Raonic shocks Wawrinka to reach Australian Open quarter

MELBOURNE: Milos Raonic struck a blow for the next generation of men’s tennis by flooring former champion Stan Wawrinka on Monday to reach the Australian Open quarter-finals.Second seed Andy Murray, returning to court two days after his father-in-law was rushed to hospital, hit back for the old guard in the evening session at Rod Laver Arena though, banishing Bernard Tomic, the last home hope in the singles.Murray’s win capped a banner day for Britain following Johanna Konta’s advance, giving the nation men’s and women’s singles quarter-finalists at the same grand slam for the first time in nearly 40 years.Melbourne Park was rocked by corruption allegations on its opening day, and a week later, integrity fears returned as a former Australian professional player pleaded guilty to match-fixing at a Sydney court.Former world number 187 Nick Lindahl appeared in court just hours after a top global bookmaker suspended betting after heavy gambling on a mixed doubles match at Melbourne Park.The winning doubles pair dismissed suspicions over the match after being questioned by integrity officials. There was no questioning the commitment of Raonic and Wawrinka as the pair slugged out a three-hour 44-minute thriller in the day session on Rod Laver Arena.Long seen as a threat to the Novak Djokovic-led establishment, 25-year-old Raonic showed ice in his veins to fend off the 2014 champion 6-4 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-3 after the 30-year-old Swiss roared back from two sets down.Unveiling an aggressive serve-volley game, Raonic fired 82 winners past the fourth seed to set up a second successive quarter-final at Melbourne Park.Having lost to Djokovic a year ago, he will be favourite against French showman Gael Monfils who delighted fans with some spectacular dives as he beat Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 7-5 3-6 6-3 7-6(4) to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.Raonic is on an eight-match winning streak since the start of the year, a run which included upsetting Roger Federer to win the Brisbane International, and he credits new coach Carlos Moya for giving him confidence to stray from the baseline.”He’s sort of organising my strengths, my weapons and how to use them better,” the 13th seed told reporters. (Reuters)’