Raonic Beats Nadal To Reach Brisbane Semifinals

January 6, 2017 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff

Top-seed Milos Raonic came back from a set down to beat fifth-seed Rafael Nadal 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 and reach the Brisbane semifinals on Friday.

“I played very well and I did a lot of very good things,” said Raonic. “I obviously served well…I started creating opportunities. I was dictating, which wasn’t necessarily the case at the beginning.”

After dropping the opening set, Raonic dug in to break for a 5-3 lead in the second set, and consolidated it with a smooth service game to win the set and force a decider.

The defending champion carried that momentum into the third set, breaking Nadal to open things up and never looking back, closing the match out with a hold at love.

Overall, Raonic hit 23 aces and won 81 percent of his first serves to hold off Nadal.

In the semifinals, Raonic will square off with seventh-seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. Dimitrov hung on to defeat fourth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 and reach the final four in Brisbane.

Thiem leads the head-to-head 2-1 over Raonic.

“It’s a difficuly matchup. He’s capable of so much,” Raonic said of the matchup. “He can do so many great things. It’s really about keeping a level head throughout the match, keeping a flat line, and hoping that that averages out better than what he brings. I’m doing things well. I’m obviously playing significantly better today than I did in my first round, and hopefully I can continue to improve each and every match I play.”

The other semifinal in Brisbane will see third-seed Kei Nishikori take on second-seed Stan Wawrinka.


Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
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