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Rising up down under

Milos Raonic not among
the elites... yet

By Elliot Chan,
Contributor

fter a shaky first round

in Melbourne, Canada’s
golden boy of tennis, Milos
Raonic, defeated Czech
Republic's Lukas Rosol in
straight sets advancing him to
the third round in the Australian
Open. Overcoming the scorching
40 degree Celsius heat, Raonic
rallied through a first set tiebreak
and then cruising to a 7-6 (7-2),
6-2, 6-3 victory. Although he is
a win away from matching his
best grand slam performance,
should he succeed he would end
up facing Roger Federer in the
fourth round.

“Tt was a little tough,” said
Raonic, addressing the heat and
not about the prospect of facing
Federer, “you found yourself
getting light-headed. Other than
that it didn’t seem that hot. The
sun was covered by clouds. But
the air was thick, it was hard to
catch your breath.”

It might help Raonic breathe
a bit easier knowing that he
defeated Rosol, who got most
of his fame from ousting Rafael
Nadal at Wimbledon last June.
But with Nadal’s absence from
the tournament, there really

isn’t a point comparing him to
Federer, Novak Djokovic, or
Andy Murray. After all, they are
the top dogs; the finals without
the presence of two of them will
be asurprise. But the idea of

an upset might not be too far-
fetched.

We can all agree that Federer
is not the player he once was or
that competition had stiffened
against him. Either way, with
pink shoelaces, the Swiss second
seeder defeated Russian Nikolay
Davydenko as the sunset in
Melbourne last Thursday. After
a 6-3 64 64 win, Federer heads
into third round preparing to
face home country favourite
Bernard Tomic. Tomic had risen
rapidly up the ATP standings.
At 18 years old, the 71 seed
Australian is the youngest player
to reach the top 100.

For now, Raonic cannot
worry about Federer. He has
to focus on Saturday, when
he takes on German, Philipp
Kohlschreiber. But for fans, all
eyes are towards the horizon,
wondering what lies in store for
Canadian tennis. It is hard to
think about tennis in January,
but the sport has been gaining
popularity for years. With so
many alternatives to hockey
during the summer, it seems the
powder keg is going to blow.
With advancing victories from
Milos Raonic, he might just be
the one to light the fuse.

Royals Roundup

By Josh Martin,
Sports Editor

he Douglas College men’s

volleyball team had a very
successful weekend defeating
the CBC Bearcats in back-to-
back matches last Friday and
Saturday at 3-0 apiece. Those
two wins further secured their

6G

number one overall record in the
PacWest standings at 17-1 in 18
matches and 34 points. They will
face the COTR Avalanche on
Friday at 8 p.m. and on Saturday
at 3 p.m. Both matches are away
games.

The women’s volleyball

team lost both of their matches
this past weekend against
the Bearcats by a score of 3-1.
They are currently in fifth
place in the standings with a
5-13 record and 10 points in 18
matches. They will be facing the
Avalanche this Friday at 6 p.m.
and Saturday at 1 p.m.

Last Friday the men’s
basketball team finished with

the short end of the stick in a
70-67 loss to the CBC Bearcats.
However the next day the
Royals blew the Kwantlen
Eagles out of the water with

a huge 81-56 win. This week
they stand in fifth place in the
standings with a 5-8 record and

10 points in 13 games. They face
the Quest Kermodes this Friday
at 8 p.m. and the Capilano Blues
on Saturday at 8 p.m.

The women’s basketball
team continued to dominate
this past weekend with a pair
of wins over the Bearcats on
Friday, 5444, and the Eagles on
Saturday, 47-36. With those two
wins the Royals increased their

The womens basketball team continued to dominate this past
weekend with a pair of wins

record to 10-3 and 20 points in
13 games for second place in the
standings, chasing the first place
Capilano Blues who are ahead by
two points. The Royals face the
Kermodes this Friday at 6 p.m.
and the Blues on Saturday at 6
p-m. All of the games are away.

 

Milos Raonic | Photo courtesy of Kazuhiro Nogi/AFP/Gettylmages

 

Royals’ Amonda Francis | Photo courtesy of Jerald Walliser/www.douglife.ca

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