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Follow Me on TwitterRob Soria is the Edmonton Oilers' correspondent for OurHometown.ca. Rob was born and raised in Edmonton and is the author of the Edmonton Oilers blog - OilDrop.ca. He has been a dedicated follower of the game and its history for years but his focus remains on his hometown Edmonton Oilers. If you have questions or wish to contact Rob, you can email him at rsoria@ourhometown.ca
French Open: Day Seven - Raonic falls in five, Nadal and Murray advance
Rob Soria
OurHometown.ca

French Open: Day Seven - Raonic falls in five, Nadal and Murray advance
Many were hoping to see a fourth round match between world number two Rafa Nadal and nineteenth seed Milos Raonic, to help kick off the second week of play at the 2012 French Open. While the Spaniard easily kept up his end of the deal, the young Canadian was not so lucky, being bounced in the third round.
PHOTO CREDIT - GettyImages.com

Edmonton - June 3, 2012 - Many were hoping to see a fourth round match between world number two Rafa Nadal and nineteenth seed Milos Raonic, to help kick off the second week of play at the 2012 French Open. While the Spaniard easily kept up his end of the deal, the young Canadian was not so lucky.

Despite have a two sets to one lead, Raonic would eventually fall to thirteenth seed Juan Monaco, in tough five set match. The youngster was looking to become the first Canadian player to have ever reach the fourth round at Roland Garros but a lack of on court patience did the big man in. Nadal continued to make quick work of all opponents, dismissing Eduardo Schwank in straight sets.

While there is little doubt that Raonic is one of the up and comers in the game today, the time is nearing for the Thornhill, Ontario native to start making adjustments to his game. He continues to be plagued by the same deficiencies in his game, an erratic backhand, poor footwork and a lack of patience on the court. It is the latter that is most troubling, as he continues to give away far too many points. Sure his seventy-three winners against Monaco are impressive but they mean little when you commit eighty-eight unforced errors. Far too often it seems to be all or nothing with Milos and it is an area of his game his must improve and immediately.

To Monaco's credit, the clay court specialist kept it simple and kept the ball in play and waited for mistakes to come...and come they did. With the 6-7, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 victory, the Argentine will taking on the defending champion, who seems to be almost unstoppable.

The ten time Grand Slam winner had little trouble taking out Eduardo Schwank in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. Nadal was just too good for the Argentine to deal with. The Majorcan played every point like it was his last and would ultimately outlast his opponent. While Rafa committed sixteen unforced errors on the day, Schwank wasn't far off, having only seventeen.

Others advancing in straight sets were number four seed Andy Murray, Spaniard David Ferrer and the forgotten Serb, Janko Tipsarevic. While Frenchman Richard Gasquet needed four sets to eliminate veteran Tommy Haas and move into the round of sixteen.

Round four gets underway today and will feature both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer looking to reach the quarter-finals of yet another Grand Slam event. The top seed will be taking on Italian Andreas Seppi, while Federer faces youngster David Goffin. However, the match of the day will undoubtedly be a likely lengthy battle between seventh seed Tomas Berdych and number nine Juan Martin Del Potro.


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