In the first round of the 2023 Canadian Open in Toronto, Frances Tiafoe will meet Milos Raonic, who made his comeback to the ATP Tour only recently.
If you had a chance to put Milos Raonic's comeback on your bingo card, you probably wouldn't have done it because nobody expected it. Even so, that happened as the Canadian played a couple of grass events, confirming that he'll play in Canada as well.
Well, it's here, the Canadian Open is upon us, and Raonic is in the draw. He didn't prove quite lucky with the draw, getting Frances Tiafoe in the first round, which will make it very hard for him to actually win a match in front of the home crowd.
On another note, it's going to be a packed stadium and a fun match because that's how Tiafoe plays. Those are the type of matches you want to play as a player.
Head-to-head:
Funnily enough, the duo played a match in Canada already, at the Canadian Open, no less. It was back in 2018 when the event was in Toronto, just like it will be this year, and it was their only meeting. Tiafoe won that match in three sets, and many expect him to win this time as well.
Prediction:
There is a very simple reason for that. Raonic's return on grass showed that his forehand is still pretty solid. It showed that his serve is still extremely good, but the movement isn't that great because his body can't handle it and he lowkey confirmed it as well.
That's going to be a problem because Tiafoe will certainly know what to do in order to win the match. He's got a great serve, pretty good baseline play and he's very light on his feet. Movement is really great and he's not shy to go to the net.
That gives him the perfect skillset to easily outplay Raonic, who should run into problems rather quickly. Even so, this is a goodbye to Canada and Toronto more than anything else.
Prediction: Frances Tiafoe in three sets.
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