Milos Raonic’s hard court form makes him shoo-in for ATP top ten

A thrilling Canadian male tennis sensation looks set to cause a stir in the ATP rankings in 2014 and before you ask, the answer is no, Greg Rusedski has not come out of retirement.

Instead we refer to Milos Raonic, arguably the most exciting young player on the men’s circuit and one who, unlike the aforementioned Greg, is representing the Great White North in the sport and looks on course to exceed the achievements of the big server.

Aged just 22, the right-hander reached no.10 in the ATP Tour Rankings back in August and provided he continues on his current trajectory, could repeat the feat or even go one better in 2014.

Ladbrokes is currently offering odds of 5/6 on the Montenegro-born star staying under the 10.5 mark in the men’s official rankings by the conclusion of the 2014 season.

It comes off the back of a memorable 2013 in which Raonic either equalled or bettered his record in each of the four majors of the year, reaching the fourth rounds of both the US and Australian Opens along with a third round appearance at the French Open and the second round at Wimbledon.

Allied to this, the Canadian Davis Cup hero also achieved notable success on the ATP tour in 2013, winning titles at the SAP Open and PTT Thailand Open and reaching the finals of the Rogers Cup Japan Open Tennis Championships.

Those two defeats came against top five opposition in the form of Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro and while that pairing and the likes of Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are likely to prove too good for the still-developing Raonic, a top 10 place is certainly well within grasp.

Much will depend on the Canadian’s form in the hard court events spread across the year, which he has traditionally favoured in his albeit brief career to date.

Each of his 10 ATP Tour final appearances have come in hard court events, with Raonic winning five of these titles over the last two seasons.

The 22-year-old’s joint best performance at one of the four majors came in last year’s US and Australian Opens – the two biggest hard court competitions in the world.

And while it may be unlikely, a favourable draw could make Raonic a worthy outside bet for glory Down Under next month, with the youngster a 100/1 shot worth taking a small risk on.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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