Eugenie Bouchard of Canada serves to Caroline Garcia of France during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Friday, Jan. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Andy Brownbill)
Republished January 23, 2015 - 8:48 PM
Original Publication Date January 22, 2015 - 8:05 PM
MELBOURNE, Australia - Canadian Milos Raonic advanced into the second week of the Australian Open for the third time in five years as he comfortably beat Germany's Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday.
Becker, who eliminated Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the previous round, was no match for 22 aces off the racquet of the eighth seed from Thornhill, Ont.
It took the winner four match points to see off Becker with a break in the last game. Becker saved the first three Raonic winning chances before the Canadian went through from Becker's double-fault.
Raonic took victory with 46 winners, 19 unforced errors while breaking on five of 14 opportunities.
Raonic will next face the winner from 12th-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain and Poland's Jerzy Janowicz.
"I'm happy with how I'm playing," said Raonic, who played and won on the third showcase court, the Hisense arena. "I can't complain, everything has been working for me on this court and the results have been good.
"My game feels great and I'm having a lot of fun. I look forward to going on."
Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil was bidding to join Raonic in the fourth round as he played Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in a first-time meeting.
Raonic's victory in 101 minutes improved his record over the 41st-ranked Becker to 3-1. Raonic, who played the Wimbledon semifinals last summer, won his 13th career match in Melbourne against four losses.
Raonic was never threatened by his journeyman opponent, winning each of the first two sets in 30 minutes.
Raonic claimed the opener with a break in the final game with a forehand winner to the corner past Becker. The second set also featured only one break, with Raonic converting for a 4-2 lead.
Two games later, Raonic set up two set points with an ace only to double-fault the first chance away. But his 17th ace solved the problem on the second opportunity as he earned a two-sets-to-love lead.
In the third set, Raonic broke in the fifth game and climbed to 5-3 before closing it out.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2015