Raonic Holds Off Robredo

Milos Raonic fended off No. 16 seed Tommy Robredo on Thursday at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters to reach the quarter-finals for a second straight year.

The fourth-seeded Canadian beat the Spaniard 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, hitting 35 winners in the one hour, 41-minute match.

“Tommy can be tricky on any surface,” said Raonic. “He’s been having a great 12 months. I was fortunate to get through that match. It was a lot of up and downs, but through some improvisation and fighting hard I was able to win.

“It’s 10 months since I last played on clay and I’m still finding my way, but at least I know my objectives, how to reach my goals; it gives me a little bit of a jump start.”

Raonic’s next opponent is No. 6 seed Tomas Berdych, who hit 41 winners to beat No. 12 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(7), 6-4.

The Czech, whose best result at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament was semi-final showings in 2007 and 2012 (l. to Nadal and Djokovic, respectively), capitalised on all three break point opportunities in the one hour, 39 minute-victory.