MELBOURNE — Milos Raonic fought off a spirited comeback from fourth seed Stan Wawrinka to send the 2014 champion crashing out of the fourth round of the Australian Open 6-4 6-3 5-7 4-6 6-3 on Monday.
The Canadian, who had never beaten the French Open champion in four previous meetings, fired 24 aces and hit 82 winners in the three hour, 44 minute contest to reach the quarter-finals for the second year in a row.
Raonic sealed the victory with a simple volley into an open court to set up a quarter-final against France's Gael Monfils, an appropriate end to a contest where he came to the net 83 times and won 54 points.