Milos Raonic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2 7-6 (7-4) to set up a semifinal against Andy Murray, who prevailed over Tomas Berdych 7-6 (11-9) 7-5.
Raonic started the match with an early break at 30 in the first game and consolidated it with an ace in the next game for 2-0. In the fifth game Tsonga made a double fault as he had a point for 2-3 at 40-30 before Raonic clinched the double break at deuce to race out to a 4-1 lead. The Canadian player consolidated the break by holding his serve with an ace for 5-1. He served out for the set to 30 in the eighth game for 6-2.
In the second set Raonic saved two break points he faced in the second game and held his serve at deuce for 1-1. Tsonga fended off a break point at 30-40 to hold his serve at deuce for 3-2. In the eighth game Raonic made a double fault at 40-30 but held his serve with two aces to draw level to 4-4. Both players went on serve until the tie-break. Both players went on serve until 4-4 when Raonic got the mini-break with a backhand return down the line before closing out on his first match point. Raonic won 80 percent of his first serve points and hit 9 aces (including six in the second set).
Murray leads 8-3 in his 11 head-to-head matches against Raonic and won their past seven meetings including all their five clashes played in 2016. The Dunblane star is just one win away from reaching the top-spot in the ATP Ranking for the first time in his career.
If Murray wins the semifinal, he will become the second oldest player to make his debut as World Number 1 in ATP history.
