Milos Raonic Defends his SAP Open Title in San Jose

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

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21-year-old Canadian defeats Istomin to win third career ATP title 

Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON) won his third career ATP World Tour title on Sunday as he successfully defended the SAP Open title he won last year in San Jose. 

This marks the first time that a player has won back-to-back titles in San Jose since Andy Murray accomplished the feat in 2006 and 2007. Raonic contested the final against world no. 61 Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan who was the surprise of the tournament having upset Andy Roddick and Julien Benneteau to reach the championship match. Raonic ended Istomin’s Cinderella run with a 7-6(3), 6-2 victory in just under 80 minutes. The 21-year-old lost just four points on serve in the 
entire match. He becomes the first player on the ATP World Tour to win two titles in 2012. Raonic now boasts an impressive 11-1 record this season. 

Raonic was able to defend his title at San Jose despite being unable to play his final singles match at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas first-round match-up against France the previous weekend. What was originally thought by doctors to be a 4 millimetre tear in Raonic’s left knee following an ultrasound in Vancouver, turned out to be nothing serious once the swelling faded. He was re-examined upon his arrival in Stanford and the MRI results thankfully allowed doctors to give the star player the green light to return to the court after just a few days rest. 

Raonic will now head to Memphis where he lost a hotly contested final to Andy Roddick in 2011. He will play Ernests Gulbis of Latvia in the first round on Wednesday night.