TENNIS in DEPTH.

Milos Raonic, fresh off of his first ATP tour win in San Jose, just happened to be drawn against Fernando Verdasco, the man he beat in the final in San Jose, in the first round of the Memphis event. And just to prove that his victory was no fluke, he defeated Verdasco again in a very close match 6-4, 3-6, 7-6.

By now the Spaniard must be convinced that the young Canadian is for real, and is here to stay. 

“Last week gave me a lot of confidence, and confidence makes all the little things go easier. I was happy with the outcome.” Raonic has a quick turnaround now, playing his second round match against Radek Stepanek early on the Thursday schedule.

Verdasco wasn’t the only seed to go down on Wednesday – all four first round matches saw unseeded players upset seeds. Another wildcard, Juan Martin del Potro, upset No.6 seed John Isner, 64 63; Lleyton Hewitt beat No.7 seed Yen-Hsun Lu, 64 76(3); and Florent Serra advanced when No.9 seed Xavier Malisse retired down 62 10 due to a headache. In the first two second round matches of the week, qualifier Robert Kendrick beat wildcard James Blake in an all-American encounter, 76(5) 63, and No.4 seed Mardy Fish battled two hours and 40 minutes to get past Lukas Lacko, 67(5) 64 76(3).

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