Milos Raonic can make Canadian history with semifinal win at Australian Open
Big server set to face No. 2 seed Murray
Milos Raonic can make Canadian men's tennis history on Friday when he takes on Andy Murray in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
The big server from Thornhill, Ont., by way of Montenegro is trying to become the first man representing Canada to reach a Grand Slam singles final.
Canadian-born Greg Rusedski played in the 1997 U.S. Open title match, but by that time he was identifying himself as British.
Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., made it to the women's final at Wimbledon in 2014 — the same year Raonic fell to Roger Federer at the All England Club in his only other appearance in a Grand Slam semi.
To earn a chance to play top-ranked Novak Djokovic for the Aussie Open title, the 13th-seeded Raonic will have to get past Murray, the No. 2 seed who owns a pair of Grand Slam singles titles and an Olympic gold medal. An Australian trophy has eluded the Scotsman, who went down to defeat in each of his four finals appearances in Melbourne.
Raonic and Murray have split their six prior meetings, with Murray taking the last two. He prevailed on the clay in Madrid in 2015, and indoors at the ATP World Tour Finals in London in late 2014.
Though Rod Laver Arena features a retractable roof, the Australian Open is mostly played outdoors on a hard court. In that type of environment, Raonic holds a 2-1 head-to-head edge, though Murray's victory came on the big stage of the U.S. Open in 2012 — the only time these players have met in a Grand Slam singles match.
That win helped propel Murray to his first Grand Slam crown, and he would add Wimbledon the following year, with an Olympic singles gold at the All-England Club sandwiched in between.
Who has the edge for Friday's showdown in Melbourne (3:30 a.m. ET)? As the tale of the tape shows below, Raonic is the younger, taller and heavier man, but Murray is easily the more decorated — and wealthy — player.
