Raonic Masters Sock In Miami

Milos Raonic made it seven in a row against American Jack Sock on Monday and is now one win away from matching his best showing at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

With his trademark big serve and controlled groundstrokes, Raonic dispatched the No. 22 seed, 7-6(3), 6-4 during the night session at Crandon Park. The Canadian hit 12 aces and won 81 per cent of his first-serve points. Raonic also hit 21 winners to 24 unforced errors. Sock, meanwhile, almost doubled his winners count – 17 – with unforced errors – 31.

Raonic didn’t start the match the calmer player, though. Sock elected to receive and seven points later, including two double faults from Raonic, the American had a rarity against Raonic, a break point. But the No. 12 seed served his way to an early hold, and the young ATP World Tour stars traded holds for the remainder of the set.

The tie-break was decidedly one-sided, though. Raonic sprinted to a 5-0 lead. Sock clawed within three points, but a missed backhand drop shot gave Raonic a one-set lead.

The tie-break seemed to temporarily wound Sock’s spirits as well. After holding serve six times in the first set, the 22-year-old was broken during his first service game of the second. At 3-4 in the second set, Sock had four chances to break back but he failed to convert any of them.

Raonic, who last made the Miami quarter-finals in 2014, will face Bosnian Damir Dzumhur with a quarter-finals trip on the line. Dzumhur beat Mikhail Kukushkin on Monday 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.