Top seed Milos Raonic faces seventh seed Juan Martin Del Potro in the semi-final of the Delray Beach Tennis Championships. The Argentine will be looking for his second career appearance in the final of the event, having won the title in 2011 while the Canadian seeks a spot in the championship match on his tournament debut.

Raonic's path into last four

It was an easy enough start for the world number three as he dismantled American qualifier Tim Smyczek 6-1, 6-4 in the first round. The second round saw a 6-3, 7-6 (3) over Croatian Borna Coric before a comeback win over Brit Kyle Edmund in the quarterfinals by a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 scoreline.

Raonic had to battle from a set down in his last match/Photo: Aaron Gilbert/Icon Spogrtswire via Getty Images
Raonic had to battle from a set down in his last match/Photo: Aaron Gilbert/Icon Spogrtswire via Getty Images

Del Potro's path to the semi-final

The draw did not provide an easy start as Del Potro squared off with 2012 champion Kevin Anderson, winning 6-4, 6-4 to open his tournament. A hard-earned second round victory over Bosnian Damir Dzumhur 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 was followed up with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over defending champion Sam Querrey in the quarter-final, revenge for the American's victory in last year's semi-final.

Del Potro has defeated three quality opponents to reach the semifinals/Photo: Aaron Gilbert/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Del Potro has defeated three quality opponents to reach the semifinals/Photo: Aaron Gilbert/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Head-to-head

The two players have split their previous two meetings, both back in 2013. Raonic took their first matchup 7-5, 6-4 in the third round of the Canadian Open while Del Potro took the title 7-6 (5), 7-5 over Raonic in the final of Tokyo.

Who will reach the final?

The prior head-to-head offers nothing as both meetings were a long time ago, both players much different now. First strike tennis will be the key as each man has a massive amount of firepower at their disposal in the form of their serve and groundstrokes.

The crowd will be behind Del Potro as there is a large Argentinian contigent in Florida. Beyond that, it figures to be a very even matchup as both players are in good form. Raonic will look to find the Del Potro backhand as much as possible while the seventh seed will need to put pressure on the Raonic serve as much as possible.

In the end, this will wind up being a three-set match. Both men are too good to win this in straight sets, but Del Potro is 11-1 lifetime in the event and combined with the crowd support and his own good form, it should see him through to the championship match.