Canadian Milos Raonic beats Spain’s Tommy Robredo, advances to third round

If one of the key attributes of a champion is getting a result when you are not playing at your best, Milos Raonic can be pretty happy with his victory over Tommy Robredo at the Australian Open on Thursday.

Today’s victory was for that community and a quick recovery.

The 25-year-old’s game has always been built on his powerful serve and he duly blasted 24 aces in the win, which secured him a date with another tough competitor, Serbian Viktor Troicki, in the third round.

The Canadian was broken for his only time in the match as Troicki took a 4-3 lead in the third, only to lose it as the Canadian struck back for 5-4.

Andy Murray maintained his flawless record against Australian opponents when he defeated Sam Groth 6-0, 6-4, 6-1 Thursday, his 17th consecutive win against players from Down Under.

Raonic will face either Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic or Siwtzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, the No. 4 seed, in the next round.

The contest lasted two hours 55 minutes, with Raonic going through from 75 winners, but only one break of serve in the final game. All of Canada, and I’m sure the world, is behind you.

In this context the Canadian’s favourite tag looks justified and it is telling that where Troicki has never reached the last-16 in Melbourne, Raonic has done so three times in five appearances, making the last-eight 12 months ago.

Raonic later explained that he made his on-court comments because it was important to let any Canadians watching the match on television know it was on his mind.

Raonic caught the sideline with a service victor to set up match point and advanced when Troicki returned long over the baseline.

A quarter-finalist in Melbourne previous year and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon in 2014, Raonic’s breakthrough to a grand slam title-decider is perhaps overdue.

The big serving Canadian has won every set he’s played three rounds of the Australian Open. “She’s a little unpredictable and she surprised me with her game”.

On the women’s side, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka walked onto Rod Laver Arena knowing that the No. 2- and No. 3-ranked players were already out of the tournament and that the draw appeared to be opening up in her favour.

“This was definitely the best match I have played here in Melbourne so far this year”.

“I felt I was forcing it a bit too much”.

Muguruza’s rapid rise to the No. 3 ranking sharpened the focus on her run in Australia, attention which only increased after No. 2-ranked Simona Halep and No. 8 Venus Williams, a seven-time major victor, lost in the first round.

Strycova has only been past the third round once before in 38 Grand Slams, and that was when she reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 2014.