Milos Raonic beats Sergiy Stakhovsky to reach quarters – Regions Morgan Keegan Championships 2012
Fourth seeded Milos Raonic swept past the Ukrainian tennis ace, Sergiy Stakhovsky, in straight sets at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships 2012 on Thursday. He jolted down a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Slovakian resident to advance into the final eight at this hard court tournament held in Memphis, United States.
The booming Canadian proved his rank after dumping Stakhovsky with a break of serve in each set at the Racquet Club of Memphis. Meeting each other for the second time, Raonic not only extended lead in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 2-0 against the Ukrainian but also secured a spot in the quarter-finals.
The ace specialist, Raonic, assertively entered this ATP World Tour 500 series event and drew the first blood in the opening game to take the initial lead. He held his composure and smacked six aces to keep entire serves, ultimately pulling out the opener with a 6-4 win.
The 21-year-old kept momentum running into the proceeding set and smoothly bagged entire serves. He cashed in one out of four break opportunities in the fifth game and clinched the set with a 6-4 score line.
Summing up the fourth seed’s performance, Raonic formulated a lower first serve share of 56 percent as compared to the Ukrainian’s 69 percent but spectacularly marked 30 out of 32 points on it. He dusted away both breakpoints he encountered and ended the match by winning 65 points.
Up next for the Thornhill resident is the Belgian contender, Olivier Rochus, who trashed the local wild card entrant, Ryan Harrison, in straight sets to set-up this date. The 31-year-old upset fifth seeded Alex Bogomolov Jr. in his opening round match.
Earlier, Germany’s Benjamin Becker overwhelmed resilience posed by the Belgian tennis ace, Xavier Malisse, in straight sets to advance into the last eight. Currently ranked 284th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Becker capitalised on three out of 12 break chances to formulate a 7-6(4), 6-4 victory in one hour and 35-minutes.
Becker will next face the Polish star, Lukasz Kubot, who stomped over Philipp Petzschner of Germany in straight sets to occupy this position.
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