Raonic serves his way past Norrie at the Antwerp European Open

Milos Raonic put forward a stunning display especially while serving to overcome Cameron Norrie and advance to the next round of the Antwerp European Open.

The first match of the day in Antwerp was a match between Raonic and Norrie and it lasted well over an hour and a half a saw Raonic squeeze past him with 7-5 7-6(4). The first set started off shaky for Norrie who had to save three consecutive break points in the first game. After that, he settled very well and fended off every Raonic attack. Milos himself had no issues on his own serve and the set progressed calmly as time went on. The crucial moment of the tightly contested first set came very late when Raonic finally found a crack in his armour and broke through. He took the 6-5 lead nad then easily cruised to a 7-5 1st set victory. It was a very close set as both players played very well but Norrie faltered fist allowing Raonic the break.

The 2nd set followed more or less the same pattern. Norrie served well and Raonic served even better. There was hardly any chances for either of them and nobody saw a break point for the majority of the set. At 4-3 for Norrie Raonic called a medical timeout even though nothing seemed wrong with him. The timeout was over quickly and the match resumed. Several games later we found ourselves in an expected tiebreak where Raonic who served better the whole day looked primed for victory.

And it was Milos who ultimately won 7-4. It was a stellar display from start to finish as he put up a serving clinic. He hit 19 aces in the match and only lost 10 points on his own serve never allowing Norrie one break point.