Canada's Milos Raonic returns a ball to US tennis player Steve Johnson during their first round match at the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament at the St. Jakobshalle in Basel, Switzerland, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014.Georgios Kefalas/The Associated Press
Fourth-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic hit 12 aces and saved all five break points he faced as he beat Steve Johnson of the United States 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the first round of the Swiss Indoors on Tuesday.
Johnson, who did not face a break point in the first set, saved one on his opening service game in the second set, where he also missed four chances to break Raonic's serve.
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., ended a three-match losing skid by breaking Johnson's serve for the first time in the 10th game. The Canadian will face American Donald Young in the next round.
Raonic defeated Young in their only previous meeting last summer in Washington.
Meanwhile, eighth-seeded Ivo Karlovic had 23 aces as he advanced with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win against Lukas Rosol. Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil was scheduled to play his first-round match against Finland's Jarkko Nieminen later Tuesday.
Raonic has struggled of late after battling a virus that sapped his strength and limited his energy. But the Canadian came through in the first-set tiebreaker and finished with 12 aces.
"I managed to stick around in that first set," Raonic said. "I made the most of the opportunities I had in the breaker. I felt I was playing better and better, but I need to get significantly better for my next match. But I feel like I'm on the right track."
Raonic is working to recover his position in the race to reach the eight-man year-end final next month in London. After losing matches in Tokyo, Shanghai and Moscow, the Canadian fell to 10th in the points race after being passed by Andy Murray and David Ferrer.
While he would love to do well in his first appearance in Basel, Raonic said next week's Paris Masters — with 1,000 points on offer — will be key event.