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It will be a battle of the big serves as Australian Sam Groth faces Milos Raonic for a spot in the semi-finals of the Brisbane International. Join The Roar for a live blog of the quarter final clash from 12:00pm AEDT.
After beating Lleyton Hewitt and Lukasz Kubot in the first two rounds of the tournament, Groth has a chance to make his second ever semi-final at an ATP World Tour event.
Last year, during the grass season, Groth made his first semi-final at the Newport event losing to Ivo Karlovic in straight sets.
For the Australian it is his second straight quarter final at the Brisbane International after having a breakout tournament in the 2014 event.
Yesterday he was made to earn the win by Kubot who has been as high as 41 in the world. In three tight sets the Australian was able to control the final set tiebreaker to record his 15th win on the ATP tour.
Groth was particularly strong on serve, with 21 aces, and was composed at the critical moments in the match.
Yesterday’s match was all about power as both smashed the ball around the court in a quality match. Today’s contest, with Raonic, will be almost identical with the Canadian a powerful hitter as well.
Raonic, who is 8 in the world, served 18 aces as he progressed to the quarter final with a straight set win over Mikhail Kukushkin yesterday.
It was Raonic’s first win in Brisbane after losing to Grigor Dimitrov in his only other appearance at the event in 2012.
Today’s match will be dominated by two of the fastest servers in the world. Both are in the top 5 in the world for the fastest ever serves in the ATP.
The Australian holds the record for the fastest ever serve when he rifled a 263.4km serve at the Busan Challenger in 2012.
In the same year, at the Rogers Cup in Canada, Raonic served the fifth fastest serve of all time with a 249.9km bullet.
Expect those big serves to continue today.
Also expect plenty of aces between the two.
In 2014 Raonic averaged 17 aces per match as he finished second in aces for the year with 1107. Groth, who only played 22 ATP world tour matches, served 343 aces at an average of 15.6 per match.
With Ronald McDonald house getting 100 dollars for each ace on Pat Rafter Arena, they could be in for a nice payday with these two players on court.
Most sets today will be closely fought as both players gain plenty of free points on their serve. The difference today will be in court play.
In the last 18 months, Groth has improved significantly in this area. His fitness and mobility around the court has allowed him to stay in more points and hit more winners.
How that stacks up against Raonic will be interesting.
The Canadian has a big game and his forehand is a major weapon. Groth will need to reduce the winners in Raonic’s forehand if he is to win today.
The two have faced each other once when they clashed in Washington in 2013. Raonic won that Round of 32 clash 7-5 6-4. On that day, Groth struggled with his serve, as he didn’t cope with the prime time match against Raonic.
He only won 65% of his 1st serve points and conceded nine break points to the Canadian.
That will need to improve if the Australian is to win today.
This match will have tiebreakers in it and it will be close between the two. Raonic is the big favourite according to the bookies but I rate Groth’s chances today.
If he can get each set to a tiebreaker then he can win two sets to win the match. While at times he will be dominated on the ground by Raonic, Groth has every chance to win because of his serve.
I predict a Raonic win in three sets but Groth can cause the upset.
Prediction: Milos Raonic 2-1
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