Milos Raonic delivered a strong message Sunday with a workmanlike 6-1, 6-4, win against countryman Vasek Pospisil in an anti-climactic Citi Open final in Washington, D.C. The match marked the first all-Canadian final in ATP history and took just 67 minutes to complete.
"It gives me a lot of confidence," said Raonic, who earned his first ATP title of 2014 and will rise one spot in the latest ATP rankings and match his career-high of No. 6 in the world
"I've always said that hard courts are by far my favorite, and having done as well I did on clay and grass (this year), it got me really excited about this week. For that to be my showing right away this week was great."
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., was nearly perfect in his first tournament since a semifinal run at Wimbledon. As the second seed in Washington, Raonic did not drop a set all week thanks largely to what the 13th-seeded Pospisil called "the best serve in the game right now."
Raonic won 92 per cent of his first serve points in Sunday's final and faced just one break point against in beating Pospisil for the second time in as many ATP meetings. Raonic also beat Pospisil in three sets in the semifinals of last year's Rogers Cup in Montreal.
"It was a combination of him playing very well and my being very heavy legged," said Pospisil, who spent more than 3 1/2 hours on court Saturday after his quarter-final match from Friday was delayed by rain. "I ran out of gas a little bit, it took me a while to get into the match, but credit to him, he played very well."
Pospisil, from Vancouver, was playing in his first career ATP final. The 24-year-old is experiencing an incredible in-season turnaround, having reached at least the quarter-finals in four of his last five events, just months after a nagging back injury contributed to an eight-match losing streak from February through May. Pospisil will rise from 36th to 28th in the ATP world rankings
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