Raonic Ready for Murray Showdown

After a shaky start to his U.S. Open campaign, Milos Raonic is back to his best ahead of fourth round clash with Olympic champion Andy Murray. Following Dale Perth’s assessment of Raonic’s performance so far, Al Dannity previews the huge match-up for Canada’s Number 1.

Dust yourself off
A year ago Milos Raonic would not have put his game back together the way he has in Flushing Meadows. Having narrowly escaped Santiago Giraldo in the first round, winning in five sets, Raonic has roared back with a vengeance. Paul-Henri Mathieu of France was not match for the Thornhill, Ont. player as Raonic advanced 7-5 6-4 7-6. The third round however presented a potentially tricky opponent. American James Blake had stunned 24 seed Marc Granollers in a dominant second round display. Raonic, the 15 seed, was in no mood to be upset as he demolished Blake 6-3 6-0 7-6. These are the results Raonic is expected to get at Grand Slams but he hasn’t shown this kind of form at the majors in 2012 until now. The run through the early stages mirrored Raonic’s performance at Barcelona in the spring. Like Flushing Meadows, Raonic stuttered early but improved as the tournament progress. Much like that tournament, Raonic will be looking to pull off a big shock against Andy Murray.

Murray won’t go down easy
Raonic caught Murray during a dip in the Scot’s form this season when he shocked the World Number 4 in Barcelona. With an Olympic Gold and Wimbledon Final appearance already to his credit this summer, Murray has his sights set on another deep run at the US Open.

Murray has been electrifying through the first three rounds. Alex Bogomolov and Ivan Dodig put up barely any resistance in the first two rounds. A game Feliciano Lopez forced Murray to four sets but the Olympic champion beat the Spaniard in three tie breaks en route to victory. Now Raonic will look to put it up to the Scot. Confidence won’t be a problem for the big serving Canadian. Not only has Raonic got that win from earlier in the season to draw on, he also had two deep runs at Masters Series events en route to Flushing Meadows. In the form of his, still developing, career Raonic won’t fear the lofty status of his foe. Still it’s difficult to see the Canadian emerging victorious from this match-up. Talented as Raonic is, his game still has rough edges and that just won’t do against the best defensive player in the world. I like Raonic to take a set from Murray but to go down in four.

Follow Sports Interaction on Twitter.