Milos Raonic unleashed a bombardment of aces on Kei Nishikori yesterday to reach the final of the Brisbane International, showing why he is lurking as a real contender for this month’s Australian Open.
The big-serving Canadian blasted 34 aces past his bewildered Japanese opponent, including one that was timed at 231kph, to come from behind and win their semi-final 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 7-6(4).
“We spent a lot of time of practising, there’s a lot of cold days in Canada,” Raonic told a courtside interviewer when asked about the secret to his success.
Raonic will face Roger Federer in today’s final of the Australian Open warm-up tournament at the Pat Rafter Arena.
Ranked eighth in the world, Raonic is emerging as one of the favorites to win the first grand slam of the year after he announced his arrival by reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon last year.
The 24-year-old has started the new season where he left off, reaching his 14th career ATP final and avenging his loss to Nishikori in last year’s Japan Open final.
Raonic brought his heavy artillery to the Pat Rafter Arena, holding each of his 18 service games and committing just three double faults in the two-and-a-half hour clash.
One small error cost him the first set. After the first eight points in the tiebreaker all went with serve, Raonic handed Nishikori a mini-break when he dumped a backhand into the net.
That was all Nishikori, also a rising star of the game, needed to take the opening set in 49 minutes, with the US Open finalist winning the next two points on his own serve, sealed with a backhand winner.
Raonic, serving at an average of almost 30kph faster than Nishikori, continued his blitz in the second set and the pressure eventually told when Nishikori double-faulted in the tiebreaker, allowing the 25-year-old Canadian to level the match.
The third set also went to a tiebreaker as neither player was able to break each other’s serve in a high-quality contest.
Nishikori handed Raonic the advantage when he sprayed a forehand volley wide then the Canadian sealed his win with a devastating return winner.
CHENNAI OPEN
AP, CHENNAI, India
Australian Open champion Stanislav Wawrinka entered the semi-finals of the Chennai Open with a 6-2, 7-6 (7/4) victory over eighth-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg on Friday.
Defending champion Wawrinka, looking for a third title, seized the initiative with a service break in the opening game.
He was tested in the second set by the left-handed Muller, but wrapped up the tiebreaker from 4-4.
“The weather was a bit tricky with the wind, but I played aggressively,” Wawrinka said.
The top-seeded Swiss will play fourth-seed David Goffin of Beglium for a place in the final.
Goffin beat unseeded Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria 7-5, 6-2.
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