Milos Raonic submitted another business-like performance on Friday at the Australian Open, sending Luxembourg's Gilles Muller home after a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) second-round win. The third-seeded Canadian struck 21 aces and limited the big-serving Muller's count to seven.
”I played well, I was efficient,” said Raonic, who admitted he was suffering from flu. “I got the breaks [and] I faced some scares. I played well in those situations [and ] I stepped up at the end of that third set. He stepped up, as well. I'm happy I was able to finish it out there.
”Then this morning, I felt pretty bad waking up. I didn't warm up much. I just came out with the sort of idea of put everything into the match, try to solve it [and] understand the importance of the mental side of things in that situation.”
Raonic also saved all four break points faced and broke Muller just enough – once in each of the first two sets. The third-seeded Raonic had been 0-2 against Muller in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, although the two hadn't played since 2012. Muller also entered the Australian Open off his best result ever: His first ATP World Tour title at the Apia International Sydney last weekend.
But Raonic needed less than two hours to reach the third round, where he'll face Frenchman Gilles Simon. The 25th seed needed only 96 minutes to beat Brazil's Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-4, 6-1, 6-1.
”I know a lot about (Simon's) game,” said Raonic. “I've watched him play a lot. I've played him in quite a few important matches. He's going to be there, really trying to get me to play at his speed, his rhythm. Obviously he tries to slow things down, play low. I won't have the opportunity to get too many swings at many shots. I've got to serve well and I've got to be aggressive and I've got to take it to him. The last thing I want to do is get into this sort of game of playing long rallies with him.”
Sixth seed Gael Monfils improved to 4-0 lifetime against World No. 69 Alexandr Dolgopolov after striking 17 aces in a 6-3, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0 victory in just under two hours. He goes on to meet No. 32 seed Philipp Kohlschreiber, who overcame Donald Young 7-5, 6-3, 6-0.
Fifteenth seed Grigor Dimitrov recovered from a set deficit to beat #NextGenATP player Hyeon Chung of South Korea 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Chung, who missed three months last season because of an ab injury, looked fit as he chased balls from side to side, answering everything Dimitrov slapped his way during the first set. Dimitrov hit only three winners to 14 unforced errors in the opener.
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But the Bulgarian ripped away momentum with a break to start the second set, and improved play followed. Last week's Brisbane champion won 13/15 net points during the next two sets and broke twice in the fourth set to advance in two hours and 34 minutes.
In the third round, Dimitrov will meet 18th seed Richard Gasquet, who had little trouble beating Argentine Carlos Berlocq 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. The Frenchman has won five of his six FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against Dimitrov, but Dimitrov won their last meeting, 6-4, 6-4 on the Shanghai Rolex Masters hard courts last October.