Raonic fires 25 aces to beat Bautista Agut at Libema Open, moves into quarterfinals

Canadian veteran Milos Raonic advanced to the men’s quarterfinals at the Libema Open grass-court tennis tournament with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 win over Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut on Thursday in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

The 33-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., had his cannon serve firing with 25 aces as he won 78 per cent of total service points. He did not defend the only break point he faced, but broke Bautista Agut three times on four chances.

Raonic improved his career record against Bautista Agut to 6-0, though it was the first meeting between the veterans since 2017.

Raonic will play top seed Alex de Minaur of Australia on Friday at the ATP 250 event. De Minaur is 2-0 against Raonic, including the first round of this year’s Australian Open when Raonic retired with an injury.

Raonic joins Bianca Andreescu in the Libema quarterfinals. The 23-year-old Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., faces former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan on Friday.

WATCH | Raonic outlasts Bautista Agut in Round of 16:

In other grass court results Thursday, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini defeated wild card Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., 6-4, 6-4, in the second round of the Boss Open in Stuttgart, Germany.

Berrettini broke Shapovalov twice on three chances while defending the only break he faced.

In Nottingham, England, a second-round women’s doubles match between top-seeded Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand and British tandem Alicia Barnet and Freya Christie was suspended due to weather.

WATCH | Shapovalov drops 2nd-round match in Stuttgart:

Shapovalov loses argument with chair umpire and match to Berrettini in Stuttgart

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., got in a heated argument with chair umpire Fergus Murphy, before falling to Italy’s Matteo Berrettini 6-4, 6-4 in the Boss Open Round of 16 in Stuttgart, Germany.