By Caroline Cameron

Well, I didn’t see that coming.

Milos Raonic upset clay court specialist and world no. 13 Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-3 in the Barcelona Open.

This has to be Raonic’s best win on clay ever.

Raonic’s game isn’t suited for clay; the surface slows down his serve and movement.  But his training on the clay courts of Spain with his coach Galo Blanco seems to be paying off.

Keep this in mind; Almagro has won all of his 11 ATP titles on clay while Raonic has only won 9 career matches on clay.  But on Thursday, Raonic hit seven aces to beat Almagro in just over an hour.

Now Raonic is through to his fourth ATP quarterfinal of the year where he’ll face Andy Murray for the first time in his career.  The two were supposed to meet in Miami, but Raonic had to pull out due to an ankle injury.

“He’s obviously got a huge serve and a very good game,” Murray told the ATP before his matchup with Raonic.  “He can obviously dictate the match, so you need to make sure you play a solid match. There’s a chance that he’s going to give you the odd opportunity by making mistakes and you need to be ready to take that.”

Let’s hope for a close match.  You can catch it LIVE Friday at 6:30am on Sportsnet ONE.

*Quotes from the ATP

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