Australian Open: Milos Raonic advances to quarter-finals

It paid off for Raonic, who beat Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3 on Monday to secure a spot in the quarterfinals at the Australian Open.

Raonic recorded his first win over Wawrinka in five attempts, and maintained his record of never losing a match when two-sets up.

Milos Raonic struck a blow for the next generation of men’s tennis by flooring former champion Stan Wawrinka on Monday before China’s Zhang Shuai became the first qualifier to reach the Australian Open quarterfinals in more than 20 years.

Raonic wrapped up the first set in 39 minutes, but it was more competitive in the second as Wawrinka went an early break up. He also won 81% points off his first serve as compared to the Russian winning 74%. At 5-5 in the third, Wawrinka played an excellent return game to break, before serving out the set to claw back half the deficit.

An emotionally drained Andy Murray beat Bernard Tomic to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open, easing the stress of a hard few days after the collapse of his father-in-law. They remained on serve until 5-all in the third, when Raonic’s net game began to flicker. “So it’s not just about a confidence, it’s about an understanding of what I need to do”.

On the women’s side, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka beat Barbora Strycova in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals where she will face seventh seed Angélique Kerber who got the better of Annika Beck in their fourth round encounter.

It was devastating finale for Keys, last year’s semi-finalist, who needed treatment on her upper left leg which hampered her movement.

In years past, for Raonic to pull out a five set win against a top-five player, it would typically mean he’d have to pump out around 50 aces and pray for a little help in a breaker or two – but not last night; as the young Canadian let off 82 winners and imposed his will in rallies with the Swiss. The eighth seeded Spaniard broke once each in all three sets to give himself a straight sets’ win to the quarter-finals.

“I was talking to myself after every single point nearly from the first point through to the last, which was obviously not ideal”. During Victoria Azarenka’s conference, the Belarusian player talked extensively about her passion for the Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers, and how the Super Bowl between the two will be a “dream matchup”. He won 37 of the 57 serve-and-volley points he played. Sears had to be taken from Rod Laver Arena, where he was watching Ivanovic play, to a nearby hospital by ambulance and was admitted overnight. “Always been risky with his serve”, Wawrinka said.

Murray’s wife, Kim, is due to have their first baby next month and he promised he’d fly back to Britain at any time if she went into labor – even if it meant missing a chance at a drought-breaking fifth Australian final.

“Tough match in general”, said Wawrinka.

Monfils dropped his first set this year in a very acrobatic four-set win over Alexei Kuznetsov in the fourth round.

But Monfils said: “It’s very painful”.

“I’m very happy with the way I played, the way I competed, the way I turned things around after sort of having the momentum against me going into the fifth [set]”, said Raonic. “That cost me too many matches”.