There were occasional flashes of the old Milos Raonic during his run to the third round at the National Bank Open in Toronto.
Expectations were low this week for the 32-year-old Canadian, just two months into a comeback after nearly two years away from the ATP Tour.
At times, Raonic looked like the player who was a force in the mid-2010s. At others, he appeared rusty and error-prone. His performance Thursday included more of the latter and it proved costly.
American Mackenzie McDonald rolled to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Raonic in a rain-interrupted match that ended Canada’s hopes in the singles draw at Sobeys Stadium.
“Some things came together well, some things I can hope to do better,” Raonic said. “I did everything I could and it took me where it did.”
WATCH | Raonic eliminated by McDonald:
The velocity of the booming serve that helped Raonic to a pair of early wins was down a tick in the afternoon matchup.
Unforced errors were also a problem for the former world No. 3, who couldn’t find a groove against his more consistent opponent.
“I didn’t have that same kind of speed on the serve that I needed to,” Raonic said. “And it’s just a buildup over the last few matches and these kind of things.
“I just needed to be better in that case, and I wasn’t able to be.”
However, Raonic seemed handcuffed by the 59th-ranked McDonald, who played a steady, effective style, seemingly content to keep the aggressiveness in check and let Raonic make mistakes.
The approach paid off with his first career appearance in a Masters 1000 quarterfinal.
McDonald will next play Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who pulled out a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (4) upset win over third-seeded Casper Ruud of Norway.
McDonald broke Raonic in his opening service game in both sets and kept the Canadian guessing. He worked in the occasional serve and volley and his ball placement was on point.
Raonic forced a three-deuce game late in the second set but McDonald held serve and would close out the win in 68 minutes.
Many spectators stood to applaud Raonic as he left centre court, not knowing if it will be his final appearance here since the men’s event won’t return to the York University venue until 2025.
“I think it’s probably the most special and endearing thing about these three matches, from Monday night to yesterday to today, through the ups and downs of it all, that energy that you can’t quantify in any way or you can’t put a name to it,” Raonic said.
“But you can kind of just like close your eyes and wish you were in that same scenario many times over.”
‘I’ve just got to keep looking forward’
Now down to No. 545 in the world after his long absence due to injury, Raonic can still use his protected ranking for main-draw entries.
He hasn’t tipped his hand on plans for 2024 and beyond, instead prioritizing focus on the current hardcourt season.
Play on all courts was suspended for just over an hour in the early afternoon due to thunderstorms.
Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain was scheduled to play 15th-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the evening feature match.
Second-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia booked a quarterfinal spot with a 6-4, 6-4 win over 16th-seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
In doubles play, wild-card entries Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., and Nicolas Mahut of France dropped a 6-2, 6-4 decision to the sixth-seeded German pair of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.
Play continues through Sunday at the $7.62-million US tournament.
Play resumes in Montreal
At the women’s tournament in Montreal, third-round action is underway after play was suspended twice due to rain.
Play had initially resumed after a three-hour rain delay before players were again forced off the courts eight minutes later.
The second interruption lasted nearly another three hours.
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek was tied at one set apiece with No. 14 seed Karolina Muchova at IGA Stadium’s Centre Court when play was initially delayed.
Swiatek had just enough time to go up a break in the third set before the match was suspended again.
No. 10 Daria Kasatkina was tied 2-2 with Marie Bouzkova in the second set after taking the first.
Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., who won an epic match over No. 11 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia on Wednesday, was scheduled to face American Danielle Collins after Swiatek-Muchova on Thursday night.
No. 3 Elena Rybakyna against Sloane Stephens and Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova versus No. 6 Coco Gauff also remained on the schedule.
The late game between No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and No. 15 Liudmila Samsonova was removed from Thursday’s schedule.
Pegula advances to quarterfinals
Earlier Thursday, Jessica Pegula of the United States advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini.
Pegula, the fourth seed in Montreal, had six aces to one double-fault and broke Paolini five times on 11 chances to cruise to victory in just one hour nine minutes.
The American is looking for her first NBO Open title after reaching the semifinals at the last two tournaments.
Pegula will next face the winner of a match between fellow American Gauff and ninth seed Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
Paolini had advanced to the third round in a walkover after her second-round opponent, 13th seed Madison Keys, withdrew due to a hip injury.
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