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Gordon Reid beaten by Joachim Gerard in Masters final at Olympic Park

  • Posted: Dec 04, 2016
Wheelchair Tennis Masters
Venue: Lee Valley Tennis Centre
Dates: 30 November – 4 December
Coverage: Live coverage of the semi-finals and finals on Red Button, Connected TV and BBC Sport website. Highlights on BBC Two 13:00 GMT, Monday 5 December

Britain’s Gordon Reid missed the chance to finish 2016 on a winning note as he lost in the final of the NEC Wheelchair Tennis Masters in London.

The 25-year-old Scot was beaten 4-6 6-4 6-4 by defending champion Joachim Gerard of Belgium at the Olympic Park.

However, the 2016 Rio Paralympic champion still finishes the year as men’s singles world number one.

“That was a really disappointing performance. My serve and return let me down a bit,” Reid told BBC Sport.

“They were my two biggest strengths over the week and they are important on this surface and were the two things I did the worst today.

“When you can’t get a good start to the rally then it is difficult to get into this match, especially when Jo is serving so well.

“I came out yesterday quite nervous because I wanted the number one spot and got that. Today felt like an anti-climax but it gives me something to aim for next year.”

The Scot trailed 2-4 in the opening set but won the next four games in a row to go one set up.

Neither player was able to exert their authority in the second set with seven breaks of serve in a row, but Gerard managed to serve out the set at 5-4 to level the match.

Gerard started the third set strongly, breaking Reid twice to go 4-0 ahead and although the Scot fought back to trail 5-4, Gerard again held his nerve to seal the win.

“I’m so happy to retain my title,” the 28-year-old Belgian said. “It’s been a good year for me and hopefully next year I can do like Gordon has done and become world number one.”

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Raonic Reaps Rewards On Return

  • Posted: Dec 04, 2016

Raonic Reaps Rewards On Return

Dec032016

Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers explains how an improved return game was the key to Milos Raonic’s career year

In 2015, Milos Raonic lost serve only 39 times in 49 matches. Not enough.

In 2016, the 6’5” Canadian was broken 86 times in 69 matches. Now we are talking.

Raonic ended 2015 ranked 14 in the world in the Emirates ATP Rankings, and just completed the 2016 season with his career best ranking of No. 3. On the surface, getting broken more than twice as much in 2016 than 2015 seems counter-intuitive to such dramatic improvement. It’s not.

In fact, basically everything from a serving standpoint slightly declined in 2016 compared to 2015 for Raonic, but to focus only on his service games would be the same as not being able to see the forest for the trees.

What’s the point of being an exceptional server, if you can’t break enough to win? Raonic greatly improved his return game this season, evolving from a player too reliant on serving, to creating a more potent, balanced attack. He got the mix right.

An Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis of Raonic’s ascension uncovers a player who got a little worse at serving and whole lot better overall as a player, and hey presto – No. 3 in the world.

Raonic Serving
Across the board, the numbers were not as impressive in 2016 as 2015. What we must keep in mind is that Raonic went from peerless metrics to still very solid numbers compared to the rest of the tour.

Milos Raonic: 10 Focus Points Serving 2015-2016

Serving Analytics

 2015 2016 +/-
Double Faults 142 228 +56
1st Serve Percentage 64% 64% 0
1st Serve Points Won 81% 80% -1%
2nd Serve Points Won 58% 55% -3%
Break Points Saved 78% 69% -9%
Service Games Won 94% 91% -3%
Total Service Games Won 73% 71% -2%
Holding Serve With New Balls 97% 91% -6%
Holding Serve From 0/30 63% 52% -9%
Holding Serve From 30/40 80% 53% -27%

Raonic Returning
This is the beating heart of Raonic’s improvement.

In 2015, Raonic broke 77 times in 629 return games, which equals once every 8.2 service games. In 2016, he blew the doors off those numbers, breaking 164 times in 893 return games, breaking once every 5.5 games.

Instead of putting all his eggs in the serve basket, Raonic become more complete, bolstered the return side of the equation, and increased his prize money from $1.4M in 2015 to $4.6M this season.

Milos Raonic: 10 Focus Points Returning 2015-2016

Returning Analytics

 2015 2016 +/-
1st Return Points Won 24% 28% +4%
2nd Return Points Won 44% 49% +5%
Break Points Converted 33% 36% +3%
Return Games Won 12% 18% +6%
Return Points Won 31% 36% +5%
Breaking With New Balls 14% 21% +7%
Breaking After Losing Serve 6% 14% +8%
Breaking From 15/15 15% 20% +5%
Breaking From 0/30 16% 40% +24%
Breaking From 30/40 29% 47% +18%

At the 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, Raonic held a match point against eventual champion Andy Murray in the semi-finals, losing 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(9). In an ominous warning to opponents in the upcoming season, Raonic won the longer points of 9+ shots 16-14 against the Brit. Who would have thought…

In 2016, Raonic rounded out his game, improved his returns, believed in his backhand, and pressed a little less from the baseline at the start of the point. He now has all the ingredients to impose his will all over the court, and make his own legitimate run at World No. 1 in 2017.

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