Raonic Ousts Murray to Advance to Indian Wells Quarterfinals
Milos Raonic upset the number five seed, Andy Murray, Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, hitting 15 aces and winning 83 percent of his first service points. Raonic advances to the quarterfinals where he will meet Alexandr Dolgopolov, defeating the number 13 seed Fabio Fognini 6-2, 6-4 in 76 minutes. It will mark the first time ever that Raonic faces Dolgopolov.
“Today, I was just really disappointed with how the last 15 minutes of the match went. That was really, really poor,” said Murray. “The Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco was the same. My matches have been a little bit patchy over the past few weeks.”
Dolgopolov, seeded 28th, continued his winning ways in Indian Wells, having knocked out the top-seeded and world number one Rafael Nadal earlier in the week.
Also in action, Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka had his undefeated 2014 halted at the hands of big South African Kevin Anderson, 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-1. Anderson advances to the quarterfinals where he will meet Roger Federer, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Tommy Haas. With the win, Anderson recorded his 150th career pro match victory.
"I know how tough he is," Federer said of his quarterfinals opponent Anderson. "He's the best here usually in the States, outdoors on the hard courts. That's when he's had his biggest success. I'm aware that this is not going to be an easy match just because he's not ranked in the Top 10."
The day was not as total loss for Wawrinka as he returned later in the day for men’s doubles action, teaming with his fellow Swiss countryman Federer for a 6-3, 6-7(6), 10-4 win over reigning U.S. Open doubles champs Leander Paes & Radek Stepanek to move on to the doubles semis.
