After being soundly beat by Roger Federer in what were two of the three biggest matches he has played in 2014, Milos Raonic finally found a way to get the job done against the No. 2 player in the world during their quarter-final showdown at the BNP Paribas Masters.

While Federer may not have played at the same level we have seen from the seventeen-time Grand Slam champ during a pair of title winning runs in Shanghai and Basel, it was not as though the thirty-three year old simply mailed this one in. The hard-serving Canadian was solid from start to finish, in winning 7-6(5), 7-5 and earning his first ever victory over one of the “big three” in the process.

Whereas Raonic was either unwilling or incapable of adjusting his approach when facing Federer at Wimbledon and in Cincinnati, the No. 7 seed changed it up a little this time around and was ultimately rewarded for his efforts. Obviously his serve played a big part in pulling off the upset, firing twenty-one aces on the match and just one double fault. The twenty-three year old was also able to mix in the occasional serve out wide with his usual all-out assault.

Both men played a fairly clean match but for the first-time in his career, Raonic stayed away from committing those crucial unforced errors that have typically led to him being on the wrong side of the score when facing the likes of Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Add to that the fact the man from Canada was solid at the net and it was frankly a perfect storm for the six-time ATP Tour winner.

With his spot at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals now secured, a date with Tomas Berdych in Saturday’s semi-final and potential clash with the defending champ in Sunday’s finale, Raonic could be heading to London on quite the high. If he can somehow find a way to walk away from Paris with the first ATP 1000 Masters title of his career, one can only imagine what it might do for the kid’s confidence moving forward.

It may have taken a lot more time than many would have expected, but it appears as though Milos Raonic has finally taken that next step in his development. At this stage of the game, belief should no longer be an issue and now it will be up to the towering Canadian to ensure he uses this result to his advantage and there would be no better time to start than during tomorrow’s showdown with Tomas Berdych.