Milos Raonic believes he can produce the kind of tennis required to see him through to the Australian Open final, though the Canadian star is not looking beyond the third round. Raonic needed three sets to oust Tommy Robredo 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 7-5 at Melbourne Park on Thursday.
The Canadian 13th seed, who is yet to drop a set at the grand slam this year, is seen as a dark horse for the title, having already claimed the Brisbane International crown in 2016. And while Raonic acknowledged it is too soon to say if a maiden major final beckons in Melbourne, he is confident in his ability ahead of his next match against Viktor Troicki.
"I feel like I'm playing well. I feel like I can put forth that tennis [to reach the final]," he said. "But Saturday I have a big challenge ahead of me. I hope I can get through that one and just go one by one."
"The first week the most important thing always is to sort of find a way to win. Hopefully if I'm alive and around, I can play better and better each match. Hopefully that can take me far."
Troicki, who defended his Sydney International title ahead of the Australian Open, overcame second-round opponent Tim Smyczek 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4).
Raonic added: "It's going to be difficult. He won last week. I watched a bit of that. So he's feeling well. He battled through also a difficult match on the first day, saving match points, I believe. Then he had a good win today. Pretty clean from what I saw or what I could watch while I was doing my own thing."
"I know how he plays. I played him in Beijing not so long ago. I think if I can put my game together a little bit cleaner and more efficient than I did today, be a little bit more proficient at the net, sort of dictate a bit better, I'll be able to give myself some opportunities."
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