MONTREAL

Milos Raonic advances to second round at US Open

The Canadian Press Published Monday, August 31, 2015 4:39PM EDT Last Updated Monday, August 31, 2015 4:39PM EDT

FILE PHOTO: Milos Raonic of Canada plays a return during the men's singles first round match against Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships in Wimbledon, London, Monday June 29, 2015. (AP/Tim Ireland)

Text:

NEW YORK -- Canada's Milos Raonic has advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open with a 6-4, 7-6 (8), 6-1 win over Tim Smyczek of the United States.

Raonic, the 10th seed, was tested early in the match. But after emerging victorious from a lengthy second-set tiebreak, Raonic dominated the third set to advance.

Serving for the win, Raonic fired an ace clocked at 230 km/h past Smyczek to go up 40-love in the final game. Smyczek then couldn't get his racket cleanly on Raonic's serve on match point as the Thornhill, Ont., player advanced to the next round.

Spain's Fernando Verdasco beat Tommy Haas 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1 to set up a second-round match with Raonic. Verdasco and Raonic have split six career meetings, but Raonic has won all three matches they've had on hardcourt.

Raonic is looking to advance past the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time in his career. He has been eliminated in the round of 16 in the past three tournaments.

Canadians Vasek Pospisil and Eugenie Bouchard played later Monday.