By Chris Oddo | Monday January 15, 2018
Milos Raonic and Roberto Bautista Agut met their respective matches and were sent packing on Day 2 of the Aussie Open.
Photo Source: Cameron Spencer/ Gett
Milos Raonic was sent packing from on Day 2 of the Australian Open by World No.86 Lukas Lacko of Slovakia. Canada’s No.1 has yet to win this season after dropping a straight-sets decision to Alex de Minaur in Brisbane earlier this month.
Raonic missed the U.S. Open with a left wrist injury in 2017 then pulled the plug on his season after one more event in Tokyo in October. Then he injured his calf in Tokyo and to make matters even worse he had knee troubles this winter that significantly shortened his training window.
“I knew it was going to be something along these lines,” Raonic said of the performance, according to Tennis Canada's Tom Tebbut on Tuesday. “I didn’t have the kind of training I would have liked. That’s where I get most of my confidence from. It’s not necessarily from matches, it’s more from feeling that I’ve put in the good work.”
The 22 seed took the first set from Lacko but lost traction to Lacko from that point on.
“I wasn’t sharp and I was struggling physically – thankfully not from injury or anything – but physically for fitness," he told Tebbut.
No.20-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut was also upset on Day 2. He fell to Fernando Verdasco in straight sets. It’s the second time in three years that Verdasco has pulled a big upset in the first round in Australia. The former semifinalist defeated Rafael Nadal in five sets in 2015.