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 Second seed Raonic took barely an hour to dispose of Pospisil on
the hardcourt at the William H.G. Fitzgerald Tennis Center, breaking
serve three times in the first set.
The second set was a tighter battle as Pospisil raised his game
before Raonic delivered the knockout blow in the 10th game for his
sixth ATP title, his first of the year.
Raonic, 23, playing his first event since making the Wimbledon
semi-finals, is projected to rise from seventh to sixth in the ATP
rankings.
"I couldn’t have imagined starting that well," Raonic told ESPN.
"It’s tough after a few weeks away. I couldn’t have asked for a
better way to lead into probably my most enjoyable part of the
year."
Pospisil, who won a tough three-set semi-final against Frenchman
Richard Gasquet late on Saturday, was flat at the start of the
final.
"He came out so strong. He really caught me off guard," said the
13th seed, who is still seeking his first ATP title.
"I wasn’t 100 percent but nobody’s 100 percent at this stage.
Everybody's dealing with something. I didn't sleep much last night.
"I don’t think it would have made much difference to be honest,
especially that first set."
Raonic's lethal weapon was his dominating serve. He dropped only two
points on first serve, one in each set.
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The second set was closer as Pospisil's serve improved.
Raonic finally broke serve on match point, firing a backhand crosscourt
passing shot for the winner.
Next up for both players is a home game or sorts, the Rogers Cup
starting in Toronto on Monday.
In the women's final, sixth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia beat
Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-3 4-6 6-4 in a match that stretched over two
hours.
Kuznetsova broke Nara's serve five times but was broken herself on three
occasions.
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; editing by Martyn
Herman and Gene Cherry)
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