Djokovic outlasts Raonic in quarters at Cincinnati
CINCINNATI (CP) — Milos Raonic still has no answer for Novak Djokovic.
Despite pushing the 13-time Grand Slam winner to three sets, the native of Thornhill, Ont., couldn’t solve Djokovic, losing 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in the quarterfinal of the Western and Southern Open on Friday.
With the loss, Raonic, the 29th-ranked player in the world, dropped to 0-9 in his career against the Serbian.
Both players held serve until the seventh game of the first set, when Raonic took a 4-3 lead. A clearly frustrated Djokovic destroyed his racket when he hit wide facing game point.
But up 5-4, Raonic was broken while serving for the set, and broken again in the deciding game to give the Djokovic the early advantage. The 10th seed fell awkwardly on the last point of the set and appeared to roll an ankle, but didn’t seem to suffer any mobility issues throughout the rest of the match.
Raonic got an early break in the second and held serve for the win to take just his second set ever against Djokovic — and first on hardcourt in 11 tries.
In the third set, Raonic and Djokovic exchanged early breaks until Djokovic pulled away. The 27-year-old Canadian went up love-30 in the deciding game, but Djokovic strung together four consecutive points to take the match.
Vernon’s Pospisil advances to semifinal at VanOpen
VANCOUVER — Vasek Pospisil is through to the semifinal of the Odlum Brown VanOpen after a 6-7 (6), 7-6 (11), 6-3 victory over Lloyd Harris on Friday.
Pospisil, who hails from Vernon but now resides in Vancouver, surged back after dropping the first set to the world No. 145 from South Africa at the ATP Challenger Tour men’s event.
Pospisil, the 94th-ranked Canadian, will face qualifier Daniel Evans of England in a rematch of the VanOpen’s 2013 final, which Pospisil won in three sets.