Before each day of play at the Australian Open, we'll preview and predict the must-see matches. For full coverage of the season's first Slam, go to our tournament page.
It was a surprise to discover that the head to head between the No. 2 seed, Murray, and the No. 13 seed, Raonic, is all even at 3-3. Murray usually eats up big servers with his backhand return and brick-wall consistency, but some of Raonic’s missiles have obviously found their targets against him in the past. Murray has won their last two meetings, but Raonic has three wins over him on hard courts. What are the chances he pulls off the upset and makes it four? The consensus is that Raonic, who beat Stan Wawrinka for the first time in the fourth round, is playing the best tennis of his career. He’s hitting his forehand bigger, his backhand more consistently, and his volleys with more touch and precision. (We already know about his serve.) So from Raonic’s perspective, this match is new territory, and we can throw out our past preconceptions about him. The problem for Milos is that Murray is still Murray. He still loves to defuse bomb serves. He still loves the courts at the Australian Open, especially when they slow down a little at night. And he still loves to keep the younger guys in their places.
Winner: Murray