Andy Murray breezed aside Milos Raonic 6-2 6-0 in 66 minutes to reach the semifinals at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters at the Country Club. Murray had already beaten Raonic earlier this year in the semifinal at last January’s Australian Open. Raonic did not hit a single ace and dropped his serve five times.
Murray opened up a 5-2 lead after a break in the fourth game for 3-1. He broke again in the eighth game at deuce to close out the first set 6-2. The 2012 Olympic champion and 2013 Wimbledon winner dropped just six points on serve.
In the second set the Scotsman dismissed Raonic breaking serve in the second game at deuce for 2-0, in the fourth game at deuce for 4-0 and in the sixth game to 15 for 6-0.
Murray now leads 5-3 in his head-to-head matches against Raonic. He beat his Canadian rival for the second time on clay after Madrid in 2015.
Murray has got through to the semifinals of the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters for the third time in his career after 2009 and 2011. Following the birth of his first child the Dunblane star was beaten in the third round at both Indian Wells and Miami. Raonic missed his chance to qualify for a Masters 1000 semifinal for the second time this year after losing to Novak Djokovic at Indian Wells.
“I did really well the two most important shots in tennis. I was getting a good read on the serve and, when he missed the first serve, I was being very offensive on the second serve return and putting him under pressure. The serve and the return were for me the best they have been for a while and I am glad, because they weren’t so strong in the last couple of matches”, said Murray.
