Milos Masterclass: Raonic Soars Into Quarter-Finals

If this is the new and improved Milos Raonic,the rest of the ATP Tour better take notice in 2019.

Raonic produced a glittering performance on Rod Laver Arena on Monday afternoon, efficiently dismissing Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-1, 7-6(5) in a tidy one hour and 59 minutes. The Canadian booked his spot in the Australian Open quarter-finals for the fourth time in five years. He will await either Borna Coric or Lucas Pouille next.

“The tension was palpable in the end,” Raonic said after sealing the win on his fourth match point. “I tried to keep him off pace and make him as uncomfortable as possible. It worked today.”

For the first hour and three minutes, Raonic could do no wrong. He broke a rattled Zverev four times in a row to surge to a 6-1, 6-1 lead. The German claimed the initial advantage with a break in the opening game of the match, but it was one-way traffic from there for the Canadian.

One of Raonic’s 15 aces sealed the first set and a return winner gave him the second. Zverev started to find his rhythm in the third set, but it was too late. He saved two match points at 4-5 15/40 and one more at 4/6 in the ensuring tie-break, but Raonic would eventually clinch the victory with a volley winner on his fourth opportunity.

Raonic now owns a 2-1 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, having also prevailed in the Round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2017. Zverev’s lone win came at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome earlier that year.

The former World No. 3 continues his quest to return to the Top 10 after suffering from a litany of injury issues. He most recently withdrew from the Rolex Paris Masters in October with an elbow injury, after undergoing a wrist operation the year before. Now sitting at No. 17 in the ATP Rankings, the 28-year-old is projected to rise to at least No. 14 with his quarter-final run.

Raonic has enjoyed great success this fortnight against tricky competition. After defeating Nick Kyrgios in straight sets, he proceeded to rally past former champion Stan Wawrinka and edge Pierre-Hugues Herbert, before routing World No. 4 Zverev. It was Raonic’s first Top 5 win since last year’s Mutua Madrid Open, when he ousted Grigor Dimitrov in the first round.