Defending champion Milos Raonic has begun his quest at this year’s Brisbane International with a 6-3, 6-2, win over Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman.
Playing in his first competitive match of the year after receiving a first round bye, top seed Raonic exerted his dominance in the match with the help of 12 aces and a winning 75% first serve record. Raonic’s only blip in an otherwise solid performance occurred at the start of the second set when he dropped serve. He was able to respond immediately by racing to a double break in his advantage before sealing the 79-minute win.
“It was great to be back on [Pat Rafter Arena]. I had fun out there.” The top seed said following his win.
After experiencing a somewhat tentative start to his opening match, Raonic was able to utilize his biggest weapon more effectively – his serve.
“If I can take care of my service games, it just makes the opponent’s service game seem that much more daunting, that if they drop theirs, then I could keep them out of an opportunity to get back into that set,” the world No.3 explained.
The second round win now sets Raonic up with a potential showdown against Rafael Nadal, a player who has defeated only once in seven attempts on the tour. Nadal plays Germany’s Mischa Zverev later on Thursday.
“It’s exciting. I look forward to facing him and, obviously, it’s a great task,” Raonic said about potentially playing Nadal.
“I feel like I’m doing a lot of things well and, hopefully, I can match up and play some good tennis.”
Thiem books a showdown against Dimitrov
Dominic Thiem battled his way past home favorite Sam Groth 7-6(5), 6-3. Despite the 172-place gap between the two players, there was little to distinguish the players throughout the majority of the match. Thiem successfully fended off a quarter of break points before securing the breakthrough in the penultimate game of the encounter, dismantling the Groth’s serve to lead 5-3. The victory was then sealed with a love service game.
Awaiting the Austrian in the last eight will be 2013 Brisbane finalist Grigor Dimitrov. Playing French veteran Nicolas Mahut, the Bulgarian fired eight aces and won 93% of his first service points to secure a 6-2, 6-4, win in just over an hour.
Thiem defeated Dimitrov in straight sets at last year’s Acapulco Open in what is their only previous meeting on the tour.
