Milos Raonic and Richard Berankis are preparing for an eagerly awaited SAP Open quarter-final clash on Friday

Milos Raonic and Richard Berankis have both made a good impression so far in San Jose, and look set to provide us with an intriguing quarter-final contest. Despite having been born in 1990, Raonic and Berankis are currently top hundred players, and we can expect to see the eventual winner stand a decent chance in the semi’s, and perhaps the final.

Raonic booked his place in the quarters with a 6-2, 7-6(4) win against former world No. 4 James Blake. Whilst Raonic failed to hold serve to win the match in the second set, he held his nerve in the tie-break. The big-hitting Canadian won 91 percent of his first serve points, and also hit 13 aces.

Berankis had to work a little harder for his place in the quarters. He battled past Donald Young in round two, eventually claiming a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 victory in just under two and a half hours. Hopefully he’ll still have plenty of energy left for his match against Raonic. Unless the Lithuanian can dictate a fair amount of the rallies, he’ll be in trouble on Friday.

These two players have never faced each other in official competition, making this match a difficult one to predict. Raonic and Berankis have been known to train together though, so they will already know a fair amount about what to expect from the other side of the net.