Milos Raonic fought off a tough Steve Johnson challenge to reach the Delray Beach Open semi-finals.
The Canadian didn’t play his best tennis in his 7-6(6) 6-3 victory over the American but used his fighting qualities to reach the last four in Florida.
A break of serve each in the opening set saw a tiebreak separate the two men before the former Wimbledon finalist edged to a one set lead.
Then the Canadian took control breaking twice in the second set to seal his spot in the semi-finals of an ATP event for the first time since Stuttgart last year.
After the win, Raonic admitted he didn’t play his best tennis, “You just have to sort of scrap and find a way,” the Canadian told the ATP website.
“I was moving well, I put a lot of returns in. I was doing the things I could control as well as possible. Didn’t serve particularly well, but it was just important to keep fighting. Got a few lucky breaks and made the most of them.”
If Raonic wants to reach the final in Florida then he will have to serve will in his next match against big serving, Reilly Opelka.
The American blasted 16 aces past Soonwoo Kwon in his emphatic 6-3 6-4 victory over the South Korean to reach the last four.
In the tightest quarter-final of the day yesterday, Yoshihito Nishioka edged past promising American talent Brandon Nakishima 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4 in 2 hours and 25 minutes.
Two crucial breaks at the start of the deciding set proved crucial for the Japanese star as he set up a semi-final with Ugo Humbert, who only dropped three games against Frances Tiafoe.
