Although his second serve tore into the tape at nearly 200 kph at 5-5 in the third set, Raonic had served his first double fault of the day. It was the first against a statistical spectrum that finally read 35 aces. He soon held with two sizzling service winners after his only anomaly to make it 6-5 in the third. With that, the Canadian ensured that win or lose, he would remain unbroken not only in this match, but also during the course of his stint in Chennai. A net and a game away, Tipsarevic pushed this Chennai Open final into its third tie-break in as many sets.

With a 198 kph ace to kick off the proceedings in the most intense of Chennai Open finals in recent years, Raonic dropped his pace by nearly 20 kph — a far cry from his vitriolic 220-plus box-smackers during the first two sets. Yet it managed to dip beyond the Serbian’s reach. In reply, Tipsarevic stung his second serve deep into the deuce court T, but a cross-court forehand error twice over gave the Canadian a 3-0 lead. It was an unprecedented one, considering that the last two tie-breakers were battled right to the finish.

Tipsarevic, against the run of play, had won the first; while Raonic, the blue-eyed fourth seed from Canada, had pulled off the second. Now, it was between the original hustler and the cugine — as they would say in Mario Puzo’s Godfather, for a man climbing up the ranks.

When Raonic forced Tipsarevic to net the ball a few rallies after his serve on 4-6, the Canadian had done what he had managed to just once before in his entire career: win an ATP title. But if his first title in San Jose lasted two tiebreak sets against Fernando Verdasco, Tipsarevic made sure that the one in Chennai was played at an entirely higher level — 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (4).

Tipsarevic wins too

On Sunday, there were clearly no losers. For following a gruelling 193-minute battle during the singles, Tipsarevic returned within the hour to win his first doubles title with Leander Paes against the Israeli duo of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4. That’s just the stuff the Serbian is made of, mentally, emotionally and physically.

Heavily tattooed and with several bruises to show — such as the loss after the two sets to none lead against Roger Federer in the 2008 Australian Open — Tipsarevic has always borne the touch of a leader of a scam show. The Serbian’s big serves barely touched the barrier of Raonic’s second today, but his wily returns ensured that he always had a feel of the match. Without ever making an opening when receiving, he held his own with his sleight of hand and the ability to wrong-foot.

Tricks of the trade

By spending quality time with the No.9 player in the world, Raonic, the boy who bears the look of an Ivy League graduate, learned more dirty tricks in the book than he could have by being pro for nearly three years. He traded his powers for the joy of beating the opponent in his own lair.

In the first set, he came out serving as big as he had all tournament long, deploying 10 furious aces to hold each of his three games without being pushed even to deuce.

At the other end, Tipsarevic hustled on, happy to save break points in two service games by slowing down the proceedings, taking the set into an unexpected tiebreak. He mini-broke Raonic only on the eighth point of the decider when he netted it, and closed out the opener with a bellowing scream at his box in an hour and 10 minutes.