Milos Raonic of Canada plays a backhand return to Alex de Minaur of Australia during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Canada’s Milos Raonic pulled out a 6-3, 6-3 first-round win over India’s Sumit Nagal on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Open.
The Thornhill, Ont., native fired nine aces and won 76.5 per cent of his first-serve points.
Raonic, 33, also broke on three of his 12 opportunities in the one-hour 28-minute match.
The match was interrupted by a two-plus hour rain delay early in the second set.
The weather conditions also pushed Canadian Denis Shapovalov’s first-round match against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands to later in the night.
Raonic was initially supposed to face 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal of Spain, but the 37-year-old withdrew from the tournament Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2024.
