It’s been nearly six years since Milos Raonic had last met Marcos Baghdatis in a match of any kind.
On Thursday, the two faced off in the Round of 16 at the Citi Open. While Raonic defeated Baghdatis with a 7-6, 6-3 victory, the Canadian seemed to have found a strong counterpart in the former world No. 1, who threatened any chance that Raonic had at advancing.
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• Match Point •
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) August 3, 2017
🇨🇦@MilosRaonic def. 🇨🇾@MarcosBaghdatis
7-6 6-3
R3 of 2017 @CitiOpen#TheMissle to face 🇺🇸@JackSock in QTR's@ATPWorldTour pic.twitter.com/VIJR6GpPqp
In the first set, the two battled for over an hour.
Raonic had an opportunity to gain a comfortable 5-3 lead but Baghdatis would not allow Raonic to break serve. Baghdatis held serve to even the set up at 4-4. At that point, like two boxers in a ring, both Raonic and Baghdatis exchanged their shots — leading to a tiebreak. It took a score of 9-7 for Raonic to gain the upper hand in the tiebreak.
He didn’t look back. Raonic used a strong second set that included eight aces to escape Baghdatis.
Raonic’s hopes at another Citi Open title remain alive. He will face world No. 19 Jack Sock in the quarterfinals.