Raonic Left to Rue Yet Another Missed Opportunity

Milos Raonic stumbled at the finish line in his three-set loss against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, but that doesn't mean his future isn't very bright.

By Chris Oddo

(March 13, 2012) -- He's so close. Yet oh, so far. That has been the story of Milos Raonic over the past year and a half, and it was the story of his grueling 3-6, 5-7, 4-6 loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the BNP Paribas Open.

The 22-year-old Canadian arguably possesses the best serve in the game, he's humble, works tirelessly at his craft and seems to get better with each passing month. But when it comes to crunch time--the big points in big matches that ultimately define a tennis player--Raonic has yet to find the missing ingredients to get him over the hump.

Today, Raonic and his powerful serve looked to be in cruise control against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, until, that is, the scoreboard pressure got into the young Canadian's head. Serving to force a second-set tiebreaker, Raonic botched volleys, misfired on easy sitters, and missed first serves--all the things that he'd avoided doing for nearly two sets to place himself on the precipice of what would have been a huge confidence building victory against the Frenchman.

"I started making sloppier and sloppier mistakes," said Raonic Afterwards. "A lot of short forehands missed. It hurts."

In the third set, Raonic took the balls to serve at 4-5 and proceeded to hit his ugliest forehand of the match (see video at top of the page if you're curious.) It was more evidence that the Canadian has yet to assemble a world-class mental game to match his world-class tennis game.

To make matters worse, moments after Raonic double-faulted on match point, it became evident that he didn't know the match was over. "We didn't know the score," said Raonic. "Didn't know it was match point."

In his defense, the scoreboard at the Stadium had gone dead before the game, but Raonic's inability to cope with the issue and process the information highlights his shortcoming even more. He was so flabbergasted by the situation that he didn't even bother to challenge the call.

As disconerting and depressing as Raonic's inability to close out Tsonga was on Wednesday, good news abounds for Raonic: That which does not kill the 22-year-old World No. 17 will only make him stronger. Losses like today's (and there have been many eerily similar losses over the last year or so for Raonic) will give him more chances to stare his demons right in the face.

With the commitment, work ethic and groundedness of Raonic, he's bound to address these issues and ultimately overcome them.

The bottom line is that Raonic is a far better player than he showed in the crucial junctures of his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga today. He'll get the chance to prove that he can overcome his shaky nerves soon enough.

First, he'll have to regret it though.

Then, he'll have to let it go, and try again.