Raonic wins 1st set 6-4 v Murray in semifinal

The rest of the opener was fairly comfortable for Raonic as his big serve helped keep Murray at bay and he took the set 6-4 in a little over half an hour.

It will also be the first time two brothers have played the singles and doubles finals at the same Grand Slam after Jamie Murray reached the men’s doubles final with his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.

That meant the match would go to a mammoth five sets, but a flagging Raonic appeared to be low on energy and high on pain, as he faltered through the final set with some moments of strength nevertheless.

The world number one has dominated the match-up overall too, leading the pair’s head-to-head 21-9 and winning 10 of their last 11 meetings.

Short, quick points is how he could make it to the finals, although Djokovic would most likely ruin him if he made it there. Raonic didn’t play the same with the injury and went quietly in the fifth and deciding set.

The 13th-seeded Canadian has one of the biggest serves on tour but Murray more than held up his end, if not matching the power of Raonic’s rockets or his tally of aces.

Djokovic, who has won all five finals he’s played at Melbourne Park, beat Roger Federer in four sets Thursday to advance to Sunday’s championship decider.

The Canadian’s explosive serve was the highlight of the set, which ended when Raonic’s fourth ace was called out, only to be challenged and overturned for the set point. “I must be there from the first point and playing very deep… play my game and be aggressive like she is”. Murray lost out on last year’s title to Novak Djokovic, who is also in the finals this year and looks set to take his second consecutive title here, and 6th overall.

Laver, the Australian great who twice won the calendar-year Grand Slam, said he was honored to put his name to the new competition and didn’t think it would detract from the existing Davis Cup global men’s team tournament. Beating Djokovic is a tall task, as the Serb has played some of the best tennis of his career over the past few months.

“I obviously got a bit lucky on that but you just try to focus on your side of the court”. Although his height and relative lack of mobility aren’t helpful on a slower surface, as in Australia, his serve – up there in the top four in the world, arguably – combined with a renewed commitment to dictate offensively with his forehand, as well as attacking the net, do much to nullify the surface’s pitfalls. He needed a medical time out, and later in the fourth set had a massage from the trainer.

If Canadians are upset Raonic wasn’t able to finish Murray off and reach his first Grand Slam final, they shouldn’t be.

After Raonic opened up the fifth set with a double fault on break point, he lost his cool and demolished his racket on the court. Djokovic has defeated Murray three times previously in the final of the Australian Open: 2011, 2013, and 2015.

After losing the first set in 37 minutes, the 28-year-old fought back to win the second set thanks to a service break in the 12th game.