LONDON - Not long ago at Wimbledon, Milos Raonic had to tell journalists how to pronounce his name. Less than five months later, things have changed dramatically for the big-serving Canadian, one of the three newcomers playing at the ATP World Tour Finals.At 23, Raonic is now a well-known name on the tour, and the youngest player in the field at the O2 Arena in London where the eight best players of the year, minus the sidelined Rafael Nadal, have gathered for the season finale.The two other new faces at the indoor tournament are U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic and Japans Kei Nishikori, the first Asian player to qualify for the event.Although the top-ranked Novak Djokovic, 17-Grand Slam champion Roger Federer and Nadal continued to dominate the tour this season, 2014 has seen two new Grand Slam champions and a bunch of new talents emerging.Its nice to see new faces out there with Raonic, Cilic and Nishikori, Federer said. Well see how it plays out this week.Raonic had a breakthrough at Wimbledon, where he reached the semifinals following an early season marred by a left ankle injury. The big-serving Raonic, who was born in Montenegro when it was still part of the former Yugoslavia before his family left for Canada when he was 3, sealed his spot at the finals last week at the Paris Masters after defeating Federer in the quarterfinals.Cilic had an even better season, surprisingly winning his first Grand Slam title after beating Nishikori in a U.S. Open final that few had predicted.I think this year has been the best year of my career with a lot of great tournaments, especially a big success at the U.S. Open, said the 26-year-old Cilic, who climbed from No. 37 to No. 9 in the ATP rankings. I feel that opens a little bit of a door for the other guys, for us from the second line. It shows that tennis is expanding a little bit. And for sure it means there will be a bigger intensity next year and the upcoming seasons, as were going to see in tennis, maybe new Grand Slam winners.Still, the old guard is not ready to surrender. After recovering from back problems, Federer has been enjoying a superb season, losing to Djokovic in the final at the All England Club and claiming five titles. As a result, the Swiss still has an outside chance of beating Djokovic to the year-end No. 1 spot.And Djokovic, seeking a third consecutive title at the O2, added six titles to his collection as he looks to finish the season at the top for the third time in four years.It had been a few seasons since you had four (different) Grand Slam winners, Djokovic said. There is some change in professional tennis in terms of new players and a new generation challenging the top four, who have been winning most of the major titles. But I think this is something normal to expect after many years of Federer vs. Nadal dominance and (Andy) Murray and myself.The 27-year-old Murray, who qualified for the tournament after pocketing three titles this autumn and is gradually making his way back among the elite, also warned the young guns they will need to fight hard to take over from their elder colleagues.There has been a change, but it is not drastic, Murray said. The young guys are improving a lot. A guy like (Grigor) Dimitrov, obviously as well, who just missed out on being here. There have been a lot of firsts for those guys. But the guys you mentioned are up against some of the best players of all time, regardless of how much the younger guys have improved. So its not going to be that easy to just knock them off.Raonic, the first player born in the 1990s to qualify for the finals, could not disagree.I think these guys are knocking on the door, but nobody has kicked that door open, thats for sure, he said. 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Jonas Valanciunas led the Raptors with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds in their fifth straight win. Kyle Lowry and Lou Williams each netted 15 points, and James Johnson added 12 points and eight rebounds off the bench for Toronto, which did not lead at all in the first half. In their third straight loss, the Pistons were led by Brandon Jennings 22 points and eight assists. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope chipped in 18 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Terrence Ross jumper to open the second half gave the Raptors their first lead of the game. Ross hit a floater a minute later and Amir Johnsons layup wrapped up a 12-0 Toronto run that started in the first half. A 6-0 Raptors burst later in the third gave them their first double digit lead of the game with 5 1/2 minutes to play in the quarter. That lead would remain in double digits for nearly the rest of the game. Valanciunas scored 11 of his 17 in the period to stake the visitors to a 81-70 lead through three. The Raptors exteended their lead to as much as 22 on a Williams triple at the 6:28 mark, but the Pistons attempted to make the game interesting.dddddddddddd With 3 1/2 minutes remaining, Detroit started a 12-1 run to cut its deficit to single digits. Caldwell-Pope and Jonas Jerebko each hit 3-pointers, and Jennings capped the run with four free throws. Another Caldwell-Pope 3 made it an eight-point game with 22 seconds left, but Williams hit a pair of free throws the next possession to seal it. Using seven blocks, three from Andre Drummond, the Pistons used defense to control the game early and lead 31-26 after one. The Pistons led by as many as 11 in the second period when Greg Monroes layup extended their advantage to 41-30, but the Raptors would score the last six points of the half to tie the game at 52-52. Game Notes Toronto has beaten Detroit four times in a row ... The Raptors are now 19-1 when leading after three quarters ... Drummond picked up a flagrant foul in the third quarter delivering an elbow to the chest of Johnson driving to the net ... The teams combined for 52 assists. cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys Ray Ban Outlet Michael Kors Outlet Michael Kors Sale Cheap Michael Kors ' ' '
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