For much of the 2014 ATP Tour schedule, Milos Raonic has made a habit of making short work of opponents he should have little to problem beating. His new found killer instinct had led to the twenty-three year old reaching a career high ranking of number six in the world and up until his surpise loss to Feliciano Lopez in the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup, it appeared as though only the cream of the crop in the men's game had the necessary tools to handle the hard-serving Canadian.

That all changed on Thursday afternoon, as wild-card Steve Johnson came oh-so-close from pulling off the upset of the tournamenti. The unseeded American took the No. 5 seed to a third set tiebreaker but in the end he did not have enough, dropping a hard fought 7-6(7), 3-6, 6-7(4) decision in third round action at the Western and Southern Open. Despite being taken to limit by the fifty-fifth ranked player in the world, Raonic still managed to ride his mammoth serve to victory...firing 30 aces on the afternoon and losing just four points on his first serve for the entire match.

After dropping a rare tiebreaker in the opening set, the Canadian No. 1 broke Johnson in his first serve game of the second set and never looked back. After taking the middle set in the manner he did, it looked as though it would only be a matter of if not when Milos would close this one out. However, instead of breezing past his "overmatched" opponent in set number three, Raonic had to fight for his life to reach the quarter-final round. Give the twenty-four year old from Orange, California credit, he never quit and continued to do all he could to make the six-time ATP Tour winner work for the victory.

Perhaps the most stunning turn of events came with Raonic serving for the match at 5-4 in the third and "The Missle" proceeded to double fault on back-to-back points, essentially handing over the break of serve. Luckily for him, Johnson would play a handful of loose points during the final set tiebreaker and in the blink of an eye, this one was all over. In previous years, if Milos was off his game, he rarely if ever found a way to get the job done.

That no longer appears to be the case, as he has finally learned to win ugly...a talent which is an absolute must for the very best players in the world. Raonic will take on Fabio Fognini in the quarter-finals, who has looked surprisngly solid in his march towards a spot in the final eight. That said, the twenty-seven year old has a habit of falling apart during crucial situations in matches, as his melt downs have become almost legendary on tour. Despite having all the necessary tools to compete alongside the premier players, Fognini rarely if ever shows it when it matters most. 

If Milos Raonic can bring his "A" game to the court on Friday afternoon, he will more than likely have his way with the No. 15 seed but should he still need a little more time to figure things out, do not be surprised to see him heading home far sooner than anyone had imagined coming into Cincinnati.