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Novak Djokovic will be looking to continue a unique record at the Australian Open with a win against Milos Raonic tonight in their quarter final clash at Rod Laver Arena.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the quarter final match from 7:00pm AEDT.
Every time Djokovic has won a quarter final at the Australian Open, the world number one has gone on to claim the Grand Slam title.
In seven quarter finals for the world number one, he has won four matches, and lost three times at this stage of the tournament.
Those four match wins have all landed him the Australian Open titles in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013. If he wins tonight against Raonic, he will be hoping to keep that record intact, by winning his fifth Australian Open.
Looking to stop that will be Milos Raonic.
The big-serving Canadian will be looking to make his second Grand Slam semi-final after making his first in Wimbledon last year.
For both players they have almost had a smooth passage through to the quarter final stage.
In the case of Djokovic, he has had a smooth passage. The world number one hasn’t dropped a set all tournament and has only conceded one break of serve in 12 sets of tennis.
The same could almost be said for Milos Raonic. In his first three matches, he didn’t drop a set, and only conceded one break of serve in his third round match against Benjamin Becker. Against Feliciono Lopez, in Round 4, this changed as he was pushed to five sets by the 12th seed.
In just over three hours of tennis, Raonic held on, after losing the fourth set to the Spaniard. 81 winners to the Canadian helped him to win the tight contest and put him into the quarter finals of the Australian Open for the first time.
Today he faces one of the toughest tests in tennis. It is a test he has failed to pass in four matches between the two. Djokovic leads the head-to-head 4-0 and has only lost one set to the Canadian.
That one set was won by Raonic in their 2014 meeting in Rome in a tiebreaker. Between the two, out of the 11 sets of tennis played, they have played five tiebreakers in the four matches played. Djokovic has won four of those tiebreakers.
The key to today’s match will be the serve of each player. Raonic is one of the fastest servers in the game while Djokovic’s serve is one of the best. It is also one of the most under-rated in the game.
It will be interesting to see which player can utilise their serve the best during the match. Whoever can do that the best will have a great shot of winning the clash.
The returning of each player will also be crucial. Djokovic is a better returner than Raonic and will need to utilise that to nullify the serve of Raonic tonight.
Raonic has averaged the most aces in the tournament so far, with 24.75 per match, and will need to serve plenty to be in contention.
The forehand will also be a focus for tonight. So far both players have averaged around the same amount of winners with their forehand. Djokovic has hit 62 winners with Raonic hitting 66. Having the forehand making winners will be a major focus for each player tonight.
It will be tough match for Raonic to win. His serve will have to be almost perfect, and he will have to be good in movement, to keep up with Djokovic in the rallies.
The match-up is almost perfect for Djokovic because of his returning and his movement around the court. The best chance for Raonic to win the match is through the tiebreaker.
Anything can happen in those breakers, and the Canadian could win three of them, to win the match.
Djokovic is a big favourite with the bookies, and I agree with that.
Raonic may win a set, or two, but Djokovic will be too strong in the end.
PREDICTION – Novak Djokovic 3-1
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