ATP 2016 Madrid Open

Milos Raonic, Nadal Reach Madrid Open Quarters

Milos Raonic and Rafael Nadal win their respective round of 16 match to go through to the 2016 Madrid Open quarterfinal round.

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Milos Raonic wins against higher ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the 2016 Madrid Open quarterfinals.
Milos Raonic won against higher ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach the 2016 Madrid Open quarterfinals.

World no. 10 Milos Raonic is through to the 2016 Madrid Open quarterfinals after taking down world no. 7 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the round of 16. The Canadian was able to dominate Tsonga in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. The eleventh seed Raonic broke the Frenchman twice out of four tries. He also connected on 92 percent of his first serve points, hitting 24 out of 26, as well as 71 percent of second serve points with a 17-for-24 line. Milos Raonic, known for his powerful serves, fired off five aces against Tsonga in their one-hour and twelve minute match.

He returns to the quarterfinal of the Madrid Open, where he lost a year ago to world no. 2 Andy Murray. Raonic was suffering from a foot nerve issue for the entirety of the 2015 Madrid Open tournament, which would later end up needing surgery. This would cause the then 24-year old to miss the Internazionali BNL d’Italia as well as the French Open.

Milos Raonic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga now have a 3-2 head-to-head record in favor of Raonic. Including this victory at the Madrid Open, Raonic has won their last two matches. Their prior meeting was at the 2014 Internazionali BNL d’Italia, with Milos Raonic taking a 7-6(5), 6(4) victory in the round of 16. Tsonga’s two wins against Raonic came in the round of 16 at the 2013 BNP Paribas Open and the round of 32 at the 2012 London Olympics.

Milos Raonic has failed to win against world no. 1 Novak Djokovic in six matches.
Milos Raonic has failed to win against world no. 1 Novak Djokovic in six matches.

His quarterfinal opponent will be world no. 1 Novak Djokovic for their seventh career head-to-head meeting. Raonic has yet to win against Djokovic in six previous tries. In sixteen total sets against Novak Djokovic, Raonic has only managed to win a grand total of one, which came two years ago during the semifinal of the 2014 Internazionali BNL d’Italia. The pair’s last meeting was at the 2016 BNP Paribas Open Final, where Djokovic dominated Milos Raonic in a 6-2, 6-0 straight sets victory.

Four-time Madrid Open champion Rafael Nadal is once again through to the quarterfinals.
Four-time Madrid Open champion Rafael Nadal is once again through to the quarterfinals.

Four-time Madrid Open champion Rafael Nadal pulls out a first set comeback against the United State’s world no. 37 Sam Querrey. The world no. 5 was down 1-4 and was in danger of going down 1-5 before a furious rally mounted by the Spaniard. He would go on to win 5 straight games to take the first set 6-4. Nadal would follow that up with a 2-0 lead to start the second set, but the American would go on a mini-rally to tie the score at 2-2. Nadal responded by winning four straight games, winning the second set 6-2.

Rafael Nadal’s quarterfinal opponent will be Portugal’s world no. 35 Joao Sousa. Nadal won their first and only meeting prior to the Madrid Open in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 Rio Open.