Milos Raonic aims to end the hopes of veteran Aussie Lleyton Hewitt when they clash in the night session on day six of the Australian Open.
Raonic was many people's dark horse at the start of the tournament but the big Canadian has looked unconvincing so far. He was brilliant in Chennai, smashing down 35 aces on route to winning the final against Janko Tipsarevic but it took him a while to settle during his second round clash with Philipp Petzchner (which Raonic eventually won 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5).
Raonic found it difficult to deal with his opponent's mind games, something which will have been noted by the Hewitt camp and on Saturday night, Raonic will be public enemy no 1 in Melbourne. Still a novice to these sort of scenarios, it will be interesting to see how he deals with having virtually all of the Rod Laver Arena rooting against him.
Hewitt progressed when Andy Roddick retired at two sets to one down, a sad end to what could have been a great match. The Aussie has plenty of respect for Roddick and had plenty of sympathy for his predicament but now against the odds, he has a shot of making the second week once again.
"I've only seen him a little bit," Hewitt said, in Thursday's press conference.. "Early on obviously the Australian Open last year I saw a little bit. He played very well in San Jose and Memphis early on in the year, winning his first title in San Jose. He's a dangerous player. He's similar in some regards to Andy, same as tonight. I'll be more focusing on my game, obviously trying to take away some of his power."
Prediction: Raonic in four.
