Raonic reaches ATP World Tour final in St. Petersburg
Milos Raonic seems determined to end an injury-ravaged season on a strong note, and seeing to that the Canadian has reached the final of the ATP World Tour in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The tournament – an ATP 250 level contest – in Russia’s second largest city featured Raonic in a semifinal on Saturday, where he beat Spain’s Roberto Bautista-Augut 6-2, 7-6 (7-2).
Milos Raonic returns against Roberto Bautista-Augut at the ATP 250 event in St. Petersburg, Russia on Saturday, September 26, 2015.
Seeded second in St. Petersburg, it was scripted that Raonic would likely meet top-seed Tomas Berdych in the final, however the plot changed for the Czech superstar when he fell to Italian Simone Bolelli in the second round. Bolelli went on to lose to Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the quarterfinals, the seventh seed will now meet Raonic in Sunday’s final.
Raonic’s other victories in St. Petersburg came against Evgeny Donskoy (Russia) and Tommy Robredo (Spain) in that order before seeing Bautista-Augut through in the semis. Neither Raonic nor Sousa has dropped a set so far in the tournament.
Raonic, 24, has six career ATP titles and is still ranked ninth in the world despite suffering foot and back injuries this year. Sunday will mark his 15th final appearance in an ATP World Tour event, second in 2015 – going back to when his frustrating season was off to a promising start in Brisbane in January.
The Raonic-Sousa final will be live on Sportsnet One at 9:15 a.m. ET on Sunday.
