[sc:AUS15-250 ]Milos Raonic is relentless, taking a five-set thriller against fourth seed Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round of the Australian Open. He now makes his second-straight appearance at the quarterfinals of the tournament. Raonic has his hands full, though, as he’ll face Gael Monfils, who owns a 2-0 career record against the Canadian.
Milos Raonic was sensational in the fourth round of the Australian Open. He took the first two sets before letting Stan Wawrinka creep in with two sets of his own, but the Canadian closed out the final frame well for the 6-4, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-3 decision. He is now 36-0 in Grand Slam tournaments after winning the first two sets, the most notable of which now being his win against Wawrinka.
[sc:Other240banner ]Raonic put in 68 percent of his first serves into play, winning 79 percent of those points. He hit 24 big aces to effectively shut down Wawrinka’s return game, and committed just six double faults. The Canadian was relentless on net approaches as well, winning 65 percent of his tries from up-close. Having a well-balanced attack all over the court should help him against Gael Monfils, who has won the first pair of matches between the two of them.
Raonic is currently in excellent form this year. He has not lost in eight matches in 2016, which includes a straight-sets upset of Roger Federer in the final of the Brisbane International. The razor-thin, five-set outing against Wawrinka should’ve fired up Raonic as he continues to advance deeper into the Australian Open.
Betting on Gael Monfils
Gael Monfils has been pretty dominant at the Australian Open thus far, dropping just one set in four matches. Most recently, he defeated Andrey Kuznetsov 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the fourth round. He won 81 percent of his first serve points and hit 14 aces in that match. He has won less than 80 or more percent of his first serve points in three of his four Aussie Open matches.
The Frenchman is due for another solid outing in his quarterfinal match against Raonic. Monfils won 69 percent of his first serve points in his two matches against Raonic. He was also proficient on the return in the previous matchup, winning 41 percent of those points. He has lost just one of five sets against Raonic in his career.
However, Monfils has not played a quality seeded opponent in the tournament just yet. Raonic will be his biggest challenge thus far here Down Under. The Frenchman will need to keep his mental lapses to a minimum if he wants to truly contend against another seeded opponent, as he just recently coughed up 32 unforced errors against World No. 14 Raonic.
Writer’s Prediction
Raonic (-280) beats Monfils for the first time ever to advance to the semifinals.
