Milos Raonic beat 2015 Roland Garros champion Stan Wawrinka 7-5 7-5 in one hour and 30 minutes to set up the final against Rafael Nadal at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships in Abu Dhabi.
Wawrinka was the first to get the break to take a 3-1 lead after a very long game. As Wawrinka was serving for the first set, Raonic came back from 2-5 down in the first set by breaking serve to love in the ninth game. Raonic held his serve in the next game to draw level to 5-5 after winning 12 points in a row. Raonic broke serve in the 11th game and before serving out to clinch the first set with 7-5 after 40 minutes.
Wawrinka faced problems with his serve but managed to hold his serve in the first and the third games.
Raonic, who has lost all his four head-to-head matches against Wawrinka on the ATP Tour, saved a break point in the 6th game before breaking Wawrinka in the seventh game but the Swiss player fended off two match points on serve in the 9th game before breaking serve. Raonic served for the match in the 10th game but he went down 15-40. Wawrinka broke serve to draw level to 5-5.
Raonic broke back in the 11th game to take the 6-5 lead before serving out for the match on the second attempt after 1 hour and 30 minutes setting up a final against Nadal.
Nadal won six of his seven head-to-head matches against Raonic on the ATP Tour.
