Milos Raonic has an opportunity to upset Novak Djokovic at the Tour Finals on Tuesday, says Barry Cowan
Tuesday 15 November 2016 16:36, UK
Barry Cowan says Milos Raonic was immaculate on serve during his victory over Gael Monfils at the ATP World Tour Finals, and this could be the time to finally beat Novak Djokovic on Tuesday.
Raonic showed no sign of the leg injury that put his place in the ATP World Tour Finals at risk when he beat debutant Monfils handsomely at the O2 Arena on Sunday.
Wimbledon runner-up Raonic made a flying start with a 6-3 6-4 Ivan Lendl Group victory over French showman Monfils.
The world No 4, standing 1.96 metres tall and weighing in at nearly 100kg, moved surprisingly smoothly, and Cowan feels his performance put down a marker for Djokovic, who looked out of sorts during his three-set victory over Dominic Thiem.
Raonic has yet to record a victory in eight matches over former world No 1 Djokovic, including defeats at Indian Wells and Madrid earlier this year.
"I've always thought if there was a player that would win a Grand Slam, and I think he is very, very dangerous. In the Djokovic group, he is the player that could potentially beat Djokovic," said the Sky Sports Tennis analyst.
"I think it's really exciting about what could happen tomorrow. He has struggled against Djokovic in the past mentally, but you have to say that now is a good a time as any if he wants to beat him."
Cowan also feels the Canadian must play 'smart tennis' in order to overcome his losing streak against the Serb.
"I think generally Djokovic likes playing big servers, so Raonic has got to be smart tactically, he's got to serve and volley, not the whole time, but he has to especially on the second serve," he said.
"In the final of Indian Wells he got stuck of being in a rut on his second serve and barely won a point. It will be a bit more competitive but the memory of that defeat will be there.
"But Milos will be saying, 'Marin Cilic lost 14 times in a row against Djokovic and then beat him, so why can't I?'. This is as good a chance as he's ever had. He's got to be smart and the second serve will decide whether he can keep holding onto his serve."
Check our game-by-game coverage from all group matches at the ATP World Tour Finals in London - including Milos Raonic against Novak Djokovic - on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis.
