Milos Raonic overwhelms Grigor Dimitrov to reach the semis – If Stockholm Open 2011
World number 29, Milos Raonic of Canada, cruised through the quarter-final round of the If Stockholm Open, defeating the 70th ranked Bulgarian competitor, Grigor Dimitrov, on Friday evening.
The contest was staged on the indoor hard courts of Stockholm, Sweden, with the sixth seeded Canadian registering victory in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, to make it to the semi-final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals)
World Tour 250 tournament.
The unseeded Bulgarian hung in the contest for one hour and eighteen minutes of play before submitting the matchup in the second set to end his voyage in Stockholm. Dimitrov has been in sublime form in the early rounds of the tournament,
defeating Ryan Sweeting of the United States and then fourth seeded Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela to reach the quarter-final. The Bulgarian utterly failed to put up a decent performance in Friday’s matchup and gave an easy passage to Raonic to reach the semis
of the tournament.
The sixth seeded Canadian banged 72 per cent of his serve on target, including 14 cracking aces. He dropped merely six points on his first serve, clinching 33 out of 39 and converted two out of four break points en route to victory.
Raonic didn’t face a single break point from his bleak Bulgarian opponent in the entire matchup and cruised through both sets to register his 31st victory of the current ATP season. He first broke Dimitrov in the 11th
game of the match to serve out of the first set at 7-5 and then nailed an early serve break in the third game of the next set to continue his momentum to victory.
A tougher challenge awaits Raonic in the round of four, as he faces the world number 10, Gael Monfils of France, for a place in the final of the If Stockholm Open. Monfils registered a straight sets victory over the fifth seed
Kevin Anderson of South Africa, 7-5, 7-5, in the quarter-final to make it to the semis.
“It will be a tough one. He’s young and is coming up well,” Monfils said about Raonic after winning his quarter-final. “His serve is big, so I think it will be the same type of match I had today. I have to focus on my return and
try to move him because he's tall and big. It will be an interesting match.”
Raonic has already won an indoor hard-court title in San Jose earlier this year and looks in a great form to extend his championship count in Stockholm.
Tags: