Quote Originally Posted by newfcollins View Post
Back to the finals, this was the first time I really watched a Raonic game. Does he simply have no power from the baseline? It felt like his hits from there were pretty soft compared to Murray. Is that why Raonic goes to the net so much?
He does have power and I've seen it, but I think he felt he needed to mix it up against Murray. The difficulty with playing Murray is that he's quick around the court and gets a lot back. That may make you think Raonic should have been more aggressive on his groundstrokes but that means greater risk of unforced errors as he would have to be even more precise. You make too many errors against Murray and you're toast. So, I'm guessing he tried to mix it up but it wasn't working as well as he had hoped. Furthermore, if he hits it too hard then he can't come to the net as often, which is something he's been working on more.

As for going to the net, I believe that's something he's been working on so he's not just a baseline player, and leading up to the final he was very good with his approach shots and net play. Just think, if you have a 6'5" guy hitting a deep approach shot to the corners and can lay down solid volleys, that is a difficult challenge to overcome on top of his main strengths. Unfortunately, with Murray's retrieving ability, Raonic had to be perfect and he was far from it. I'm glad he goes to the net more often as it adds another dimension to his play. I also think that is something that McEnroe has helped improve.

Going forward he just need to fine tune all these tools so that he makes more confident and smarter decisions. He's on the right track.

Overall, he met a determined Murray who could've beaten anyone that day.