Reuters
Melbourne, Jan 25: Second seed Andy Murray maintained his composure even while rebuking a staff of his coaching entourage for continuously talking on the phone during his 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(7-4) disposal of World No. 17 here Monday. But it was Canadian 13th seed Milos Raonic who hogged the limelight as he defeated the 2014 champion and World No. 4 Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3 in a highly-exciting match that lasted close to four hours.
The Canadian, who had never beaten the French Open champion in four previous meetings, fired 24 aces and hit 82 winners in the three hour, 44 minute contest to reach the quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
Raonic sealed the victory with a simple volley into an open court to set up a quarterfinal against France’s Gael Monfils, an appropriate end to a contest where he came to the net 83 times and won 54 points.
“I think it’s about trying to play in your rhythm and dictating,” World No. 14 Raonic, who briefly reached as high as No. 4 last year, said in an on-court interview.
Swiss Wawrinka, who has been suffering from a cold, fought back to force a deciding set but was unable to avoid a Grand Slam exit before the quarterfinals for the first time since the 2014 French Open.
“Tough match in general,” said Wawrinka. “I wasn’t really feeling great, wasn’t moving well. I fought as always but I’m surprised I made it five sets. I’m disappointed but I tried, I tried.”
Murray, four-times a runner-up at Melbourne Park, was close to exasperation after being broken four times by the talented Australian but dug deep when it mattered to reach the last eight for the seventh year in a row.
The Briton will now meet eighth seed David Ferrer who negated American John Isner’s booming serve to beat the towering man 6-4, 6-4, 7-5. It was the Spaniards sixth entry into the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile Frenchman Monfils was hailed as ‘Superman’ after another customary acrobatic dive filled photographers’ lenses and set social media alight Monday
Monfils, however, was more satisfied with the fact that he had gone on to beat Andrey Kuznetsov 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(7-4) to advance to his first quarterfinal at Melbourne Park.
“It’s very painful,” he told reporters about his dive. “I cannot even grip anything right now. I have a deep cut,” stated Monfils after the match.
