When it’s somebody else doing it and I have absolutely no control, I go loco.
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For Raonic, it was vindication that his plan to dictate with his serve and move forward was working. At stake for both players is a first semifinal appearance at the tournament. “But I’m very lucky today”, an elated Zhang told the crowd after tossing her racquet in the air in jubilation.
Raonic’s coaching team would no doubt have been pulling their hair out when the 13th seed was ever so passive in his opening service game of the second set, with Wawrinka taking advantage to nab an early break.
Spain’s David Ferrer, meanwhile, is still yet to drop a set at this year’s tournament as he cruised to a 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 win over America’s John Isner.
“I wasn’t really feeling great there, not playing my best, wasn’t moving to do something else”.
But whereas once Wawrinka maight have gone away, the Swiss has been a different player in the last few years, and a stunning lob brought out a change in fortunes.
Against this backdrop of uncertainty the Scot has come through four rounds, including a scrappy three-setter over unorthodox Australian Bernard Tomic on Monday to set up his last-eight duel with Ferrer.
The 25-year-old collected his first win over Wawrinka in five attempts and his first victory at one of the grandest stages in tennis, Rod Laver Arena.
But in the final set, Wawrinka lost serve in a shaky sixth game when on second break-point his forehand drive was just out, giving Raonic a 4-2 lead.
Johanna Konta’s strong run at the Australian Open continued with a 4-6, 6-4, 8-6 win over 2015 semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova in a night match, when she became the first British woman since Jo Durie in 1983 to advance to the quarterfinals in Australia. The two have always played tight matches in the past, and I expect that trend to continue tonight.
Raonic had blunted the Swiss’ game, and with Wawrinka struggling to pick up points on the Raonic serve the French Open champion seemed to be up against it.
The big-serving Canadian said he felt fitter, faster and more confident in going to the net more frequently, and all that combined to produce his first win on Melbourne Park’s center court.
Milos Raonic fended off a spirited comeback from fourth seed Stan Wawrinka to send the 2014 champion tumbling out of the fourth round of the Australian Open 6-4 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-3 on Monday. “I didn’t want to know the result”, she said.
But it wasn’t straightforward against the Czech, who stunned third seed Garbine Muguruza in the last round to secure her first fourth round appearance in Melbourne since her debut in 2004.
On the women’s side, the top seed remaining in that half of the bracket, Angelique Kerber, made short work of Annika Beck, winning 6-4, 6-0. He finished the match with a volley after running Wawrinka, the No. 4 seed, off the court near the umpire’s chair.
Victoria Azarenka was plagued by anxiety about her beloved Denver Broncos in the National Football League playoffs – far more than she had in her win over Barbora Strycova.
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“He’s a hard guy, goes for shots that tactically you’re not supposed to”, said Laurendeau of Monfils.
