Tennis news - Ruthless Milos Raonic sends Alexander Zverev tumbling out of Australian Open

ByMichael Hincks

Updated 21/01/2019 at 07:55 GMT

Milos Raonic produced a stunning display to send fourth seed Alexander Zverev crashing out of the Australian Open and reach the quarter-finals in Melbourne.

The 6-1 6-1 7-6 (7-5) victory saw 16th seed Raonic overwhelm an out-of-sorts Zverev, meaning the 21-year-old’s wait to reach even a Grand Slam semi-final goes on.

Raonic, chasing a first Grand Slam of his own, faces either Borna Coric or Lucas Pouille for a place in the last four.

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Alexander Zverev

Image credit: Getty Images

“I played incredible today, I did a lot of things extremely well – I’m really proud of that,” said Raonic. “I’m glad I could turn around that start pretty quickly.”

Surprisingly, the big-serving duo traded breaks in their opening service games, but while Raonic recovered, Zverev continued to struggle.

Raonic ultimately won six games on the spin to take the first set, converting three of his 12 break-point opportunities as Zverev sent down three double faults.

Two more double faults in the opening game of the second set saw Raonic break again as Zverev’s wait to hold serve continued.

Zverev finally held to end Raonic’s run of eight games on the spin, but the disintegration resumed in his next service game, with the German obliterating his racquet after an eighth double fault handed his opponent a 4-1 lead.

Raonic could smell blood, and broke Zverev once again to take a two-set lead.

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The third set turned into the encounter most had expected, with Zverev putting his horror hour behind him to stay on serve with Raonic.

There were no break points conceded in the first nine games, but Raonic then brought up two match points on Zverev’s serve in the tenth, only to see them valiantly saved as the set rumbled on to 5-5.

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A tie-break swiftly followed after two holds to love, and though momentum swung this way then that, it was Raonic who bounced back from 3-1 and 4-2 down to seal it 7-5.

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