Spanish world No.55 Albert Ramos-Vinolas has reached his first grand slam quarter-final after stunning eighth seed Milos Raonic 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.
The 28-year-old, who hasn’t progressed beyond the second round at any grand slam event before this year’s French Open, dominated that match throughout. Dropping his serve only once against Raonic, Ramos-Vinolas capitalized on Raonic’s costly 41 unforced errors to seal the win in less than two-and-a-half hours.
“I think the slow conditions helped me a little bit today, it was a great day for me. I returned really good and played very solid,” the 28-year-old said during his on-court interview.
Roland Garros hasn’t been a tournament where the Spaniard has excelled in his career. Prior to this year, Ramos-Vinolas has suffered four consecutive first round losses in Paris.
“I have no words to explain how I feel,” he said about reaching his maiden grand slam quarter-final.
“It was four years in a row losing in the first round.”
The surprise win makes Ramos-Vinolas the first man to book his place in the last eight at Roland Garros. In the next round he will play either defending champion Stan Wawrinka or Viktor Troicki. The Spaniard has never defeated Wawrinka, losing in all of their six previous occasions. He has defeated Troicki once in 2014 at a Challenger tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Spanish triumph is a big disappointment for Raonic. The Canadian struggled with his usual consistent serve as he won 65% of his service points. He is the highest seed to exit the tournament yet (not counting players with injury).
Ramos-Vinolas, who achieved a ranking high of 38th in 2012, has never won an ATP title. In his career, the 28-year-old has won seven Challenger titles since 2010. The win in Roland Garros is projected to elevated him to a new ranking high of 32nd in the world.
Großartige Performance! Ramos-Vinolas deklassiert Raonic. #FrenchOpen https://t.co/yAvYKeSnq5
— Eurosport.de (@Eurosport_DE) 29 May 2016
