Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ontario is in the quarterfinals of ATP Rotterdam. In the second round on Wednesday, Raonic defeated the eighth seed, Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-4.
Raonic reached the main draw of ATP Rotterdam on a protected ranking. However, he is ranked 309th in the world. Bublik’s world ranking is 23rd.
On Wednesday, a key double fault by Bublik in the first set led to a Raonic break point. Bublik had a difficult time reading Raonic’s serve throughout the match, as the Canadian had 12 aces, while Bublik only had five.
This was their second career meeting, and Raonic has won both matches. Raonic’s prior win came in the second round of St. Petersburg in 2020, where Raonic won 6-3, 6-2.
Raonic will now face either Gael Monfils of France or Jannik Sinner of Italy in the quarterfinals. This is Raonic’s first quarterfinal berth since reaching the semifinals of the Paris Indoor in the fall of 2020.
Monfils is the 70th ranked player in the world. He is a two-time grand slam semifinalist, as he made the final four of the 2008 French Open and 2016 United States Open. Sinner, meanwhile is ranked fourth in the world, and recently won the 2024 Australian Open.
Raonic has never played Sinner, and has won three of six meetings against Monfils. Raonic’s wins came in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Australian Open (6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4), quarterfinals of Indian Wells of 2016 (7-5, 6-3), and the round robin portion of the 2016 ATP Finals (6-3, 6-4).
