A semifinal clash between Stefanos Tsitsipas and Milos Raonic at the Western and Southern Open promised to be a close affair and it certainly delivered in the first set.

The match progressed as expected with each player winning their own serve quite comfortably. At 5-5 both players had a 90 % winning rate when hitting the 1st serve. Raonic had more aces but as the better server that was no surprise. The key moment came late in the 1st set when Tsitsipas had his first break point which was also a set point.

He failed to convey it and his disappointment was very visible which forced him to make some bad mistakes. Even after taking an early 2-0 lead in the tiebreak, he couldn't quite compose himself rushing into points and making mistakes. Those proved ultimately very costly as he lost the tiebreak 7-5.

Though it seemed like the 2nd set would be similar to the 1st one it went a bit different. The first three games were won easily by the serving player but Tsitsipas encountered difficulties in the 4th game. Mistakes similar to the ones that cost him the 1st set cost him this game with Raonic conveying the 1st breakpoint he faced in the match.

The young Greek was visibly irritated possibly still thinking about the 1st set. Tsitsipas tried to get back into the match but he never came close to breaking his opponent as Raonic served brilliantly all match. Raonic won the 2nd set 6-3 with the end result being 7-6(5) 6-3.

Raonic will be awaiting the winner of the 2nd semifinal match between Novak Djokovic and Roberto Bautista Agut which is set to start after this match concluded.

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