Raonic heads to fourth round of 2017 French Open
Milos Raonic is heading to the fourth round of the French Open after Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez retired from their match after 28 minutes of play.
Raonic took the first set with ease, breaking Garcia-Lopez twice, to win 6-1 in just 21 minutes.
Garcia-Lopez, who was struggling with a left thigh injury during their matchup, called for the trainer prior to the start of their second set.
Canada’s Milos Raonic plays a shot against Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez during their third round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France. Friday, June 2, 2017. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
The Spaniard tried to battle his way through the injury, but could only withstand it for one more game. Raonic broke serve for a third time to give himself a 1-0 lead when Garcia-Lopez’s injury forced him out.
Though the game lasted less than 30 minutes, Raonic managed to hit five aces and 12 winners. He now holds a 3-0 record against Garcia-Lopez internationally.
This will be Raonic’s second consecutive year making it to the fourth round at Roland Garros and his twelfth time making it the fourth round or better at a Grand Slam.
Raonic is the sole Canadian left in the singles draw of the French Open after Françoise Abanda and Eugenie Bouchard took tough losses in the second round of the tournament.
He will face another Spaniard, Pablo Carreño Busta, in hopes of landing himself a spot in the quarter-finals. Carreño Busta recently upset Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to secure his spot in the Round of 16.
The two will go head to head on Sunday at approximately 5 a.m. ET.
