Milos Raonic will face Andy Murray in his first Australian Open semifinal after outgunning and outlasting Gael Monfils 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4 under the Rod Laver Arena roof on Wednesday night.
The No.13 seed, the first Canadian man to reach the last four in Melbourne, stuck away 31 points at the net en route to a comfortable win as Monfils flagged in the third set, closing out victory with an emphatic drive volley in two hours, 17 minutes.
For the second match in succession, Raonic faced an opponent he had not previously beaten, having ended a six-match losing streak against Stan Wawrinka in the fourth round.
Monfils, winner of their last two encounters, faced the same barrage of net rushes that did for the 2014 Melbourne champion as Raonic came forward 46 times, including 11 serve-volleys.
Mientras las tres primeras raquetas del Emirates Ranking ATP habían cumplido (Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray y Roger Federer) y ya esperaban en las semifinales del Abierto de Australia, aún quedaba un sitio libre para alguno de los dos nombres propios de esta edición, los de Milos Raonic y Gael Monfils. Pero sería el canadiense el que se ganaría por derecho propio su billete para pelear por la final del primer Grand Slam de la temporada, después de superar al francés por 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 en dos horas y 16 minutos.