Raonic Rallies To Claim Inspiring Upset Of Tiafoe

Former World No. 3 Milos Raonic turned back time in what may be his farewell tournament on Canadian soil with a stunning three-set upset of ninth seed Frances Tiafoe at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers in Toronto on Monday night.

After dropping the first set in a 26-point tie-break that ended with a bizarre incident involving Tiafoe touching the net outside the singles post, the 32-year-old rallied to take the second set in a tie-break before racing to a 3-0 lead in the third en route to closing out a 6-7(12), 7-6(4), 6-3 win.

“Two years away, five years from playing in Toronto, a whole four years since I got to play in front of my parents, who were there for the majority of my matches as junior and a majority of my matches as a pro. All of these things came together for a great night for me and I’m incredible grateful for it,” Raonic said.

Raonic, who as the first Canadian to crack the Top 10 of Pepperstone ATP Rankings has inspired the current generation of countrymen including Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov, dropped 37 aces in his first appearance on home soil since 2019 and in his first hard-court match in more than two years.

More to follow…