Wawrinka found himself up a break early in the second set, but was broken back by the 13th seed, who then broke Wawrinka for the second time to secure a two-set lead.
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Raonic took three hours to wrap up the match and book a place in the quarter-final.
Canada’s Milos Raonic (R) and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka speak at the net after Raonic won their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis tournament at Melbourne Park, Australia, January 25, 2016. In 2016, he’ll be facing No. 23 Gael Monfils, who reached the last eight in Australia for the first time in 11 trips with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) win over Andrei Kuznetsov.
Later, second seed Andy Murray had his feathers ruffled but scrapped his way into the Australian Open quarter-finals with a 6-4 6-4 7-6(4) victory over local world number 17 Bernard Tomic.
Raonic, who has not progressed further than the quarter-finals, fought his way into the final eight of the Grand Slam with a 6-4 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-3 triumph.
“I’m very happy with the way I played, the way I competed, the way I turned things around after sort of having the momentum against me going into the fifth [set]”, said Raonic. “Can someone tell me if the Broncos won?” she asked the crowd at Rod Laver Arena during a courtside interview.
Keys dominated the first set with powerful groundstrokes that Zhang had trouble returning, breaking the Chinese player at love in the opening game. When it’s somebody else doing it and I have absolutely no control, I go loco.
After a long game of six deuces opened the fourth set, Raonic eventually held, but in response to the increased pressure from Wawrinka, was now approaching the net much more often in a distinct change of tactics.
“I felt very clear in what I needed to do and I believed that I could do it. I think that gave me some kind of calm and some kind of peace inside”.
Big Canadian Milos Raonic may have slipped to No14 in the rankings after spending most of last year inside the top 10, but the intelligent, powerful 25-year-old has put assorted injury concerns behind him for 2016.
The No. 14-seed and two-time Australian Open champion advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Barbora Strycova on Monday.
On Monday, Raonic breezed through the first two sets 6-4 6-3 and looked set to win early. “He’s playing really good”.
In a month that saw him defeat Roger Federer, he just upset the #4 player in the world in a grand slam tournament.
“I had one foot on the plane back to Germany, but I’m very happy to be in the quarters for the first time”. [But I was] still trying to get into the second week.
“It was a tough match”, Murray said, per Kevin Mitchell of the Guardian.
Monfils dropped that set but won the last two to advance. People need to understand that if I dive, it’s because I know I can dive.
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The Belorussian could get her stiffest test yet in the quarterfinals when she meets Angelique Kerber, although Azarenka crushed the German seventh seed in the Brisbane finale.
