San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Canadian Milos Raonic captured the SAP Open
for a third straight year and kept his perfect record at the tournament intact
following a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Germany's Tommy Haas Sunday at HP Pavilion.
The top-seeded Raonic became the first player to win three Bay Area tournament
titles in a row in the Open Era (since 1968) and the first since Tony Trabert
from 1953-55.
"I've had my best matches here. I'm so thankful for that. It's something
pretty special to play here," Raonic said.
The 22-year-old moved to 12-0 lifetime in San Jose. Raonic beat Fernando
Verdasco in 2011 and Denis Istomin last year. He wasn't broken in any of his
games during this year's tournament.
Raonic took an early break of serve for a 3-1 lead in the first set. Before
that, the 34-year-old Haas, hadn't been broken in the tournament. Facing
Raonic for the first time, Haas managed to save a pair of set points, but a
backhand return was long to end the set.
Haas held serve and was up 3-2 in the second set, but Raonic was able to take
the break for a 4-3 lead. Haas fought off one match point, but his wide return
sealed the outcome.
Raonic, who has never lost a set at this event, fired 19 aces to just one for
Haas and took home $98,700 for winning his fourth career championship. The
fourth-seeded Haas, who was making his eight appearance in San Jose and was
bidding for his 14th lifetime title, won $52,000.
The Sports Network