A year after upsetting Roger Federer at the Brisbane International, Milos Raonic added a second legendary scalp to his collection in Australia as the defending champion kept his hopes of reaching a third straight Brisbane final alive with a three-set comeback win over 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal. The top seed dropped the opening set but rallied to take the last two for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory, just his second win over Nadal in eight attempts.
Veteran takes control early
Just like his dominant second round win, Nadal took a bit of time to ease into the match before taking control, needing to save a break point in his first service game before turning things around. As expected, the Spaniard used his powerful baseline game to keep Raonic’s offense at bay and push the Canadian around the baseline. He reached double break point in the fifth game and, after missing the first, Nadal broke when his opponent fired a forehand wide.
With the lead, the Spaniard continued to dictate with his fantastic forehand and soon found himself up 5-3. Serving to stay in the set, twice Raonic found himself down break/set point, but his big serve came to the rescue as he would save the first with an ace and later set up the game point he would convert with another ace. Trying to serve out the set, Nadal did not have it all his way as he would need four set points to finally put Raonic away and take the opening set.
Nadal can’t close, Raonic takes advantage
There was more of the same in the second set, as the pair continued to exchange body blows. Nadal at times still struggled with the Raonic serve, but for the most part, he was dominating the baseline exchanges. In the same game where he broke in the opening set, Nadal had a chance to take a stranglehold on the match. The Spaniard twice stood at break point in the fifth game, but this time was unable to convert either, including missing one with a forehand wide.
That miss would prove costly for Nadal as the defending champion used it as a springboard to turn the momentum in the match. After the next two games went with serve to put Raonic up 4-3, the Canadian went to work on his opponents serve. He raced ahead 15-40 and did not waste his opportunity, crushing his return to draw a Nadal forehand into the net on the first break point to grab a 5-3 lead. Raonic would follow up the break with three straight aces and a serve-and-one forehand winner to wrap up the second set.
Defending champion hangs on
Raonic sought to take advantage of his momentum at the start of the deciding set and came out swinging on his opponent’s serve in the opening game. Nadal seemed shaken after blowing the second set which opened the door for Raonic to start dictating. It was now the Canadian controlling the baseline exchanges and he was rewarded with three break points in the first game. He only needed two, as he ripped a forehand winner up the line to open the set with a break.
With a serve like Raonic’s, an early deficit can be a death sentence and Nadal was in trouble down the early break. The Canadian was rolling and crushing every ball in sight, both on serve and in the rallies. The Spaniard's best chance came in the fourth game when he held a break point at 30-40, but Raonic ripped a tight inside-out forehand winner to save it. That would be Nadal’s last chance as the Canadian clamped down on serve, only losing one point in his next three service games, closing out the match with back-to-back love holds.
By the Numbers
Raonic’s raw power was on display throughout this match, as he pounded an astounding 50 winners past Nadal, who only had 19 of his own, including 23 aces. The Spaniard was still strong on his second serve return, as he limited Raonic to 46 percent of those points, but he had no answer to the Canadians huge first serve. He won 81 percent of those points.
Raonic will look to reach a third consecutive Brisbane final when he takes on Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals on Saturday.