TORONTO— In case you thought he made his first match at the Rogers Cup look easy, just know that Milos Raonic thought he "did it a little better tonight."
It’s true, he did.
The Canadian stormed to a clinical 6-2, 6-3 win over American qualifier Jared Donaldson in the third round on Thursday, dusting the previously youngest guy standing in the men’s singles draw. Donaldson is 19.
"I’m making the guy—from what I can tell—at the other side of the net uncomfortable, not giving him too much rhythm," Raonic said after the match, dressed in navy shorts, a grey t-shirt and grey sneakers without any visible socks, revealing a strong high tennis sock tan on his shins.
"I’m doing things well, I’m taking care of my own things, I’m creating some opportunities and I’m going for shots."
Fellow Canadians Vasek Pospisil and Daniel Nestor also moved on Thursday, advancing to the third round in the men’s doubles draw after taking the first set in a tie-breaker against Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock, just before rain hit, and the Aussie and American retired.
Sock and Pospisil, the 2014 Wimbledon doubles champions, are usually partners.
"I’m used to playing on the same side as him for the last couple years, so it was the first time we’ve ever played each other on a doubles court," Pospisil said. "It was definitely a little bit weird. It was tough because it was a high level match."
But as Nestor put it: "We’re in the next round, and we’re not complaining."
The veteran Nestor and 26-year-old Pospisil, the tournament’s sixth seed, will face the Czech duo of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek in the third round on Friday.
Their match took just under an hour. At one hour and 10 minutes, Raonic’s win took four minutes longer on Thursday than his second-round victory a day earlier, but it was another level of ease for the Canadian, who’s getting more comfortable on the hard court.
Raonic served up 15 aces—including at least three on his second serve, and one that clocked an unfair-for-a-second-try 223 km/h.
The 25-year-old opened the match with a 235-km/h serve that went off the frame of Donaldson’s racquet. So did his next serve, to make it 30-love. Next, Raonic double-faulted. Then he fired an ace to take the first game in less time than it takes to brush your teeth.
"I saw that he was gonna return from close," Raonic said. "I went a little bit harder into the body just to try to make him think about it, hopefully make him step back to open up angles for myself more."
Overall, Raonic won 81 per cent of his first serve points, and 73 per cent of his second.
He broke Donaldson on the teenager’s first service game, then Raonic pumped his fist and looked at the crowd. The first set took just 34 minutes.
In the second set, he was up at the net and whipped around quickly, somehow managing a backhand slice drop shot. The rallies weren’t aplenty in this one, so the crowd appreciated moments like that.
And while it looked easy, Raonic wasn’t the most comfortable person in the Aviva Centre on Thursday. That honour went to Connor McDavid, who had a cushy court-side seat in a plush chair with two pillows, including one with red polka dots on it. McDavid clapped a few times, then moved to a box for the second set and was replaced by a guy in a cowboy hat.
When Donaldson held serve in that second set to force a ninth game, a quiet "USA!" chant broke out for a second or two. Fans cheered the kid ranked No. 147 in the world as he exited the court, too.
Raonic did his customary hand in the air, semi-circle walk following the win.
Friday’s quarterfinal is going to be the first time we’ll see him challenged here. He’ll face Gael Monfils, the 10th-seeded Frenchman who earlier Thursday knocked off the seventh seed, David Goffin.
Raonic calls Monfils "the most athletic player" on Tour, and he’s lifetime 2-2 against the world No. 14. But it’s the Canadian who’s won both of their matchups this season, including in straight sets at Indian Wells.
"I gotta dictate," Raonic said. "I’ve been able to get the better of him twice this year because I was controlling the court and taking time away from him, coming forward. He can do a lot of things and he can make you play a lot of balls, but if you time away from him then you make it a little bit more difficult. I’m gonna have to continue doing that."
Should Raonic win Friday, he’ll likely see world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s semifinal. He’s 0-7 against the Serbian, so that’s another test altogether.
Djokovic easily beat Radek Stepanek in the Thursday later-night match, 6-2, 6-4, which was delayed for a couple seconds near the start after a bird landed on the net. Djokovic will play fifth seed Berdych in his quarterfinal on Friday.
You want the 29-year-old Djokovic in this tournament, not only because he’s the world’s best, but because he’s also a crowd favourite. On Thursday, after he challenged a drop shot he hit—he thought it was in, but it was out—the point went to Stepanek to tie the set at two all.
The crowd roared, because it meant the match would last a little longer, and Djokovic pretended his racquet was a violin, and he played it.
It’s a Raonic-Djokovic matchup in the semifinal that tennis fans should be hoping for.
And Raonic, who grew up in Thornhill, Ont., wants a Rogers Cup win on his resume.
"It has a sentimental value through my childhood and this being the only tournament I attended as a spectator," he said. "Hopefully I can make it count this time around. It’s what I’m training for."