Novak Djokovic vs. Milos Raonic: Score, Reaction from 2016 Indian Wells

Novak Djokovic continued his reign of dominance at Indian Wells on Sunday, defeating Milos Raonic in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0, to secure his third straight BNP Paribas Open title.   

This was shaping up to be a vintage performance from Djokovic, who was having great success with his backhand in the first set. He also received help from Raonic, who had 15 unforced errors in the opening set. 

It also helps that Raonic was out of sorts early, needing to visit the trainer after losing the first set. ESPN Tennis noted his adductor caused problems earlier this year:

"

Raonic, who dealt with an adductor injury at the Australian Open, leaves the court to get treatment after losing the first set to Djokovic.

— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) March 20, 2016"

Once Raonic returned from the training room, he was already done. Djokovic cruised through the second set without having to break a sweat. It was an unfortunate way for the Canadian's run to end, though he was also playing the world's best player. 

Before the match started, Raonic seemed like he might be able to give Djokovic a good match based on their results in 2016, per Scott Morissey:

Djokovic was also struggling before Sunday, at least by his standards, with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga taking him to two tiebreakers in the quarterfinals and Rafael Nadal taking him to an opening-set tiebreaker in the semifinals. 

Raonic wasn't an unstoppable force in this tournament, needing three sets to defeat David Goffin in the semifinals, but he was playing so well that it seemed like he would have a shot at earning his first win in six career matches against Djokovic. 

Steve Tignor of Tennis.com pointed out when things fell apart for Raonic:

The 25-year-old was overmatched right away and had no response when he fell behind in the first set. He didn't show any significant signs of the injury slowing him down. Djokovic was just better, which journalist Carole Bouchard summed up nicely in this tweet: 

There's been a gap in men's tennis for the last two years, with Djokovic clearly the best player on the planet. Roger Federer and Andy Murray were close enough during those seasons to at least make things interesting. 

Now, based on the results dating back to last year's U.S. Open—he's won eight of nine events with the one outlier coming as the result of an injury—Djokovic is miles ahead of every other player right now.

The 28-year-old is going to have a hiccup or two because he is still human, but this legendary player continues to get better. That's scary for the rest of tennis. 

Post-Match Reaction

Djokovic said after capturing another title at Indian Wells that his body was feeling very good as the tournament moved along, per Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times:

"

Once I was here I was starting to feel much better, and I ended out the tournament in the way that I wanted. It has obviously been a great couple of weeks. To win this tournament five times is a fantastic achievement for my team and I.

We don't take anything for granted, especially because this tournament has been, for many, many players, a favorite tournament. You know, all the top players each year competing and trying to win it. It's just behind the Grand Slams in terms of organization, the quality of facilities, the conditions.

"

On the losing side, per Elliott's report, Raonic did not blame his poor performance on the injury that halted play for a few minutes after the first set: "I don't think it affected my effort. I thought he played much better than I did."

Playing Djokovic is hard enough. Doing it at less than 100 percent is nearly impossible, though Raonic deserves credit for saying his loss was just the result of the other playing performing better.