RICKY’S PICKS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS 2016 SEMIFINALS: MURRAY VS. RAONIC

Written by: Staff on 28th January 2016

RICKY'S PICKS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS 2016 SEMIFINALS: MURRAY VS. RAONIC

epa05119973 Milos Raonic of Canada returns the ball to Viktor Troicki of Serbia during their third round match at the Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 23 January 2016. EPA/LUKAS COCH AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT |

By Ricky Dimon

Andy Murray and Milos Raonic will be squaring off for the seventh time in their careers when they battle for a spot in the title match of the Australian Open on Friday night. Murray and Raonic have split their six previous meetings at three wins apiece, and they are 2-2 against one another on hard courts. Their most recent collision came last spring on the clay courts of Madrid, where Murray got the job done 6-4, 7-5.

That was the last time Raonic played until the grass-court swing in Queen’s Club and Wimbledon, as he missed the rest of the clay season because of minor foot surgery. The Canadian never got entirely back in gear throughout the remainder of 2015, slumped to 14th in the rankings, and failed to make a second consecutive trip to the World Tour Finals. Now healthy and with a new coach in Carlos Moya on board, Raonic is positively on fire to begin this year. He beat Roger Federer for the Brisbane title and he is still undefeated following Melbourne defeats of Lucas Pouille, Tommy Robredo, Viktor Troicki, Stan Wawrinka, and Gael Monfils. Raonic upset Wawrinka in five sets and held off Monfils in four on Wednesday night.

“It’s a very positive thing if you look at the big picture,” Raonic answered when asked about being in the semis. “Right now in this moment alone it’s a great opportunity for me. I had a little bit of a disappointing semifinal two years ago (at Wimbledon), and sort of just want to change that story around and give myself another go with more experience and where I feel like I’m a better player than I was two years ago.”

Murray has been a roller-coaster of emotion throughout this fortnight–what a surprise! But for the most part his progress on the tennis court has been straightforward. The second-seeded Scot punched his ticket into the last four by beating Alexander Zverev, Sam Groth, Joao Sousa, Bernard Tomic, and David Ferrer. Only Sousa and Ferrer managed to snag the second sets of their respective showdowns, but Murray quickly restored order to the proceedings each time.

Andy Murray of Britain in action against David Ferrer of Spain during their quarter finals round on day ten of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, 27 January 2016. EPA/DAVID CROSLING

“I think I played well today,” Murray commented after beating Ferrer. “I think today was probably the best match I played, especially in the second and third set. I started hitting the ball better from the back of the court.”

That is where the No. 2 seed will have an obvious edge over his underdog opponent on Friday, even though Raonic has improved his movement and baseline game. Murray also traditionally feasts on huge servers who implement a more one-dimensional style than others. He is also an expert at changing the direction of the ball during points, especially with his down-the-line backhand, which exploits opponents that are not especially fleet of foot. Murray is 4-1 lifetime in semifinal matches Down Under, with his only loss coming to Novak Djokovic in a 2012 five-set thriller.

Prediction: Murray in 4

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Andy Murray, Atp World Tour, AusOpen semi-final, Australian Open, Melbourne, milos raonic, Raonic vs. Murray, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis News

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dusanVemic says:

January 28, 2016 at 9:32 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator’s Picks For The #AustralianOpen #Tennis 2016 Semifinals: Murray vs Raonic
https://t.co/pS0C2ISadb #AO16 http…
Vamos_feli says:

January 29, 2016 at 12:46 am

RT @10sBalls_com: -@Dimonator’s Picks For The #AustralianOpen #Tennis 2016 Semifinals: Murray vs Raonic
https://t.co/pS0C2ISadb #AO16 http…