Raonic advances to second round at Rotterdam with win over De Jong

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands — Milos Raonic’s powerful serve was in full effect Monday as the Canadian veteran defeated Jesper De Jong of the Netherlands 7-6 (5), 6-4 in first-round play at the ABN Amro Open tennis tournament.

Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., fired 20 aces and won 97 per cent of first-serve points in his first win of the season.

The former world No. 3 set himself up for victory with the only break of the match to take a 5-4 lead in the second set.

He then fired back-to-back aces to set up match point before closing out the win in one hour 42 minutes.