Milos Raonic in fine form against Humbert, reaches Miami Open fourth round

Milos Raonic played some high-quality tennis on Monday at the Miami Open, an ATP Masters 1000 event, defeating Ugo Humbert 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the Round of 16 for the third time in 2021. He also reached the same stage at the Australian Open in February and in Acapulco just over a week ago.

The challenge was a tough one for Raonic considering that Humbert, ranked No. 30 in the world, has been playing well of late. He reached the semifinals in Marseille (lost 6-3, 6-2 to Pierre-Hugues Herbert) and the quarterfinals in Montpelier (lost 6-3, 6-3 to Roberto Bautista Agut).

The 30-year-old Canadian jumped out to an early lead in the match after breaking serve in the third game. Thanks to four aces and a first-serve percentage of 70%, Raonic held his own serve for the remainder of the opening set and limited his errors to take it 6-4.

The second set was closer and both players held serve comfortably until the eighth game when Raonic had to save three break points to even the score at 4-4. With his confidence renewed, he broke Humbert’s serve two games later to win the set 7-5 and the match in straights.

Next opponent : Hubert Hurkacz

In the Round of 16, Raonic will face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz who defeated Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6(6) on Monday.

Raonic will be looking to reach his first quarterfinal since the Paris Masters last November where he also beat Humbert in three tight sets of 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(3). He seems to have the Frenchman’s number!