Roger Federer dismisses Raonic in straight sets reaches 35th quarter final

The hair of a god :)menstennisforums
Roger Federer reflects on his fourth-round victory over Milos Raonic

Roger Federer defused Milos Raonic's serve before clinically dispatching the Canadian 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 at the Australian Open on Monday to reach a 35th straight grand slam quarter-final.

The rampant Swiss gave up only five points on his first serve and hit 34 winners in the one-sided, two-hour contest against the 13th seed on a cool Rod Laver Arena.

Federer wrapped up the first set when Raonic netted a volley, the second with a brilliant forehand down the line to win the tiebreak 7-4, and the third with another big forehand winner.

The 17-times grand slam champion, who is chasing a fifth title at Melbourne Park, will meet the seventh seeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the last eight.

Tsonga famously beat Federer in the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2011, the first time Federer had ever lost a grand slam match from two sets up.

"He is a good guy with a great game, he is a great shot-maker and a great character for the game," Federer said of Tsonga. "We didn't play each other last year I don't think and the year before we played three times in 10 days."

The first nine games of Monday's match went with serve, but the 13th seed Raonic was the first to blink and a double fault gifted Federer a set point which he gratefully accepted as Raonic netted a backhand volley.

Federer had amazingly made one unforced error throughout the set and although much is often made of Raonic's powerful serve, the 31-year-old was more than holding his own in that department too.

Only nine points were lost on serve in the second set – Federer dropping two – and a tie-break was required to decide the outcome. Raonic produced aces with his first three serves, but Federer was simply waiting patiently for his opportunity and seized it with a backhand winner down the line as Raonic came into the net.

An ace of his own gave Federer three set points and he took the second with a forehand winner. That seemed to break Raonic's spirit and Federer broke serve twice early in the third set on his way to a convincing victory.

Tsonga was too strong for his friend Gasquet. The ninth seed hit back from losing the opening set but was powerless to prevent Tsonga from running away with it by breaking early in the third and fourth to complete a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win.

theguardian.co.uk

Another test passed with flying colors Tsonga next, it only gets tougher from here *bites nails*.