachel Brady
A youngster and his idol sat shoulder-to-shoulder, one gushing about the other's ability to deliver precision serves down the line at astonishing speeds, wondering aloud if he could keep their tennis match competitive.
The youngster was Milos Raonic, his idol was American tennis legend Pete Sampras. They sat together in a casual prematch meeting with media Thursday --- and make no mistake --- it was the idol nervously wondering how he would return Raonic's monster serve and handle the Canadian's big game in a friendly exhibition match at Toronto's Air Canada Centre.
"I hope Milos understands I was his idol --- I could be his father," joked 40-year-old Sampras, asking Raonic to take it easy, noting he suffers from a bad back these days.
"I can still serve and volley pretty well, but to break Milos, that's difficult. I don't see his serve everyday."
Getting to play the King of Swing, let alone beat him 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, is something the 20-year-old rising star from Thornhill, Ont., might never have imagined when he was a young boy obsessed with the sport, studying hundreds of Sampras's matches on videotape.
"I think I have watched him play a couple thousand hours more than he's watched me play," laughed Raonic, who began the 2011 season ranked 156th in the world and climbed as high as 25th during his breakout year.
"There is so much this moment brings. Nights like this are going to help tennis grow in Canada."
On their first night on a court together, Raonic and Sampras first warmed up in a light doubles match, where they lobbed shots to various Canadian celebrities, such as actor Hayden Christensen of Star Wars fame and former NHLer Brad May sporting tall socks and tennis whites. A sideline coach yucked jokes into a microphone and the Toronto Raptor mascot served as a ball boy.
But the night took a decidedly more competitive tone when the main event began. The 6-foot-5 Canadian blistered the first of many aces at Sampras's feet on his opening serve of the match, and the American handed his racquet to a fan in mock surrender. While it was tough to return those serves, the champion of 14 Grand Slams lunged for balls, smashed cross-court winners, and dusted ginger-drop shots to hang point-for-point with his young opponent, at least in the first set.
Sampras, who retired in 2002, still unleashed with that natural, familiar motion from the service line and contended with a serve-and-volley game that has disappeared from men's pro tennis over the years. He took Raonic to a tiebreaker before allowing the Canadian to take the first set 7-6 before the crowd of 5,705 at the ACC's first tennis event.
Raonic, the world No. 31, routinely thundered serves upward of 218 kilometres an hour, and Sampras ripped a few aces of his own, once even pumping his fist in triumph, a glimmer of the Sampras who went toe to toe in the 1990s with rivals such as Andre Agassi. Raonic then finished off his hero 6-1 to end the night.
Sampras doesn't play much tennis these days, other than some Champions Tour matches. He finds the loss of serve-and-volley tennis heartbreaking, but is compelled by Raonic's game, saying it's well-suited to today's power-hitting ATP. In an on-court interview after the match, Sampras called Raonic's serve "bigger than big."
"I think he's on the right track, but he's very young, so let's be patient here," Sampras said. "It takes time to be a champion. All the tools are there. Don't expect him to win Wimbledon next year. It's going to take some time, but he can do it."
"I'm going to watch out for him over the next number of years. He's going to break through."