RAONIC TO PLAY NADAL IN BARCELONA SEMIFINALS

Written by: Staff on 26th April 2013

RAONIC TO PLAY NADAL IN BARCELONA SEMIFINALS

epa03665138 Milos Raonic of Canada returns the ball to Jarkko Nieminen of Finland during their second round match at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters tournament in Roquebrune Cap Martin, France, 17 April 2013. EPA/SEBASTIEN NOGIER |

Montreal, April 26, 2013 – Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON) had a successful day on Friday, winning two matches to reach the semifinals of the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell, an ATP World Tour 500 event in Spain.

He first played Ernests Gulbis of Latvia and though Gulbis snuck in four aces, Raonic’s seven aces and five converted break points secured him a 6-2, 7-6(6) win to move into the quarter-finals. The match had been rescheduled due to Thursday’s rain delay so Raonic played a second match soon after against Tommy Robredo of Spain.

Raonic, who is currently no. 13 on the ATP World Tour Rankings, dropped the opening set in a tiebreak to Robredo, but fought back to earn an impressive 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(2) victory over the former world no. 5 to reach the semifinals in Barcelona for the second consecutive year.

Last year, Raonic defeated Andy Murray in the quarter-finals before losing to David Ferrer. This year, the 22-year-old Canadian will face world no. 5 Rafael Nadal, arguably the greatest clay court player of all-time, in the semifinals on Saturday. This will be the third meeting between the two players and their first encounter on clay.

“Fortunately with my serve and my ability in getting points it’s about getting him to adjust to me more than myself to him… try to play on my terms as much as possible.” Milos says of his tactical approach to the upcoming match against Nadal.

The match will be aired on Sportsnet ONE at 10 a.m. E.T. Saturday.