The Rod Laver Arena witnessed another electric encounter as the 2014 Champion Stan Wawrinka took on the Canadian powerhouse Milos Raonic, for a place in the last eight.
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Stan was muscled in the opening hour, as Milos served his way to a two sets lead. But, just when you thought the Canadian would seal the win, he couldn’t handle the nerves and allowed Wawrinka to bounce back in the third.
Adopting the serve and volley tactic, Raonic faltered at the net plenty of times and after some solid returns, Stan claimed the set 7-5 and went on to clinch the fourth 6-4.
The drama was not over yet, as another shift in momentum saw Milos breaking the Wawrinka serve in the sixth game to go 4-2 up in the decider. This time he didn’t let Stan have a look on his serve and with a supreme display of skills at the net, sealed the quarter final spot after 3 hours and 45 minutes of high octane tennis.
Here’s how the world of twitter reacted during this thrilling tie:
Who wore it better? #AusOpen #Tennis 🎾 pic.twitter.com/jD9HoRZ9Sj
— jon (@jontag23) January 25, 2016
I can't believe @Channel7 & @7tennis showed Gavrilova's cheat-sheet on live tv but not the 1st set of Wawrinka-Raonic…#AusOpen #Farce
— Brendan Bradford (@1bbradfo) January 25, 2016
That last lob by Wawrinka was one of the worst shots recently hit by a great tennis player
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) January 25, 2016
Great to see a glimpse of serve and volley at #AustralianOpen watching #milosraonic brings back memories of Pat Rafter's unforgettable style
— E. Radziszewski (@eradziszewski) January 25, 2016
You're killing me #milosraonic 17 minutes for a game? And then you change your shoes? It's hard to still love you. #AustralianOpen
— Sara Toth (@saraktoth) January 25, 2016
Monday morning and i don't want to wake up for work, this game is too good. #milosraonic #StanWawrinka #AustralianOpen
— Lwazisto (@Lwazistos) January 25, 2016
If Raonic beats Wawrinka without a tiebreak we should all have to fill up and chug some maple syrup
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) January 25, 2016
After two terrific sets against the redoubtable Wawrinka, #Raonic falters and is now into a fifth set. Momentum going against him.
— Rod Mickleburgh (@rodmickleburgh) January 25, 2016
ವಾವ್ರಿಂಕಾ ಬ್ಯಾಕ್ ಇನ್ ಬಿಸಿನೆಸ್!!#AusOpen @AustralianOpen 😊 😊 😊
He gets beaten first then he l smotther u!😜 😜 Good contest up!😊 #Stan— ಪ್ರವೀಣ್ ಕುಮಾರ್ ಎಂ (@praveenkumarblr) January 25, 2016
This Wawrinka-Raonic match has been a good one though. Back and forth like my thoughts.
— DmR (@fantasticdmr) January 25, 2016
Massive number diff for missile Raonic broke serv last year 12% of time 3rd worst on tour, @AustralianOpen he is breaking 25% of the time
— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) January 25, 2016
OK Canada, we can go to bed now. #MilosRaonic #AusOpen
— Kristin Knowles (@kzknowles) January 25, 2016
https://twitter.com/livetennis/status/691526717412737024
https://twitter.com/tumcarayol/status/691528069320802304
I'm totally into Monfils-Raonic. Why not?
— Chris Oddo (@TheFanChild) January 25, 2016