RAONIC TAKES SAN JOSE

By Matthew Cronin

SAN JOSE, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Canadian prospect Milos Raonic enhanced his growing reputation with a stunning 7-6 7-6 upset victory over top seed and defending champion Fernando Verdasco to win his first title at the San Jose Open on Sunday.

The unseeded 20-year-old displayed maturity and confidence beyond his years in blasting 13 aces and claiming 49 of his 56 first serve points against the ninth ranked Spaniard.

"It (first tour win) came quicker than expected and it was amazing," said Raonic, who registered 50 winners to offset 30 unforced errors. "I can't stop smiling about it."

While Verdasco was generally unable to deal with the Raonic serve, he did forge a 6-2 lead in the first tiebreaker but could not convert any of his four set points.

He missed a forehand pass, saw the Canadian crack service and forehand winners and then missed a simple forehand to let the final opportunity slip from his grasp.

Raonic, who was ranked 84th at the start of the event, made the most of his opponent's profligacy by earning a set point of his own with a backhand winner before taking the tiebreaker 8-6 with another huge serve.

"I used up my luck today in the tiebreaker and then in the second set I got more confident," Raonic said.

The second set went much the same way as the first with both men holding fairly easily. Verdasco held his only break point at 4-4 but Raonic responded with another service winner.

The two went into another tiebreaker, where on Raonic's third match point, he torched 138mph serve at Verdasco's forehand but before the Spaniard made contact with the ball, a fan yelled "yes" and the top seed netted his return

The chair umpire refused to replay the point, allowing Raonic to claim the tiebreaker 7-5 and the match.