Raonic overcomes back problems, advances to third round at US Open

NEW YORK – Canada’s Milos Raonic is through to the third round of the U.S. Open after defeating Spain’s Fernando Verdasco 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1).

Raonic, seeded 10th in New York, needed just 26 minutes to win the first set. But it soon became clear 24-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., who has battled injuries this season, was playing in discomfort.

READ MORE: Milos Raonic, Eugenie Bouchard advance at U.S. Open

He received treatment during a medical timeout in the second set and also received massages during some of the changeovers.

“There were sometimes doubts, should I keep going or not,” Raonic said. “The worst part was it was sort of getting worse and worse.

“It is what it is. Deal with it and move on.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "There were sometimes doubts, should I keep going or not," Raonic said. "The worst part was it was sort of getting worse and worse.</p><p>"It is what it is. Deal with it and move on."

He was able to fight through the injuries, and, after dropping his first set of the tournament in the third, cruised to an easy win in the fourth-set tiebreak.

Raonic fired 18 aces to Verdasco’s 16 and broke the Spaniard on three of seven chances while saving all four break points he faced.

“When I saw that I was able to hold serve, I guess I was always going to give myself some kind of a chance,” Raonic said.

He said doctors have told him his recent discomfort is unrelated to the foot injury that kept him out of the French Open earlier this year.

Raonic will face another Spaniard, 18th-seed Feliciano Lopez, in the third round. Lopez advanced with a five-set victory over Mardy Fish in what turned out to be the last match of the veteran American’s career. Fish said he would retire after the U.S. Open.

Later, Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard faces Slovenia’s Polona Hercog.