Milos Raonic Shocks Stefanos Tsitsipas in Straight Sets at Australian Open 2020

World No.32 Milos Raonic pulled off the upset over the defending semifinalist and No.6 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round of the Australian Open 2020 on Friday. With this victory, Raonic reaches the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the fifth time in six years.

The 29-year-old Canadian fired 19 aces in a 7-5,  6-4, 7-6 win over Tsitsipas, who could not earn a single break chance on Raonic’s serve in the course of three sets that concluded in 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Winners proved to be the difference between the two players, with Raonic hitting a whopping number of 55 winners to Tsitsipas’ 23.

Milos Raonic won the first set without facing a single breakpoint

Playing each other for the first time, Tsitsipas and Raonic did not trouble each other’s serve until 5-5. However, the Canadian changed gears to break the Greek gun and get an opportunity to serve for the set. He then closed the opening set 7-5 after 50 minutes.

Milos Raonic did not face a single break chance to in his six service games in the set. The Canadian fired 23 winners against only 6 from Tsitsipas. Though Raonic committed 17 unforced errors, he managed to topple his opponent in the important points.

Raonic broke Stefanos Tsitsipas once to win the second set

Stefanos Tsitsipas failed to shift the momentum on his side as Raonic broke the 21-year-old in his opening service game. The set saw no break chances as the games went with the server till the end of the set. The 6ft 5in served out the set 6-4 after Tsitsipas denied him four set points before committing a backhand forced error on the fifth.

The Greek star looked in rhythm at the end of the second set and played a far better game than the first set. However, the brilliance of Milos Raonic was good enough to secure the second set.

Raonic edged Tsitsipas to wrap the match after a third set victory

While Raonic continued his dominance on serve in the third set, Tsitsipas looked more focused in the set as he did not let a single breakpoint opportunity on his serve. Both the players held their serve strongly as the set was forced to a tie-break. Raonic dominated the tiebreaker to win the set 7-6(7-2) and defeat Tsitsipas in straight sets.

He will next face Croatia’s Marin Cilic in the fourth round of the Australian Open 2020. Earlier, Cilic defeated Roberto Bautista Agut in a thrilling five-setter in the third round.